Join Amazon Prime and get unlimited Free One-Day Delivery. Already a member? Sign in.

Quantity:

More Buying Choices

38 used & new from �2.20

Have one to sell? Sell yours here

Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy (Hackett Classics) (Paperback)

by Rene Descartes (Author), Donald A. Cress (Translator) "Good sense is the best distributed thing in the world, for everyone thinks himself to be so well endowed with it that even those who..." (more)

5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)

RRP:	�5.95
Price:	�5.20 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save:	�0.75 (13%)
	o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.

Only 4 left in stock--order soon (more on the way).

Want guaranteed delivery by Wednesday, July 15? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details

21 new from �2.20 17 used from �2.44

Other Editions:	RRP:	Our Price:	Other Offers:
Paperback	�6.99	�6.29	24 used & new from �2.08

Frequently Bought Together

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

An Essay concerning Human Understanding (Oxford World's Classics)

by John Locke

3.5 out of 5 stars (2) �7.79

Utilitarianism

by John Stuart Mill

5.0 out of 5 stars (1) �2.80

The Nicomachean Ethics (Dover Thrift Editions)

by Aristotle

3.8 out of 5 stars (4) �2.50

Second Treatise of Government

by John Locke

�3.99

Modern Political Thought: Readings from Machiavelli to Nietzsche

by David Wootton

�21.80

› Explore similar items

Product details

Paperback: 120 pages
Publisher: Hackett Publishing Co, Inc; 4th edition (1 Nov 1998)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0872204200
ISBN-13: 978-0872204201
Product Dimensions: 21.4 x 13.2 x 0.6 cm

Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 163,293 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
Popular in these categories:
#18 in Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Philosophy > Philosophers > Descartes, Rene
#40 in Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Philosophy > Schools of Thought > Rationalism

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Customers Viewing This Page May Be Interested in These Sponsored Links

(What is this?)

Hackett London

www.Hackett.com Get Kitted Out In The Essential British Summer Look At Hackett Now

Product Description

Product Description
This new edition contains Donald Cress's completely revised translation of the Meditations (from the corrected Latin edition) and recent corrections to Discourse on Method, bringing this version even closer to Descartes's original, while maintaining the clear and accessible style of a classic teaching edition.

About the Author
Rene Descartes

Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
Good sense is the best distributed thing in the world, for everyone thinks himself to be so well endowed with it that even those who are the most difficult to please in everything else are not at all wont to desire more of it than they have. Read the first page

Explore More
Concordance

Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

(What's this?)

Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)

philosophy

descartes

modern philosophy

rene descartes

reality

rationalism

question reality

philosophy of science

modernity

if you like the matrix read this

french literature

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	74% buy the item featured on this page: Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy (Hackett Classics) 5.0 out of 5 stars (1) �5.20
	16% buy Discourse on Method and the Meditations (Classics) 4.4 out of 5 stars (5) �6.99
	10% buy Descartes: Meditations on First Philosophy 4.7 out of 5 stars (3) �7.99

Explore similar items

Customer Reviews

1 Review

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

5.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I think, therefore I read, 29 Dec 2005

By	Kurt Messick "FrKurt Messick" (London, SW1) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

Rene Descartes is often considered the founding father of modern philosophy. A true Renaissance man, he studied Scholastic philosophy and physics as a student, spent time as a volunteer soldier and traveler throughout Europe, studied mathematics, appreciated the arts, and became a noted correspondent with royals and intellectual figures throughout the continent. He died in Sweden while on assignment as tutor to the Queen, Christiana.

Descartes 'Discourse on Method' is a fascinating text, combining the newly-invented form of essay (Descartes was familiar with the Essays of Montaigne) with the same kind of autobiographical impulse that underpins Augustine's Confessions. Descartes writes about his own form of mystical experience, seeing this as almost a kind of revelation that all past knowledge would be superseded, and all problems would eventually be solved by human intellect.

In the Discourse, Descartes formulates logical principles based on reason (which makes it somewhat ironic that this came to him almost as a revelation). Descartes had some appreciation for thinkers such as Francis Bacon and Thomas Hobbes, but he thought that Bacon depended too much upon empirical data, and with Hobbes he disagreed on what would be the criteria for ascertaining certainty.

Descartes was a mathematician at heart, and perhaps had a carry-over of Pythagorean mystical attachment to mathematics, for his sense of reason led him to impute an absolute quality to mathematics; this has major implications for metaphysics and epistemology. Descartes method was a continuation in many ways of the ideas of Plato, Aristotle and the medieval thinkers, for they all tended toward thinking in absolute, universal terms in some degree.

Descartes in his first section discounts much of Scholasticism, stating that the only real absolutes are theology and mathematics; because theology is based upon revelation, it is therefore beyond reason, and thus, mathematics becomes the only rational truth. Descartes develops this idea further with rules of method, which include ideas of intuition, analysis and deduction. He uses some of his method to come up with his greatest proposition:

Cogito ergo sum - - I think, therefore I am

'The Cogito is a first principle from which Descartes will now deduce all that follows.' This permits Descartes to deal both with rational elements and empirical data.

The other major piece in this collection, 'The Meditations', includes several different mediations, including that on the existence of the soul, the existence of God, the material world, things we may doubt, and other philosophical problems of the time. These meditations do incorporate Descartes attempt to employ his method to some degree, but at the same time divert into other means. For example, Descartes' meditation on the existence of God is in many ways the Anselm ontological proof revisited, and has a certain circular reasoning to it.

This is an important text, one that I read the summer before I went to college, and makes a good study for those who wish to see the personal element in the development of philosophy.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all customer reviews...

.jsOffDisplayBlock { display: block; } .jsOffDisplayInline { display: inline; } .jsOffVisibility { visibility: visible; } .jsOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jsOnDisplayNoneBlock { display: block; } .jsOnDisplayNoneInline { display: inline; } .jsOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jsOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; } .jsOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jsOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jsOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; }

Customer Discussions

Beta (What's this?)

This product's forum (0 discussions)

	Discussion	Replies	Latest Post
	No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight

Start a new discussion

Topic:

First post:

Prompts for sign-in

[Cancel]

Guidelines

Active discussions in related forums

	Discussion	Replies	Latest Post
	politics Can anybody recommend a book on Thatcher's impact on Britain's international standing?	5	8 days ago
	politics This is Politics?????	27	18 days ago

Related forums

politics (2 discussions)

Listmania!

PGCE/Cert.Ed introductory reading list: A list by Mrs. A. Iredale
Countryside Classics: A list by Pulvers
My picks of Sci-Fi/Fantasy films/books Part 2: A list by Willisokong

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Feedback

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.

Discourse on Method and the...

René Descartes was a central figure in the scientific revolution of... Read more
£8.99 £6.99

›Find similar items

Beauty without the Beast

Olay Regenerist Daily 3 Point Treatment Cream

From au naturel to party glam, we have all the best names in cosmetics and skincare.

›Discover Beauty at Amazon.co.uk

Up to 50% off Dental Care

Put a sparkle in your smile with up to 50% off selected Oral-B and Philips rechargeable toothbrushes.

›Up to 50% off power toothbrushes

Treat Someone

With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is).

›Learn more about Gift Certificates

Where's My Stuff?

track your recent orders
view or change your orders in Your Account

Delivery and Returns

see our delivery rates and policies
thinking of returning an item? (See our Returns Policy)

Need Help?

Forgot your password?
Buy Gift Certificates.
still have questions? Visit our Help Pages

Your Recent History

(What's this?)

You have no recently viewed items or searches.

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.

Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session.

Continue Shopping: Top Sellers

The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

4.5 out of 5 stars (74)�3.86

Breaking Dawn (Twilight Saga) by Stephenie Meyer

4.1 out of 5 stars (463)�6.49

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

4.1 out of 5 stars (165)�3.99

The Host by Stephenie Meyer

4.2 out of 5 stars (81)�3.86


Amazon Home

International Sites: United States \| Germany \| France \| Japan \| Canada \| China

Business Programs: Sell on Amazon \| Fulfilment by Amazon \| Join Associates \| Join Advantage

Customer Service \| Help \| View Basket \| Your Account

About Amazon.co.uk \| Careers at Amazon


Amazon Home

International Sites: United States \| Germany \| France \| Japan \| Canada \| China

Business Programs: Sell on Amazon \| Fulfilment by Amazon \| Join Associates \| Join Advantage

Customer Service \| Help \| View Basket \| Your Account

About Amazon.co.uk \| Careers at Amazon