Cartesian Method and the Problem of Reduction
Oxford University Press (1991)
| Abstract | The Cartesian method, construed as a way of organizing domains of knowledge according to the "order of reasons," was a powerful reductive tool. Descartes made significant strides in mathematics, physics, and metaphysics by relating certain complex items and problems back to more simple elements that served as starting points for his inquiries. But his reductive method also impoverished these domains in important ways, for it tended to restrict geometry to the study of straight line segments, physics to the study of ambiguously constituted bits of matter in motion, and metaphysics to the study of the isolated, incorporeal knower. This book examines in detail the negative and positive impact of Descartes's method on his scientific and philosophical enterprises, exemplified by the Geometry, the Principles, the Treatise of Man, and the Meditations. | |||||||||
| Keywords | Methodology History Analysis (Philosophy History Reductionism History | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Buy the book | $121.62 new (10% off) $135.00 direct from Amazon Amazon page | |||||||||
| Call number | B1875.G76 1991 | |||||||||
| ISBN(s) | 0198242506 9780198242505 | |||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,705 |
| External links |
  Try with proxy. |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesPeter A. Schouls (1980). The Imposition of Method: A Study of Descartes and Locke. Oxford University Press.
D. Anthony Lariviere (2009). Cartesian Method and the Aristotelian-Scholastic Method. British Journal for the History of Philosophy 17 (3):463-486.
D. Anthony Larivière (2009). Cartesian Method and the Aristotelian-Scholastic Method. British Journal for the History of Philosophy 17 (3):463 – 486.
David Wolfsdorf (2008). The Method Εξ ΥποΕσεως at Meno 86e1-87d8. Phronesis 53 (1):35-64.
Emily R. Grosholz (1986). A Case Study in the Application of Mathematics to Physics: Descartes' Principles of Philosophy, Part II. PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association 1986:116 - 124.
Daniel Garber (2001). Descartes Embodied: Reading Cartesian Philosophy Through Cartesian Science. Cambridge University Press.
Emily R. Grosholz (1988). Geometry, Time and Force in the Diagrams of Descartes, Galileo, Torricelli and Newton. PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association 1988:237 - 248.
A. Raftopoulos (2003). Cartesian Analysis and Synthesis. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 34 (2):265-308.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2009-01-28Total downloads10 ( #106,438 of 549,196 )Recent downloads (6 months)3 ( #25,790 of 549,196 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
