On Descartes

Rating:
Summary: An approachable introduction
Review: Like other books in this Wadsworth series, this provides a relatively quick overview of Descartes, both the historical circumstances of his life and times, and his philosophy. In the limited scope defined for the book, the basic themese and issues are introduced and treated in a way that helps the reader to understand the significance of Descartes' ideas, as well as to see these ideas in the context of wider debate. The logic of Descartes thinking is given significant attention. My students find Descartes actual writings daunting, but I believe a work like this not only helps open up those works, but hopefully encourages the reader to pick up those works themselves. The book could have been better edited!

Rating:
Summary: Try a different book
Review: This is a typical Anglo-American discussion of Descartes as if he were a 20th-century analytic philosopher-- of course he was not. The author trots out most of the standard "refutations" of Cartesian philosophy (some in less than a page) so that anyone approaching Descartes for the first time may wonder why he was ever thought to be an important philosopher.

The whole book looks like it was thrown together in a week: there are numerous errors in layout and typesetting, and the text itself is more of a hasty sketch than a coherent analysis. (The editors must have been asleep.)

If you are looking for a good introduction to Descartes, try a different book-- or better yet take the time to read Descartes's own words. The "Meditations" is a short work, and most translations include a helpful introduction. It will be well worth the time and effort!