Descartes's theory of action / by Anne Ashley Davenport.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Davenport, Anne Ashley.

Series:

Brill's studies in intellectual history ; v. 142.

Brill's studies in intellectual history, 0920-8607 ; v. 142

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Act (Philosophy).

Descartes, René, 1596-1650.

Descartes, René.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (328 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Leiden ; Boston : Brill, c2006.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This volume has a single goal: to argue that Descartes’s most fundamental discovery is not the epistemological subject, but rather the underlying free agent without whom no epistemological subject is possible. This fresh interpretation of the Cartesian “cogito” is defended through a close reading of Descartes’s masterpiece, the Meditations . Special attention is paid to the historical roots of Descartes’s interest in free agency, particularly his close ties to the French School of spirituality. Three aspects of Descartes’s personal evolution are considered: his aesthetic evolution from Baroque concealment to Classicism, his political evolution from feudal nostalgia to modern secularism, and his spiritual evolution from Stoic wisdom to active engagement in the world through the scientific project.

Contents:

Preliminary Material / Anne Ashley Davenport

Chapter One: Spiritual Directors and Spiritual Action / Anne Ashley Davenport

Chapter Two: Passion and Action in Rule XII / Anne Ashley Davenport

Chapter Three: The Insights of Orthopraxy / Anne Ashley Davenport

Chapter Four: A Discourse on Resolve / Anne Ashley Davenport

Chapter Five: Tempus ad Agendum: the Time to Act / Anne Ashley Davenport

Chapter Six: Basic Action Revisited / Anne Ashley Davenport

Chapter Seven: I Refrain, Therefore I am / Anne Ashley Davenport

Chapter Eight: Induction and Infinity / Anne Ashley Davenport

Chapter Nine: Action and Individuation / Anne Ashley Davenport

Chapter Ten: Beyond Obedience and Indifference / Anne Ashley Davenport

Chapter Eleven: Is Free Agency Required for the Perception of Truth? / Anne Ashley Davenport

Chapter Twelve: Agency and the Order of Nature / Anne Ashley Davenport

Bibliography / Anne Ashley Davenport

Index / Anne Ashley Davenport.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. [299]-301) and index.

ISBN:

1-281-39959-0

9786611399597

90-474-0997-3

OCLC:

290556501

Publisher Number:

10.1163/9789047409977 DOI