Discourse on Method and Related Writings
Discourse on Method and Related Writings

Author: Rene Descartes

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2000-03-01

Total Pages: 260

ISBN-13: 1101160500

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"It is not enough to have a good mind; it is more important to use it well" René Descartes was a central figure in the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century. In his Discourse on Method he outlined the contrast between mathematics and experimental sciences, and the extent to which each one can achieve certainty. Drawing on his own work in geometry, optics, astronomy and physiology, Descartes developed the hypothetical method that characterizes modern science, and this soon came to replace the traditional techniques derived from Aristotle. Many of Descartes’ most radical ideas—such as the disparity between our perceptions and the realities that cause them—have been highly influential in the development of modern philosophy. This edition sets the Discourse on Method in the wider context of Descartes’ work, with the Rules for Guiding One’s Intelligence in Searching for the Truth (1628), extracts from The World (1633) and selected letters from 1636-9. A companion volume, Meditations and Other Metaphysical Writings, is also published in Penguin Classics.

Freedom and Dignity
Freedom and Dignity

Author: Deric Regin

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 194

ISBN-13: 9401190976

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I wish to express my gratitude to the following distinguished scholars who have been greatly instrumental in the result of this inquiry. I am most indebted to Professor Peter Gay of Columbia, who has weeded out many errors and ambiguities in the manuscript, and whose vast knowledge, wide interest and profound insights have helped me here, as on previous occasions, to understand the intricacies of the eighteenth century. I should also like to thank Professor Fritz Stern for the keen criticism with which he has read the entire manuscript. A special debt lowe to Dr. Walter Silz who, expert on Schiller as well as on the Romantics, has aided me with great skill, experience and wisdom in the problem of relating both. I further wish to thank Pro fessor Walter Sokel of Stanford and Professor Theodore Ziolkowski of Princeton for their assistance in specific problems. Above all, however, I am profoundly indebted to my wife, without whose infinite care and patience, as well as fine linguistic precision this study could not have been written. T ABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 PART 1. BETWEEN ARCADIA AND KARLSSCHULE 1. Rebels and scholars 5 2. The freedom to wander 16 3. Romantic polarity 27 PAR T II. BET WEE N J E N A AND V E R SAIL L E S 1. Professional history 45 2. The inaugural address 56 3. The historical writings 70 PAR T III.