Meditations on First Philosophy (Hackett Classics)

by René Descartes

Other authorsDonald A. Cress (Translator)
Paper Book, 1993

Status

Available

Publication

Hackett Publishing Company (1993), Edition: 3rd, 72 pages

Description

Descartes's Meditations on First Philosophy remains one of the most widely studied works of Western philosophy. This volume is a refreshed and updated edition of John Cottingham's bestselling 1996 edition, based on his translation in the acclaimed three-volume Cambridge edition of The Philosophical Writings of Descartes. It presents the complete text of Descartes's central metaphysical masterpiece, the Meditations, in clear, readable modern English, and it offers the reader additional material in a thematic abridgement of the Objections and Replies, providing a deeper understanding of how Descartes developed and clarified his arguments in response to critics. Cottingham also provides an updated introduction, together with a substantially revised bibliography, taking into account recent literature and developments in Descartes studies. The volume will be a vital resource for students reading the Meditations, as well as those studying Descartes and early modern philosophy.… (more)

Original publication date

1641

Language

ISBN

0872201929 / 9780872201927

Local notes

Given by Br Evan Watson, 2018

Rating

(380 ratings; 3.4)

User reviews

LibraryThing member jpsnow
It's a classic but... a tiresome and rather flawed attempt to prove the existence of god and everything else. If nothing else, it seems to show the powerful influence of the church's recent treatment of Descarte's contemporaries.
LibraryThing member gbill
Descartes is of course famous for “Cogito Ergo Sum”, or “I think, therefore I am”, an argument which is laid out in these meditations … and OK, if one needs to spend the mental energy to prove one exists, fine. Hats off to the man for thinking deep thoughts and putting quill to parchment
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in 1641. But he then builds upon this to “prove” that God exists. I won’t recreate that argument here because it’s ridiculous, and a good example of how a philosopher can wrap himself up too much in a pseudo-intellectual argument to reach his desired conclusion, whatever it might be. Of course the Meditations have value and a solid place in the history of Western Philosophy, but I’d recommend turning to the philosophy of the East instead. I got very little out of these writings.
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LibraryThing member Audacity88
Well, it was cool until he ended up "deducing" the existence of God.
LibraryThing member Sharon.Flesher
Read for an on-line philosophy course. I doubt I would have made it through the first few pages without the encouragement of the professor, and I preferred his summary of the book to the actual book.
LibraryThing member jculkin
I don't doubt it is an important work in the development of 'The Great Conversation', but I rate a book according to how much I get out of it, and how much I enjoy it. It seems like a bit of a let down after reading Discourse on Method: but I suppose I should have taken the last 2 parts of that
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book (5 and 6) as a warning of what was to come. The first two meditations (again, of 6) to me are an echo of the Discourse; longer and less clear.

There are good lines here and there, but after proving his own existence he goes off the 'right path'as he calls it, with his argument for god: I couldn't think of a perfect being unless there was one already. Simon Blackburn (Think, 1999) provides an excuse for Descartes, suggeesting that the idea of cause and effect have changed considerably since then: apparently at that point in history, whatever causes, neccesarily passes something on, like a baton in a relay race, to the thing it causes. I half-heartedly continued into meditation 4 onwards, but I began to skip sections once I found "God" coming up every two or three lines. A key point in our history, but not so accessible today. Discourse is lovely though!
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LibraryThing member DanielSTJ
Logical and critical, this book is a good primer for those interested in Descartes and further philosophy. I recommend it to those seeking knowledge, logic, and sagacity.
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