The body and the brain

In S. Gaukroger, J. Schuster & J. Sutton (eds.), Descartes' Natural Philosophy. Routledge. pp. 697--722 (2000)
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Abstract

Does self?knowledge help? A rationalist, presumably, thinks that it does: both that self?knowledge is possible and that, if gained through appropriate channels, it is desirable. Descartes notoriously claimed that, with appropriate methods of enquiry, each of his readers could become an expert on herself or himself. As well as the direct, first?person knowledge of self to which we are led in the Meditationes , we can also seek knowledge of our own bodies, and of the union of our minds and our bodies: the latter forms of self?knowledge are inevitably imperfect, but are no less important in guiding our conduct in the search after truth.

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John Sutton
Macquarie University

Citations of this work

Distributed traces and the causal theory of constructive memory.John Sutton & Gerard O'Brien - 2023 - In Current Controversies in the Philosophy of Memory. Routledge. pp. 82-104. Translated by Andre Sant' Anna, Christopher McCarroll & Kourken Michaelian.
The Passions of the soul and Descartes’s machine psychology.Gary Hatfield - 2007 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 38 (1):1-35.
Descartes on the Animal Within, and the Animals Without.Evan Thomas - 2020 - Canadian Journal of Philosophy 50 (8):999-1014.
Idealist Origins: 1920s and Before.Martin Davies & Stein Helgeby - 2014 - In Graham Oppy & Nick Trakakis (eds.), History of Philosophy in Australia and New Zealand. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer. pp. 15-54.

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