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Descartes is often regarded as the founder of modern philosophy, and is credited with placing at centre stage the question of what we know and how we know it. Descartes: Belief, Scepticism and Virtue seeks to reinsert his work and thought in its contemporary ethical and theological context. Richard Davies explores the much neglected notion of intellectual virtue as it applies to Descartes' inquiry as a whole. He examines the textual dynamics of Descartes' most famous writings in relation to background debates about human endeavour from Plato down to Descartes' own contemporaries. Bringing these materials together in a novel format, Davies argues for a new approach to Descartes' ideas of scepticism and the sciences. The book also offers fresh interpretations of key passages of the Meditations . Descartes: Belief, Scepticism and Virtue offers an original reassessment of some of the most important bodies of work in Western Philosophy.
| Acknowledgements | p. viii |
| Abbreviations | p. ix |
| Introduction | p. 1 |
| References | p. 7 |
| Structures | p. 9 |
| Intellectual Virtues | p. 11 |
| Excess | p. 39 |
| Reason and Virtue in the Passions | p. 41 |
| The Vice of Credulity | p. 54 |
| The Control of Credulity | p. 78 |
| Reason, Assent and Eternal Truth | p. 103 |
| Defect | p. 145 |
| The Modes of Scepticism | p. 147 |
| The Form of Scepticism | p. 170 |
| The Mean | p. 199 |
| Tota Methodus | p. 201 |
| Rectitude and Science | p. 219 |
| What Rectitude Permits | p. 248 |
| What Rectitude Forbids | p. 268 |
| Afterword | p. 291 |
| Notes | p. 293 |
| Bibliography | p. 322 |
| Index of Primary Texts | p. 343 |
| General Index | p. 356 |
| Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved. |
ISBN: 9780415251228
ISBN-10: 0415251222
Series: Routledge Studies in Seventeenth Century Philosophy
Audience:
Professional
Format:
Hardcover
Language:
English
Number Of Pages: 384
Published: 6th July 2001
Dimensions (cm): 21.6 x 13.8
x 3.3
Weight (kg): 0.567
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