Descartes in Dialogue - Softcover

Roolvink, James Paul

Softcover

ISBN 13: 9798187870547

Publisher: Independently published, 2026

Synopsis

In 1641, Descartes’ (1596–1650) masterpiece, the ‘Meditationes de prima philosophia’, abbreviated to the ‘Meditations’, was published. This work and the earlier ‘Discours de la méthode pour bien conduire sa raison et chercher la vérité dans les sciences’, abbreviated to ‘Discourse on the Method’, are now regarded as marking the beginning of modern philosophy by and in the West.

This is a philosophy that reduces knowledge to scientific knowledge and seeks to ensure the certainty of scientific knowledge. Descartes finds certainty in the clarity of the insight that, at the very moment you think and only for as long as you think, it is absolutely certain that you exist, expressed in the cogito sum (‘I think, I am’ – there is no ergo/therefore because ‘cogito sum’ is an expression of immediate insight into oneself so there is no time for a logical ergo). For Descartes, the clarity of that certainty is the criterion for distinguishing certain knowledge from uncertain (probable and highly probable) knowledge. Through that brilliantly clear criterion – the natural light of reason bestowed by God – Descartes discovers that God is Good and that this Goodness is the assurance that a scientific method can lead to true, objective knowledge. In ‘Descartes in Dialogue’ you will find several summaries of the ‘Meditations’ to explain this.

Descartes is therefore certainly not an atheist who denies the existence of God, and yet he has faced much criticism from religious quarters. He has also faced criticism from atheists and from scientists alike. As a true marketing strategist, Descartes incorporated these criticisms and his critical response into the ‘Meditations’.

In ‘Descartes in Dialogue’, Descartes’ critiques of those critiques are examined through close reading. This provides a unique insight into how people were still able to engage in dialogue with one another at that time. For anyone wishing to learn about (scientific) dialogue and to gain an insight into the era when the new mechanical science first emerged, this book is a valuable treasure.

This book including the above text has been translated from Dutch into English by the translation machine DeepL.

Edition details

• Publisher: Independently published
• Publication date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 13: 9798187870547
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 138