Descartes' System of Natural PhilosophyTowards the end of his life, Descartes published the first four parts of a projected six-part work, The Principles of Philosophy. This was intended to be the definitive statement of his complete system of philosophy, dealing with everything from cosmology to the nature of human happiness. Stephen Gaukroger examines the whole system, and reconstructs the last two parts, 'On Living Things' and 'On Man', from Descartes' other writings. He relates the work to the tradition of late Scholastic textbooks which it follows, and also to Descartes' other philosophical writings. |
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... mathematics ' The Regulae Le Monde and L'Homme La Discours and Les Essais Metaphysics and the legitimation of natural philosophy La Recherche de la vérité versus the Principia 2 The Principia and the Scholastic textbook tradition The ...
... mathematics ' The Regulae Le Monde and L'Homme La Discours and Les Essais Metaphysics and the legitimation of natural philosophy La Recherche de la vérité versus the Principia 2 The Principia and the Scholastic textbook tradition The ...
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... mathematics was second to none in the seventeenth century ; and he not only discov- ered reflex action , but developed a mechanistic approach to physiology which set the parameters for much thinking about physiology in the eigh- teenth ...
... mathematics was second to none in the seventeenth century ; and he not only discov- ered reflex action , but developed a mechanistic approach to physiology which set the parameters for much thinking about physiology in the eigh- teenth ...
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Contents
Before the Principia | 5 |
Physicomathematics | 6 |
The Regulae | 7 |
Le Monde and LHomme | 10 |
La Discours and Les Essais | 24 |
Metaphysics and the legitimation of natural philosophy | 28 |
La Recherche de la verite versus the Principia | 30 |
The Principia and the Scholastic textbook tradition | 32 |
Principia Part III The visible universe | 135 |
Celestial motions | 136 |
Planetary motion | 142 |
Celestial matter and the transmission of light | 146 |
Vortex theory | 150 |
Comets planets and moons | 153 |
Principia Part IV The Earth | 161 |
The nature of the Earth | 162 |
The problem of natural philosophy | 35 |
Theology metaphysics and natural philosophy | 43 |
the textbook tradition | 48 |
Content and ordering | 54 |
The structure of the Principia | 58 |
Principia Part I The principles of knowledge | 64 |
Doubt and knowledge | 69 |
Essence and existence | 73 |
Clarity and distinctness | 79 |
The metaphysics of substnace | 85 |
Principia Part II The principles of material objects | 93 |
Material extension | 97 |
The nature of motion | 103 |
The first two laws of motion | 114 |
The third law of motion | 121 |
solids and fluids | 130 |
The formation of the Earth | 166 |
Air water earth and fire | 169 |
Magnetism and related phenomena | 173 |
Principia Part V Living things | 180 |
Basic physiology | 184 |
Developmental physiology | 190 |
Animal psychophysiology | 196 |
Affective states in animals | 213 |
Principia Part VI Man | 215 |
Cognition | 216 |
The fragmentation of the soul | 222 |
The philosopher as sage | 236 |
The morality of philosophers | 239 |
Bibliography | 247 |
255 | |
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Aquinas Aristotelian Aristotle Augustinian automata behaviour body Cambridge Cartesian cause celestial celestial matter centre chapter Christiaan Huygens Christian clarity and distinctness clear and distinct collision conception construed cosmology crucial developed Discours distinct ideas doctrine dynamical Earth effect ethics Eustachius example existence explain fact fluid foetus force Francis Bacon function Galileo Gassendi globules grasp heliocentrism human imagination intellectual kind kinematic L'Homme late Scholastic Le Monde Leibniz light magnetism mathematics matter theory mechanical mechanist Meditationes Mersenne metaphysics metaphysics and natural mind modes Monde moral motion move natural philosophy natural-philosophical Neoplatonic Newton optics orbits passions perceptual cognition phenomena physiology pineal gland planets Principia principles problem processes properties question representation rest rotation Scholastic textbook sensation sense seventeenth century shape simply soul space speed stars Stephen Gaukroger substance subtle matter textbook tradition theology things Thomist understanding universe vortex theory vortices