Discourse on Method and the Meditations (Penguin Classics) - Softcover

Descartes, René

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140442065 ISBN 13: 9780140442069

Publisher: Penguin, 2005

Synopsis

René Descartes was a central figure in the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century. In his Discourse on Method he outlined the contrast between mathematics and experimental sciences, and the extent to which each one can achieve certainty. Drawing on his own work in geometry, optics, astronomy and physiology, Descartes developed the hypothetical method that characterizes modern science, and this soon came to replace the traditional techniques derived from Aristotle. Many of Descartes' most radical ideas - such as the disparity between our perceptions and the realities that cause them - have been highly influential in the development of modern philosophy.

About this title

Review:

The new version of Cress's translation of Descartes's "Meditations" has attained an unusually high degree of readability . . . and, at the same time, of fidelity to the original. This combination . . . makes the work especially suitable for classroom use. --Roger Ariew, University of South Florida, and Marjorie Grene (1910-2009), Virginia Polytechnic Institute

An excellent edition and the price is fair. --Alan Soble, University of New Orleans

The new version of Cress's translation of Descartes's Meditations has attained an unusually high degree of readability . . . and, at the same time, of fidelity to the original. This combination . . . makes the work especially suitable for classroom use. --Roger Ariew, University of South Florida, and Marjorie Grene (1910-2009), Virginia Polytechnic Institute

An excellent edition and the price is fair. --Alan Soble, University of New Orleans

About the Author:

Epictetus (c. 55–135 AD) was a teacher and Greco-Roman philosopher. Originally a slave from Hierapolis in Anatolia (modern Turkey), he was owned for a time by a prominent freedman at the court of the emperor Nero. After gaining his freedom he moved to Nicopolis on the Adriatic coast of Greece and opened a school of philosophy there. His informal lectures (the Discourses) were transcribed and published by his student Arrian, who also composed a digest of Epictetus' teaching known as the Manual (or Enchiridion).

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0140442065
• ISBN 13: 9780140442069
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 188