Demons, dreamers, and madmen : the defense of reason in Descartes's Meditations / Harry G. Frankfurt ; foreword by Rebecca Goldstein.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Frankfurt, Harry G., 1929-2023.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Reason.

First philosophy.

Descartes, René, 1596-1650. Meditationes de prima philosophia.

Descartes, René.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (283 p.)

Edition:

1st Princeton ed.

Place of Publication:

Princeton : Princeton University Press, 2008.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In this classic work, best-selling author Harry Frankfurt provides a compelling analysis of the question that not only lies at the heart of Descartes's Meditations, but also constitutes the central preoccupation of modern philosophy: on what basis can reason claim to provide any justification for the truth of our beliefs? Demons, Dreamers, and Madmen provides an ingenious account of Descartes's defense of reason against his own famously skeptical doubts that he might be a madman, dreaming, or, worse yet, deceived by an evil demon into believing falsely. Frankfurt's masterful and imaginative reading of Descartes's seminal work not only stands the test of time; one imagines Descartes himself nodding in agreement.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Foreword / Goldstein, Rebecca

Preface To The Princeton Edition

Preface

One. The First Meditation

1. Introduction

2. The General Overthrow of Belief

3. The Criterion of Doubt

4. The Perception of the Physical World

5. The Strategy of the First Meditation

6. Simple and Universal Things

7. Mathematics in the First Meditation

8. Mathematics and the Omnipotent Deceiver

9. Demons, Dreamers, and Madmen

Two. Reason and Its Validation

10. Sum

11. Sum res cogitans

12. Clear and Distinct Perception

13. Objections to Descartes's Rule of Evidence

14. Memory and Doubt

15. The Validation of Reason

16. Truth and Reality: The Galileo Controversy

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786612935527

9786612086724

9781282086722

1282086723

9781282935525

1282935526

9781400828180

140082818X

OCLC:

344100132