Representation and Scepticism from Aquinas to Descartes

The first comparative study of the sceptical reception of representationalism in medieval and early modern thought.

Han Thomas Adriaenssen (Author)

9781107181625, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 13 April 2017

302 pages, 4 b/w illus.
23.6 x 15.9 x 1.9 cm, 0.56 kg

'Adriaenssen's rich and detailed study, which carefully evaluates the extant literature (in English, German, French and Italian) and offers subtle interpretations of difficult texts, makes a real contribution to the research on medieval and early modern theories of cognition. It will be indispensable reading for students and scholars working on this topic.' Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

In this book Han Thomas Adriaenssen offers the first comparative exploration of the sceptical reception of representationalism in medieval and early modern philosophy. Descartes is traditionally credited with inaugurating a new kind of scepticism by saying that the direct objects of perception are images in the mind, not external objects, but Adriaenssen shows that as early as the thirteenth century, critics had already found similar problems in Aquinas's theory of representation. He charts the attempts of philosophers in both periods to grapple with these problems, and shows how in order to address the challenges of scepticism and representation, modern philosophers in the wake of Descartes often breathed new life into old ideas, remoulding them in ways that we are just beginning to understand. His book will be valuable for historians interested in the medieval background to early modern thought, and to medievalists looking at continuity with the early modern period.

Introduction
Part I. The Veil of Species: 1. Through species to the world. Aquinas and Henry of Ghent
2. Perception without intermediaries. Olivi's critique of species
3. Direct realism about perception and beyond. Auriol and Ockham
Part II. The Veil of Cartesian Ideas: 4. Transformations of Cartesianism. Malebranche and Arnauld
5. Ideas and objects in Desgabets's radical Cartesianism
6. The solid philosophy of John Sergeant
Part III. Representations and Scepticism: 7. From representation to object
8. Criteriological problems
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Philosophy: epistemology & theory of knowledge [HPK], Western philosophy: c 1600 to c 1900 [HPCD], Western philosophy: Medieval & Renaissance, c 500 to c 1600 [HPCB], European history [HBJD]