Rene Descartes

Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy Rene Descartes

Several of Descarte's most groundbreaking essays and treatises are contained in this superb, unabridged edition.

Written by René Descartes in the 17th century and counted among the first great philosophic works of Enlightenment era, these papers contain the philosopher's thoughts on the nature physical objects, presence and being. Descartes describes a series of vivid dreams which, for their realism, leave him in doubt as to whether he does indeed possess a body or whether it is merely an illusion.

Descartes reflects upon the nature of dreams, and wonders whether their strangeness is not a consequence of God playing a trick with his mind. Discounting God as the culprit, Descartes instead places responsibility of the illusion of reality at the feet of a 'malignant demon'.

The second meditation sees Descartes express doubt as to whether any of his theorising can be proven true. Can the mind be proven to be truly separate and distinct from the body, or is it actually true that the two are purposely interlinked and co-dependent?

Later meditations expound further on the themes of truth and the divine, and of the nature of the physical world around the human body. Descartes devotes further pages of explanation to the mind and the body, discussing his perception of each.

The translations present in this edition were composed by the Scottish poet and scholar of philosophy John Vietch, whose academic career at The University of St. Andrews in Fife provided a firm grounding in the philosophic disciplines.