The seventeenth century saw a major revolution in our ways of thinking about such issues as the method appropriate to philosophy and science, the relation between mind and body, the nature of substance, and the place of humanity in nature. While not neglecting the lesser but still influential figures, such as Arnauld and Malebranche, John Cottingham focuses primarily on the three great "rationalists": Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz. He examines how they approached central problems of philosophy, and shows how closely their ideas are related, despite the radically different philosophical systems they produced. He not only places the major thinkers in their historical and philosophical contexts, but engages their ideas in a vigorously critical way, revealing their capacity to throw light on major philosophical topics that are still very much alive today.

The Rationalists (A ^AHistory of Western Philosophy)

Politics & Social Sciences

Cottingham, John

Philosophy

Oxford University Press

The seventeenth century saw a major revolution in our ways of thinking about such issues as the method appropriate to philosophy and science, the relation between mind and body, the nature of substance, and the place of humanity in nature. While not neglecting the lesser but still influential figures, such as Arnauld and Malebranche, John Cottingham focuses primarily on the three great "rationalists": Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz. He examines how they approached central problems of philosophy, and shows how closely their ideas are related, despite the radically different philosophical systems they produced. He not only places the major thinkers in their historical and philosophical contexts, but engages their ideas in a vigorously critical way, revealing their capacity to throw light on major philosophical topics that are still very much alive today.

The Rationalists (History of Western Philosophy)

The Humane Perspective: Philosophical Reflections on Human Nature, the Search for Meaning, and the Role of Religion

John Cottingham explores central areas of Descartes's rich and wide-ranging philosophical system, including his accounts of thought and language, of freedom and action, of our relationship to the animal domain, and of human morality and the conduct of life. He also examines ways in which his philosophy has been misunderstood. The Cartesian mind-body dualism that is so often attacked is only a part of Descartes's account of what it is to be a thinking, sentient, human creature, and the way he makes the division between the mental and the physical is considerably more subtle, and philosophically more appealing, than is generally assumed. Although Descartes is often considered to be one of the heralds of our modern secular worldview, the 'new' philosophy which he launched retains many links with the ideas of his predecessors, not least in the all-pervasive role it assigns to God (something that is ignored or downplayed by many modern readers); and the character of the Cartesian outlook is multifaceted, sometimes anticipating Enlightenment ideas of human autonomy and independent scientific inquiry, but also sometimes harmonizing with more traditional notions of human nature as created to find fulfilment in harmony with its creator.

Cartesian Reflections: Essays on Descartes's Philosophy

History

World

Sir Anthony Kenny is one of the most distinguished and prolific philosophers of our time. In the wide range and historical breadth of his interests, he has influenced many parts of the philosophical landscape, especially in the philosophy of mind and the theory of human action and responsibility. In contrast to many of his contemporaries, who have played down philosophy's debt to its past, Kenny's work has always been rooted in the great tradition of Western philosophical inquiry. Mind, Method and Morality celebrates Kenny's work by focusing on the four great philosophers to whom Kenny has given special attention, namely Aristotle, Aquinas, Descartes, and Wittgenstein. It contains sixteen essays (four on each philosopher) written by leading specialists in the relevant area. Strongly linked together by their focus on philosophy of mind, action and responsibility, the papers make a significant contribution to those areas of philosophy that Kenny has made particularly his own, and constitute a timely celebration of his work. While keeping to the highest standards of scholarship and philosophical rigor, the volume aims to be engaging and comprehensible to a wide audience, thus mirroring the clarity and accessibility that are the hallmarks of Kenny's own philosophical writings. A preface by the Editors describes Anthony Kenny's philosophical career, and the volume also includes a complete bibliography of his writings.

Mind, Method, and Morality: Essays in Honour of Anthony Kenny

Hacker, Peter

Issues of impartiality and partiality are a major focus of debate in moral theory. What demands do the needs and interests of others place upon us? Should our personal relationships and commitments have a special place in our moral deliberations? Or, in as much as we are moral, should we be impartial even between our own children and complete strangers? Ten specially written essays by experts in the field offer a variety of perspectives, which will interest readers in both theoretical and practical ethics. A central theme of the volume is whether impartiality and partiality are really opposed dimensions or if they can be harmoniously reconciled in one picture of the good ethical life.

Partiality and Impartiality: Morality, Special Relationships, and the Wider World

Self-Help

Feltham, Brian

Happiness

Why do we exist? Is there a God? What's the point of it all? These are some of the questions that all thinking people ask at some point in their lives. John Cottingham explores the whys and wherefores that lead people to become believers.

How Can I Believe?: A Little Book Of Guidance (Little Books of Guidance)

Religion & Spirituality

Christian Books & Bibles

SPCK Publishing

On the Meaning of Life (Thinking in Action)

The question 'What is the meaning of life?' is one of the most fascinating, oldest and most difficult questions human beings have ever posed themselves. In an increasingly secularized culture, it remains a question to which we are ineluctably and powerfully drawn.Drawing skillfully on a wealth of thinkers, writers and scientists from Augustine, Descartes, Freud and Camus, to Spinoza, Pascal, Darwin, and Wittgenstein, On the Meaning of Life breathes new vitality into one of the very biggest questions.

Routledge

The question 'What is the meaning of life?' is one of the most fascinating, oldest and most difficult questions human beings have ever posed themselves. In an increasingly secularized culture, it remains a question to which we are ineluctably and powerfully drawn. Drawing skillfully on a wealth of thinkers, writers and scientists from Augustine, Descartes, Freud and Camus, to Spinoza, Pascal, Darwin, and Wittgenstein, On the Meaning of Life breathes new vitality into one of the very biggest questions.

First published in 1999. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Descartes: The Great Philosophers (The Great Philosophers Series)

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Cottingham, John. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Cottingham, John

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Cottingham, John. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Rationalists (A ^AHistory of Western Philosophy)

The Rationalists (History of Western Philosophy)

The Humane Perspective: Philosophical Reflections on Human Nature, the Search for Meaning, and the Role of Religion

Cartesian Reflections: Essays on Descartes's Philosophy

Mind, Method, and Morality: Essays in Honour of Anthony Kenny

Partiality and Impartiality: Morality, Special Relationships, and the Wider World

How Can I Believe?: A Little Book Of Guidance (Little Books of Guidance)

On the Meaning of Life (Thinking in Action)

On the Meaning of Life (Thinking in Action)

Descartes: The Great Philosophers (The Great Philosophers Series)