Mind, Body, and Morality : New Perspectives on Descartes and Spinoza.

• Superior document: Routledge studies in seventeenth-century philosophy ; 19
• Author: Reuter, Martina.
• TeilnehmendeR: Svensson, Frans.
• Year of Publication: 2019
• Language: English
• Series: Routledge studies in seventeenth-century philosophy ; 19.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (274 pages).
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

The turn of the millennium has been marked by new developments in the study of early modern philosophy. In particular, the philosophy of Renae Descartes has been reinterpreted in a number of important and exciting ways, specifically concerning his work on the mind-body union, the connection between objective and formal reality, and his status as a moral philosopher. These fresh interpretations have coincided with a renewed interest in overlooked parts of the Cartesian corpus and a sustained focus on the similarities between Descartes' thought and the philosophy of Baruch Spinoza. Mind, Body, and Morality consists of fifteen chapters written by scholars who have contributed significantly to the new turn in Descartes and Spinoza scholarship. The volume is divided into three parts. The first group of chapters examines different metaphysical and epistemological problems raised by the Cartesian mind-body union. Part II investigates Descartes' and Spinoza's understanding of the relations between ideas, knowledge, and reality. Special emphasis is put on Spinoza's conception of the relation between activity and passivity. Finally, the last part explores different aspects of Descartes' moral philosophy, connecting his views to important predecessors, Augustine and Abelard, and comparing them to Spinoza.

Table of Contents

Cover; Half Title; Series; Title; Copyright; Contents; Contributors; Acknowledgments; 1 Introduction; Part I Cartesian Persons; 2 The Metaphysics of Cartesian Persons; 3 The Gender of the Cartesian Mind, Body, and Mind-Body Union; 4 "I certainly seem to see": Embodiment in the Second Meditation; Part II Ideas, Knowledge, and Reality; 5 Ideas and Reality in Descartes; 6 Spinoza's Three Kinds of Cognition: Imagination, Understanding, and Definition and Essence; 7 Mind-Body Interaction and Unity in Spinoza; 8 Spinoza and the Inferential Nature of Thought

9 Self-Consciousness and Consciousness of Self: Spinoza on Desire and Pride10 Spinoza on Activity and Passivity: The Problematic Definition Revisited; Part III Will, Virtue, and Love; 11 Teleology and Descartes' Problem of Error; 12 Descartes' Generosité; 13 A Cartesian Distinction in Virtue: Moral and Perfect; 14 Spinoza and the Cartesian Definition of Love; 15 Self and Will in Descartes's Account of Love; Index