Synopses & Reviews
Jonathan Bennett engages with the thought of six great thinkers of the early modern period: Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume. While not neglecting the historical setting of each, his chief focus is on the words they wrote. What problem is being tackled? How exactly is the solution meant to work? Does it succeed? If not, why not? What can be learned from its success or failure? For newcomers to the early modern scene, this clearly written work is an excellent introduction to it. Those already in the know can learn how to argue with the great philosophers of the past, treating them as colleagues, antagonists, students, teachers. In this first volume, Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz receive particular attention.
Synopsis
Jonathan Bennett engages with the thought of six great thinkers of the early modern period: Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume. While not neglecting the historical setting of each, his chief focus is on the words they wrote. What problem is being tackled? How exactly is the solution meant to work? Does it succeed? If not, why not? What can be learned from its success or failure? For newcomers to the early modern scene, this clearly written work is an excellent introduction to it. Those already in the know can learn how to argue with the great philosophers of the past, treating them as colleagues, antagonists, students, teachers. In this first volume, Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz receive particular attention.
Synopsis
In this illuminating, highly engaging book, Jonathan Bennett acquaints us with the ideas of six great thinkers of the early modern period: Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, and Hume. For newcomers to the early modern scene, this lucidly written work is an excellent introduction. For those already familiar with the time period, this book offers insight into the great philosophers, treating them as colleagues, antagonists, students, and teachers.
Table of Contents
Volume 1 1. Cartesian and Aristotelian Physics
2. Matter and Space
3. Descartes's Physics
4. Descartes's Dualisms
5. Descartes on Causation
6. Preparing to Approach Spinoza
7. One Extended Substance
8. Explaining the Parallelism
9. Explanatory Rationalism
10. Spinoza on Belief and Error
11. Desire in Descartes and Spinoza
12. Leibniz Arrives at Monads
13. Causation and Perception in Leibniz
14. Leibniz's Physics
15. Harmony
16. Animals that Think
17. Leibniz's Contained-Predicate Doctrine
18. Leibniz and Relations
19. Descartes's Search for Security
20. Descartes's Stability Project