Radical Cartesianism
The French Reception of Descartes

A study of two of Descartes's successors and of their original contributions to Cartesianism.

Tad M. Schmaltz (Author)

9780521811347, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 22 August 2002

304 pages, 5 b/w illus. 1 table
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.1 cm, 0.62 kg

"Schmaltz's book contains philosophically sophisticated treatments of a host of philosophical problems from the period which we should take seriously ... the book is well worth reading." Philosophy in Review

This is a book-length study of two of Descartes's most innovative successors, Robert Desgabets and Pierre-Sylvain Regis, and of their highly original contributions to Cartesianism. The focus of the book is an analysis of radical doctrines in the work of these thinkers that derive from arguments in Descartes: on the creation of eternal truths, on the intentionality of ideas, and on the soul-body union. As well as relating their work to that of fellow Cartesians such as Malebranche and Arnauld, the book also establishes the important though neglected role played by Desgabets and Regis in the theologically and politically charged reception of Descartes in early modern France. This is a major contribution to the history of Cartesianism that will be of special interest to historians of early modern philosophy and historians of ideas.

Preface
A note on citation and translation
List of abbreviations
Introduction: radical Cartesianism in context
Part I. Robert Desgabets: 1. Desgabets's Considérations, Arnauld and Cartesianism
Part II. Three Radical Doctrines: 2. The creation doctrine: indefectible material substance and God
3. The intentionality doctrine: ideas and extra-mental objects
4. The union doctrine: temporal human thought and motion
Part III. Pierre-Sylvain Regis: 5. Huet's Censura, Malebranche and Platonism
Conclusion: 'a forgotten branch of Cartesianism'
Works cited
Index.

Subject Areas: Western philosophy: c 1600 to c 1900 [HPCD]