Descartes and the Possibility of Science describes the intellectual structure of modern science as a body of knowledge produced by the Cartesian method. For Des-cartes, science was possible only because of certain features of the very nature of human beings. Schouls focuses on two largely neglected aspects of Descartes' position: the intellectual imagina-tion and free will. Joining these top-ics together within the context of Cartesian doctrine, Schouls opens up a substantially new reading of the Meditations and a more complete picture of Descartes as a scientist. This revisioning of science follows from Schouls' previous study Descartes and the Enlightenment that considers how the philosopher's rationalism became a principle ingredient in the ideological hegemony of Enlightenment reason. In Descartes and the Possibility of Science Schouls asserts that Descartes viewed the intellectual imagination, the source of hypotheses, as crucial to the development of scientific thought. Descartes placed consider-able emphasis on mental power in his discussion of the paths by which humans were to proceed in science, from pure to applied disciplines. Schouls explores the roles of differ-ent kinds of imagination in meta-physics, in pure physics or geome-try, and in the applied sciences. He inquires further that, for Descartes, free will was also indispensable in the pursuit of knowledge. Without it, the scientific enterprise could neither start nor continue. Descartes and the Possibility of Science closes with a discussion of the metaphysi-cal bases of free will, intellectual imagination, and other human functions necessary to the advance-ment of science.

What a pity this book is out of print. Kenny's book on Descartes does not take the reader as far into the deeps of philosophy as Bernard Williams, and the book is not up to date. But Kenny is an intelligent philosopher and, furthermore, he is one of the best writers of philosophical prose. Undergraduates, who have just read some of Descartes' own work can read Kenny, understand the issues that he raises and, very often, they will come away with some idea of where they disagree with Kenny. This is an excellent book for teaching students, by example, how to respond intelligently to the thoughts of a great philosopher.

This first volume in a two-volume set contains: (1) Rules for the Direction of our Native Intelligence, (2) Discourse on the Method, (3) Optics, (4) Meditations on First Philosophy (together with Objections and Replies), (5) Principles of Philosophy, (6) Comments on a Certain Broadsheet, and (7) The Passions of the Soul. The only book missing from this great volume is Descartes' Geometry, but given the breadth and depth of the current volume, such an omission is understandable.

The translation is among the very best, with the consistent use of nouns and verbs and direct objects throughout the various texts. The book is accompanied by an excellent index, and an occasional note only when absolutely necessary. The text is allowed to speak for itself, and this it does with aplomb.

My only regret is my copy is not printed on acid-free paper, and after a decade is already beginning to age prematurely. This one complaint aside, this volume is both well written and covers Descartes' best ideas. This particular volume belongs in all serious students' and collegiate libraries.

Elena Lackova was born in the Northeastern region of Slovakia, a wild and ancient region settled long ago by Saxons and later, Hungarians. The Slovaks made up the peasantry and--as Lackova tells it--the Roma (Gypsies) were the underclass, at turns serving and being oppressed by every other social class/ethnic group. Lackova's voice is not as historical as it is personal and the book is not traditional history but rather oral history, historical events as lived by Lackova, her family and her settlement. The stories offer a series of impressions at turns shocking, humorous, joyful and sad. The reader can gleam a lot about Roma culture from Lackova's memories, about the struggles and setbacks but also the patience and humor of a much maligned people.

I spent the last two years in Peace Corps Slovakia and can best describe the situation of the 500,000 Slovak Roma as a kind of de facto apartheid. In Slovakia the "townships" are called settlements, and Lackova points out a fact scarcely recognized in modern Slovakia--that settlements were created in World War II through zoning laws inspired by the fascist-leaning Slovak government. Those familiar with South Africa will find other simularities, as well, including linguistic/educational oppression and routine police brutality.

Ilona Lackova's book bravely sheds light on a deep problem urgently demanding redress.

The back of this book calls Meditations "the fundamental and originating work of the modern era in Western philosophy." It was undoubtedly influential. Descartes is credited for the notion that the mind and body are separate entities, that man is a machine, and the phrase "cogito ergo sum." For these reasons, this book is worth reading. However, Descartes makes many strange and incoherent arguments (especially concerning the existence of God), and I question the contemporary value of his philosophy.

One way of reading the Meditations is to see it as an argument showing that God and science are not at odds. Instead they are compatible, and he argues even that one cannot act rightly without proper understanding. Apparently, Descartes had been so horrified by Catholic Church forcing Galileo to recant his views that he stopped the publication of one of his papers.

As an attempt to make sense of what we can know, Descartes failed, and failed in some parts quite obviously. But as in all the other philosophical writings, an argument with holes does not make it worthless as philosophy. Its value lies in the influence it had on changing how we perceive the world.

If you have heard only one thing about Descartes, you have heard of his 'Cogito' - usually translated as "I think, therefore I am". In this book you will learn how important the human capacity to feel is for this philosopher. If you know only one thing about Descartes, you probably know that he was a metaphysical dualist. That is, he thought the universe is divided into two substances: mind and matter. On this picture mind, unlike matter, is not bound by the laws of physics nor it is even located in space. This metaphysical view faces a famous question. How does this non-material mind cause events in the physical body (like the raising of an arm)? In this book, you will learn that there is another, equally vexing question. How does a state in the body (say, the gut-wrench of fear) cause an event in the mind (the idea 'this is scary!'). This latter question has not received nearly enough attention. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, it is quite common for philosophers to accuse Descartes of ignoring the visceral and emotional aspects of life and equating all thought with reason alone. In THE PASSIONS OF THE SOUL he belies this reading with the proclamation, "all the good and evil of this life depend on [the passions] alone". (Part III, Article 212)

The philosophy of Descartes is not the most iron-clad of arguments. He bases almost all of his major conclusions on certain facts that are far from given. For instance, his proof that material things exist depends totally on the fact that God exists. While he does offer 2 proofs that God exists, the arguments are flawed. One is an argument that had been offered hundreds of years before, and was deemed flawed even then. The other just plain doesn't work.

But his philosophy did help bring about the skepticism of "Is this all real? What if it's just a dream, or a hallucination?". That in itself makes this book a good read.

This edition is rather nice, having a wide range of writings from Descartes, including the most famous, the Meditations with criticisms and responses.

This work appears to be the best introduction to rationalism as a 17th century school of thought. Beside presenting in a lucid and not oversimplified way the ideas of Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz, Cottingham situates them both in historical context and in the context of contemporary debates like those of philosophy of mind (certainly so far as we can expect from an introductory work). Oversimplification often harms books like those of the Opus series, so that it often ends up in a book without much content. Cottingham's might be the best in the series. There are some weaknesses in the Leibniz part. Otherwise best introduction.

A dandy little book. Not quite for the uninitiated, which is why it is valuable. Skip Descartes and read Kripke's Naming and Necessity, Burge, as well as Themes from Kaplan. Then pick up Almog's latest book.

It seems like Almog could be right about one thing (certainly): the so-called mind-body problem assumes no fundamental question.

Almog does a nice job with the 'real distinction,' esp. in his discussion on conceivability in 1.3.

Interesting (and successful) juxtaposition: Descartes, Arnauld, and Kripke (1.6).

This book is easy to follow (some nice logic) and is clear in the typical Dodd Hall style (as opposed to some of his lectures).

I was one of the many lucky enough not only to read this book but have the text analyzed in a classroom setting by the author himself. In this text Dr. Dicker displays his extensive knolwedge of the subject at hand. Yet in doing so he shows a tendancy to over analyze Descartes meditations eventually making anything beyond the original text segments very laborious reading, although I would recomend the book for the purpose it was intended for in my case; a very methodical introduction to basic philosophy.

While the genius of Descartes is always eminant, a foreign, or should I say highly specialize text transcribes even the most basic of concepts. I would definately recommend this book to any graduate or anyone who one day hopes to become a graduade student in philosophy.

Dicker's introduction to Descartes is clearly written and easily accessible to new students of Descartes. Although it's not substitute for a thorough inquiry into Descartes' philosophy, Dicker's book is a necessary read for new students. See his book on Hume as well.