A Macat analysis of René Descartes's Meditations on first philosophy
Material type: TextPublication details: London Macat International 2017Description: 92pISBN: 9781912127320Subject(s): Meditationes de prima philosophia (Descartes, René) First philosophy Thought and thinking Belief and doubt Knowledge, Theory ofDDC classification: 194 Summary: René Descartes’s 1641 Meditations on First Philosophy is a cornerstone of the history of western thought. One of the most important philosophical texts ever written, it is also a masterclass in the art of critical thinking – specifically when it comes to reasoning and interpretation. Descartes sought to do nothing less than create a new foundation for the pursuit of knowledge – whether philosophical, scientific, or theological. To that end, he laid out a systematic programme that reinterpreted prior definitions of knowledge, and reasoned out a systematic means of obtaining, verifying, and building on existing human knowledge. To this end, Descartes created a definition of true knowledge as that which is based on things which cannot be called into doubt by radical scepticism. If, he suggests, we can find a belief that cannot be called into doubt, this will provide a solid foundation upon which we can build systematic reasoning. This ‘cartesian’ method, as it has come to be known, is a blueprint for reasoning that continues to shape the study of philosophy today: a careful weighing of possibilities, searching out solid ground and building on it step by step.Item type | Current library | Call number | Status | Date due | Barcode |
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BK | Stack | 194 VRA/M (Browse shelf (Opens below)) | Available | 51775 |
Browsing Kannur University Central Library shelves, Shelving location: Stack Close shelf browser (Hides shelf browser)
194 GUT/F Foucault : a very short introduction | 194 SMA/M Michel Foucault | 194 THE Theory after Derrida : | 194 VRA/M A Macat analysis of René Descartes's Meditations on first philosophy | 194 ZIZ Organs without bodies | 194.9 MAU/L The living thoughts of Pascal | 199.438 KOT/I Is God happy? : selected essays |
René Descartes’s 1641 Meditations on First Philosophy is a cornerstone of the history of western thought. One of the most important philosophical texts ever written, it is also a masterclass in the art of critical thinking – specifically when it comes to reasoning and interpretation.
Descartes sought to do nothing less than create a new foundation for the pursuit of knowledge – whether philosophical, scientific, or theological. To that end, he laid out a systematic programme that reinterpreted prior definitions of knowledge, and reasoned out a systematic means of obtaining, verifying, and building on existing human knowledge. To this end, Descartes created a definition of true knowledge as that which is based on things which cannot be called into doubt by radical scepticism. If, he suggests, we can find a belief that cannot be called into doubt, this will provide a solid foundation upon which we can build systematic reasoning. This ‘cartesian’ method, as it has come to be known, is a blueprint for reasoning that continues to shape the study of philosophy today: a careful weighing of possibilities, searching out solid ground and building on it step by step.
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