Descartes' deontological turn : reason, will, and virtue in the later writings / Noa Naaman-Zauderer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Naaman Zauderer, Noa, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Descartes, René, 1596-1650.

Descartes, René.

Will.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xii, 224 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2010.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This book offers a way of approaching the place of the will in Descartes' mature epistemology and ethics. Departing from the widely accepted view, Noa Naaman-Zauderer suggests that Descartes regards the will, rather than the intellect, as the most significant mark of human rationality, both intellectual and practical. Through a close reading of Cartesian texts from the Meditations onward, she brings to light a deontological and non-consequentialist dimension of Descartes' later thinking, which credits the proper use of free will with a constitutive, evaluative role. She shows that the right use of free will, to which Descartes assigns obligatory force, constitutes for him an end in its own right rather than merely a means for attaining any other end, however valuable. Her important study has significant implications for the unity of Descartes' thinking, and for the issue of responsibility, inviting scholars to reassess Descartes' philosophical legacy.

Contents:

Looking inward: truth, falsehood, and clear and distinct ideas

Error in judgment

Free will

Free will and the likeness to God

From intellectual to practical reason

Descartes' deontological ethics of virtue.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0-511-86148-6

1-107-21705-9

1-282-92173-8

9786612921735

0-511-86052-8

0-511-85965-1

0-511-85878-7

0-511-85791-8

0-511-77899-6

0-511-85704-7

OCLC:

693761358