New Essays on the Rationalists

by Rocco J. Gennaro (Editor), Charles Huenemann (Editor)

Overview

This collection presents some of the most vital and original recent writings on Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz, the three greatest rationalists of the early modern period. Their work offered brilliant and distinct integrations of science, morals, metaphysics, and religion, which today remain at the center of philosophical discussion. The essays written especially for this volume explore how these three philosophical systems treated matter, substance, human freedom, natural necessity, knowledge, mind, and consciousness. The contributors include some of the most prominent writers in the field, including Jonathan Bennett, Michael Della Rocca, Jan A. Cover, Catherine Wilson, Stephen Voss, Edwin Curley, Don Garrett, and Margaret D. Wilson.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195124880
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	11/25/1999
Pages:	416
Product dimensions:	9.24(w) x 6.40(h) x 1.18(d)
Lexile:	1440L (what's this?)

About the Author

Rocco J. Gennaro is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Indiana State University, Terre Haute. He is the author of Consciousness and Self-Consciousness: A Defense of the Higher-Order Thought Theory of Consciousness (1996) and Mind and Brain: A Dialogue on the Mind-Body Problem (1996).

Charles Huenemann is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Utah State University. His research interests include early modern philosophy, Kant, and Neo-Kantianism.

Table of Contents

IntroductionPart I - Matter and Substance1.. Space and Subtle Matter in Descartes's Metaphysics, Jonathan Bennett, Syracuse University2.. Descartes on Nothing in Particular, Eric Palmer, Allegheny College, Pennsylvania3.. "If a Body Meets a Body": Descartes on Body-Body Causation, Michael Della Rocca, Yale University4.. Descartes's Extended Substances, Mathew Stuart, Bowdoin College, Maine5.. Spinoza's Extended Substance: Cartesian and Leibnizian Reflections, Jan A. Cover, Purdue University6.. Leibniz's Constructivism and Infinitely Folded Matter, Samuel Levey, Dartmouth College7.. Locke and Leibniz and the Debate over Species, Susanna Goodin, University of WyomingPart II - Freedom and Necessity8.. Descartes on Spontaneity, Indifference, and Alternatives, Joseph Keim Campbell, Washington State University9.. The Range of Leibnizian Compatibilism, Eric Sotnak, University of Akron, Ohio10.. The Necessity of Finite Modes and Geometrical Containment in Spinoza's Metaphysics, Charles Huenemann, Utah State University11.. Spinoza's Necessitarianism Reconsidered, Edwin Curley and Gregory Walski, both at University of MichiganPart III - Mind and Consciousness12.. A Spectator at the Theater of the World, Stephen Voss, Bogazici University, Turkey13.. Distinctness, Clarence Bonnen and Daniel Flage, both at James Madison University, Virginia14.. Causation and Similarity in Descartes, Geoffrey Gorham, Cornell College, Iowa15.. Teleology in Spinoza and Early Modern Rationalism, Don Garret, University of Utah16.. "For They Do Not Agree In Nature With Us": Spinoza on the Lower Animals, Margaret D. Wilson, Princeton University17.. Leibniz on Consciousness and Self-Consciousness, Rocco J. Gennaro, Indiana State University18.. The Illusory Nature of Leibniz's System, Catherine Wilson, University of Alberta, CanadaBibliographyIndex

Editorial Reviews

"Offers a great deal for the specialist to get his or her teeth into. The contributions are of an almost uniformly high quality. Most [of the contributors] are driven by a desire to achieve a better understanding of the philosophers themselves [rather than using] these great, dead philosophers simply as a pretext or springboard for discussing an issue of contemporary concern. Those who regard this as a step in the right direction will find much to admire in the present volume."—Nicholas Jolley, Philosophical Review

From the Publisher