Overview
- Shows that the traditional readings of Descartes are overly reductive, in particular the traditional claims that the Cartesian method is unrelated to fields like rhetoric and history and that the imagination is a passive mental faculty
- Incorporates readings of Descartes from both the analytic and continental traditions
- Makes Descartes not simply a historically important thinker, but one much closer to contemporary philosophy
Access this book
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Other ways to access
Table of contents (6 chapters)
-
Front Matter
-
Back Matter
Keywords
About this book
What role do fables play in Cartesian method and psychology? By looking at Descartes’ use of fables, James Griffith suggests there is a fabular logic that runs to the heart of Descartes’ philosophy. First focusing on The World and the Discourse on Method, this volume shows that by writing in fable form, Descartes allowed his readers to break from Scholastic methods of philosophizing. With this fable-structure or -logic in mind, the book reexamines the relationship between analysis, synthesis, and inexact sciences; between metaphysics and ethico-political life; and between the imagination, the will, and the passions.
Reviews
“It is hard to compose something genuinely novel, crucial and comprehensive about a historical figure as well-studied as Descartes, but this book accomplishes exactly that. The insights into Descartes’ method presents a compelling new argument about the generative role of the use of fable. The book thus challenges long-held views about Descartes’ strategies and intentions, and furthermore, its engagement with contemporary Continental philosophy places Descartes at the center of the most significant current conversations.” (Molly O'Donnell, Saint Xavier University, USA)
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Fable, Method, and Imagination in Descartes
Authors: James Griffith
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70238-4
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Religion and Philosophy, Philosophy and Religion (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-70237-7Published: 26 January 2018
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-88908-5Published: 06 June 2019
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-70238-4Published: 09 January 2018
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XII, 213
Topics: Phenomenology, Metaphysics, Ontology, Early Modern/Renaissance Literature, European Literature, History of the Book