Descartes and Augustine

Stephen Menn (McGill University, Montréal)

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English

Cambridge University Pres
23 May 2002

Philosophy; Western philosophy: Medieval & Renaissance, c 500 to c 1600; Western philosophy: c 1600 to c 1900; Philosophy of religion

This book is the first systematic study of Descartes' relation to Augustine. It offers a complete reevaluation of Descartes' thought and as such will be of major importance to all historians of medieval, neo-Platonic, or early modern philosophy. Stephen Menn demonstrates that Descartes uses Augustine's central ideas as a point of departure for a critique of medieval Aristotelian physics, which he replaces with a new, mechanistic anti-Aristotelian physics. Special features of the book include a reading of the Meditations, a comprehensive historical and philosophical introduction to Augustine's thought, a detailed account of Plotinus, and a contextualization of Descartes' mature philosophical project which explores both the framework within which it evolved and the early writings, to show how the collapse of the early project drove Descartes to the writings of Augustine.

By: Stephen Menn (McGill University Montréal)
Imprint: Cambridge University Pres
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 228mm, Width: 153mm, Spine: 22mm
Weight: 570g
ISBN: 9780521012843
ISBN 10: 0521012848
Pages: 432
Publication Date: 23 May 2002
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Introduction; 1. Descartes and the history of philosophy; 2. Descartes' project for a new philosophy; Part I. Augustinian Wisdom: 3. Plotinus; 4. Augustine; Part II. Descartes' Metaphysics: 5. The design of the Meditations; 6. Isolating the soul and God; 7. Theodicy and Method; 8. From God to bodies; 9. Conclusion.

Reviews for Descartes and Augustine

'... the best book in the English language on the Meditations ... Historical scholarship does not get any better.' David Glidden, Ancient Philosophy '... a brilliant piece of research in the history of philosophy which will surely be a work to be read and reckoned with by future students of Descartes and Augustine.' The Modern Schoolman '... a fresh and excitingly bold reading of Descartes ... Stephen Menn's wonderful book makes Augustine's Fourth Century much less remote from Descartes's seventeenth century than we had thought it was.' Philosophy in Review