Philosophical Essays and Correspondence (Descartes) (Hackett Publishing Co.)

Rating:
Summary: The Best Introductory Edition of Descartes' Writings
Review: Roger Ariew and Hackett Publishing have brought out a terrific edition of Descartes' writings, superior to the one published by Cambridge University Press for several reasons. First, the typeface in the Cambridge edition is not very clear--it almost looks like the pages have been photocopied.

Second, the Hackett edition not only has Descartes' important philosophical works, but also includes a fine selection from Descartes' minor writings and correspondence (since Cambridge also publishes the complete writings of Descartes, they're not particularly motivated to do something like this). One finds, e.g., Descartes' 1640 letter to Colvius regarding the 'cogito ergo sum' argument found in Augustine's City of God, as well as two very important letters to the Marquis of Newcastle and Henry More regarding the question of whether animals have souls and whether space is infinite and vacuums are possible.

All selections are arranged chronologically, and Ariew has written a helpful introduction. Numbers in the page margins correlate each selection to the place where it is found in the standard original language edition of Descartes' works (Oeuvres de Descartes, eds. Adam and Tannery, 2nd ed., Paris: 1964-74). This is THE introductory edition to get.

Rating:
Summary: Good edition.
Review: The philosophy of Descartes is not the most iron-clad of arguments. He bases almost all of his major conclusions on certain facts that are far from given. For instance, his proof that material things exist depends totally on the fact that God exists. While he does offer 2 proofs that God exists, the arguments are flawed. One is an argument that had been offered hundreds of years before, and was deemed flawed even then. The other just plain doesn't work.

But his philosophy did help bring about the skepticism of "Is this all real? What if it's just a dream, or a hallucination?". That in itself makes this book a good read.

This edition is rather nice, having a wide range of writings from Descartes, including the most famous, the Meditations with criticisms and responses.