Principles of Philosophy was written in Latin by Rene Descartes. Published in 1644, it was intended to replace Aristotle's philosophy and traditional Scholastic Philosophy. This volume contains a letter of the author to the French translator of the Principles of Philosophy serving for a Preface and a letter to the most serene princess, Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Frederick, King of Bohemia, Count Palatine, and Elector of the Sacred Roman Empire. Principes de philosophie, by Claude Picot, under the supervision of Descartes, (...) appeared in 1647 with a letter-preface to Queen Christina of Sweden. (shrink)

A dual-language edition presenting Descartes's original Latin text of his greatest work, with a facing-page authoritative English translation.

"Descartes is rightly considered the father of modern philosophy" - Schopenhauer "The effect of this man on his age and the new age cannot be imagined broadly enough... René Descartes is indeed the true beginner of modern philosophy, insofar as it makes thinking the principle. "- Hegel "Descartes was the first to bring to light the idea of a transcendental science, which is to contain a system of knowledge of the conditions of possibility of all knowledge." - Kant A new (...) 2023 translation directly from the original manuscripts into English of Descartes' famous work "Rules for the Direction of the Mind" (Règles pour la direction de l'esprit). This edition contains a new introduction and afterword from the translator, as well as a timeline of Descartes' life and summaries of each of his works. Here, Descartes lays out a method for approaching problems and seeking knowledge. The importance of this work lies in the fact that it established the scientific method as a way of investigating the world, and had a significant influence on the development of modern science. This work is one of the foundational texts of Western Philosophy. (shrink)

Tout ce qui est dans l'oeuvre de Jacques, nous l'avons d'abord vécu à l'état de difficulté vitale et d'expérience, - les questions de l'art et de la morale, de la philosophie, de la foi, de la prière, de la contemplation. Cela nous a d'abord été donné à vivre, à chacun selon sa nature et la grâce de Dieu », notait Raïssa en 1934. Cette correspondance confirme le propos, qui nous fait pénétrer dans « l'amour fou » de deux vies données (...) l'une à l'autre, et la trame quotidienne de leur fécondité de pensée et de « grandes amitiés ».Leur conversion en 1906 scelle la vocation d'un couple venu déjà un peu d'ailleurs : lui, 18 ans, romantique, révolutionnaire et dreyfusard en diable, en rupture avec les élites républicaines laïques dont il est issu ; elle, 17 ans, comme sortie d'une peinture de Chagall, juive et slave en quête à la Sorbonne d'une nouvelle patrie spirituelle. Les premiers regards portés sur eux discernent déjà leur promesse : « Je les trouve absolument dignes l'un de l'autre ; ce sont même de si beaux types d'humanité qu'il faut se féliciter de les voir se rechercher. On ne trouve pas si souvent de couple bien assorti ; celui-là me paraît devoir donner un exemple lumineux. »Ils s'écrivent abondamment dès que les aléas de la vie les séparent et ce premier tome les suit dans la découverte d'eux-mêmes. Dans la discontinuité des circonstances, leur chemin métaphysique et mystique progresse, tandis que se révèle, derrière chaque ouvrage, chaque combat, chaque accompagnement spirituel, le secret de leur rayonnement : au fil de ces 712 lettres, c'est d'abord une histoire d'amour, dans un respect tendre et sacré de la singularité de l'autre. (shrink)

First published in 1923 as part of the Cambridge Plain Texts series, this volume contains Descartes' Discours de la méthode in the original French. A short editorial introduction in English is also included. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the works of Descartes and the development of rationalism.

Principles of Philosophy. Author’s Letter to the Translator (Preface).

Sans cesse lu et étudié, Descartes exerça une influence considérable en Europe dès le XVIIe siècle. Le projet de l’édition des œuvres complètes de Descartes a été lancé en 1894 par le Ministère de l’Instruction publique, et entrepris par un comité comprenant entre autre Emile Boutroux, Xavier Léon, Louis Liard, Charles Adam et Paul Tannery. Ces deux derniers, véritables maîtres d’œuvre de ce travail, aidés par l’éditeur, ne négligèrent rien pour pouvoir présenter à l’Exposition universelle de 1900, une édition qui (...) fût digne du philosophe et de son pays.Elle est désormais universellement considérée comme l’édition de référence de l’œuvre cartésienne et est constamment citée dans les travaux d’érudition. Elle est la seule édition véritablement complète à ce jour, et comprend notamment l’ensemble de la correspondance et de l’œuvre scientifique, toutes deux essentielles à une bonne compréhension de l’entreprise cartésienne.René Descartes est né le 31 mars 1596 à La Haye, en Touraine. Il est l’inventeur de la géométrie analytique et de la dioptrique, le promoteur de la mécanique et le fondateur de la philosophie moderne. (shrink)

Group 3 as Sc–Y–La, rather than Sc–Y–Lu, dominates the literature. The history of this situation, including involvement by the IUPAC, is summarised. I step back from the minutiae of physical, chemical, and electronic properties and explore considerations of regularity and symmetry, natural kinds, and quantum mechanics, finding these to be inconclusive. Continuing the theme, a series of ten interlocking arguments, in the context of a chemistry-based periodic table, are presented in support of lanthanum in Group 3. In so doing, I (...) seek to demonstrate a new way of thinking about this matter. The last of my ten arguments is recast as a twenty-word categorical philosophical (viewpoint-based) statement. (shrink)

Après avoir lu les Méditations métaphysiques, la jeune Elisabeth de Bohême demande à s’entretenir avec Descartes pour obtenir des réponses. Ainsi naît, entre un philosophe déjà vieux et une princesse mélancolique, une conversation épistolaire qui durera sept ans, jusqu’à la mort de Descartes en 1650. Ils discuteront aussi bien de mathématiques et de géométrie que de l’union de l’âme et du corps, des passions, du bonheur et de Dieu. Sans jamais renier sa pensée – bien plutôt en la fortifiant –, (...) Descartes diagnostiquera à la jeune femme un excès de cartésianisme : pour la soigner, il valorisera les plaisirs de la vie courante, le repos de l’esprit et le manque de sérieux. Ce volume rassemble la correspondance intégrale entre Descartes et Elisabeth, ainsi que des lettres du philosophe à divers correspondants, dont le médecin Regius, Christine, reine de Suède, et Chanut, ambassadeur de France en Suède. (shrink)

How is it possible for a picture to depict a picture? Proponents of perceptual theories of depiction, who argue that the content of a picture is determined, in part, by the visual state it elicits in suitable viewers, that is, by a state of seeing-in, have given a plausible answer to this question. They say that a picture depicts a picture, in part, because, under appropriate conditions of observation, a suitable viewer will be able to see a picture in the (...) picture. In this article, I first argue that this answer is in conflict with the way in which some of the most influential perceptual theories of depiction – Robert Hopkins's version of the experienced resemblance theory and Dominic Lopes's version of the recognition theory – construe seeing-in. I then formulate a version of the recognition theory that avoids this conflict and show how it can explain the depiction of pictures. (shrink)

In this reproduction of his original publication of 1649, Rene Descartes discusses how seekers of knowledge can best attain true insight of the world around them. Often referred to as simply the Discourse on the Method, this work is frequently cited as one of the most important to appear during the Enlightenment era. It discusses the ideal means through which those in search of knowledge can approach the world, and the practice of science, as a means of attaining true and (...) definitive insight. The Discourse on Method is influential chiefly for its role in establishing the scientific method; a technique which scientists have used to make valid discoveries over the centuries. Descartes instructs the reader to doubt everything, and to use this universal doubt as a starting point from which to approach a problem. In addition to matters of science, Descartes reflects upon his own personal, religious beliefs. In addition to his Method, Descartes also explains certain social and personal notions such as obeying the laws and statutes of his country and prioritizing self-advancement over the achievement of material wealth or fortune. Famous for including the much-quoted phrase "Je pense, donc je suis" - "I think, therefore I am" - the Discourse on Method today stands as a crucial cornerstone of countless educational courses on philosophy. (shrink)

Logic forms the basis of mathematics and is a fundamental part of any mathematics course. This book provides students with a clear and accessible introduction to this important subject, using the concept of model as the main focus and covering a wide area of logic. The chapters of the book cover propositional calculus, boolean algebras, predicate calculus and completelness theorems with answeres to all of the excercises and the end of the volume. This is an ideal introduction to mathematics and (...) logic for the advanced undergraduate student. (shrink)

Constatant que nos étudiants italiens de FLE ont contracté, au cours des années, de mauvaises habitudes de prononciation, souvent dues à un enseignement lacunaire de la connaissance correcte des sons, et que le temps d’enseignement universitaire est réduit d’année en année, notre propos est de chercher à récupérer le temps perdu en insistant, au début de l’année d’un cours de Langue et Traduction française, sur l’oralité. Partant du poème et du jeu sur les signifiants et jonglant avec les signifiés, nous (...) essayerons de motiver les étudiants, peu enclins à la lecture de la poésie et qui, en outre, négligent de se mettre quotidiennement devant un miroir durant quatre ou sept minutes, temps prescrit par les méthodes phonétiques et phonologiques, et nécessaire pour acquérir de nouvelles habitudes phonatoires. Une partie de cet article sera dédiée aux poètes pour montrer comment la force orale du poème peut devenir un atout majeur pour une bonne prononciation ; une autre, à partir d’un vers, sera une sorte de « cahier de création » phonique, sémantique voire poétique. (shrink)

Only a clear international convention can adequately tackle corruption in the international business arena, but individual companies do not need to wait for this to happen, especially when the main threat from corruption can be to the company itself. This description of how Lyonnaise des Eaux has taken steps to strengthen its inner workings against corruption shows how “business ethics, based on our values, is now our management’s top priority”. The author is Administrateur Directeur Général of the company, and he (...) first delivered this paper to the Ninth Annual Conference of the European Business Ethics Network which took place last year in Frankfurt. (shrink)

Only a clear international convention can adequately tackle corruption in the international business arena, but individual companies do not need to wait for this to happen, especially when the main threat from corruption can be to the company itself. This description of how Lyonnaise des Eaux has taken steps to strengthen its inner workings against corruption shows how “business ethics, based on our values, is now our management’s top priority”. The author is Administrateur Directeur Général of the company, and he (...) first delivered this paper to the Ninth Annual Conference of the European Business Ethics Network which took place last year in Frankfurt. (shrink)

Current perspectives on attractiveness-related prosocial biases emphasize the contribution of evolutionarily shaped mating drives. Here, we extend these concepts by highlighting the pivotal role of the hypothalamic peptide oxytocin in augmenting the salience and rewarding value of social stimuli, including the partner's face, thereby fostering social bonding in general and the stability of monogamous pair bonds and offspring care in particular.

Hydrogen is troublesome in any periodic table classification. This being so it may as well be placed in a position that confers desirable attributes to the arrangement of the elements, while notionally recognising its lineage to the group 1 alkali metals and the group 17 halogens. Since the noble gases bridge the halogens and the alkali metals, and hydrogen encompasses the transition from the alkali metals to the halogens, there is more to the idea of hydrogen over helium. (Meyer 1870, (...) p. 357) (Proust 1927, p. 559). (shrink)

In his classic text, A Theory of Justice, John Rawls argues that the structural principles of a society are just when they issue from a procedure that is fair. One crucial feature that makes the procedure fair is that the persons who will be subjected to these principles choose them after they have deliberated together in a condition marked by a certain balance of knowledge and ignorance. In particular, these people know enough to consider principles that are workable, yet converse (...) behind a “veil of ignorance,” unable to predict what their place in society will be and hence discouraged from slanting the principles toward any preferential interests. My paper questions whether this attempt to ensure the disinterestedness of the conversation of justice is feasible. I worry that when we approach this question practically, we discover that the education that furnishes us with the knowledge necessary to choose viable principles must at the same time preclude genuine ignorance about our social position and interests. As an alternative, I suggest that we convene the conversation of justice behind a “veil of existence.” In this condition, people possess knowledge about how their society works and even about their places in it; however, this knowledge does not foster preferential interests because all interests are subjected to the question of their existential meaning. As Jean-Paul Sartre explains in his essay, “Existentialism is a Humanism,” for our interests to be truly meaningful, they must be affirmed as free responses to our thrownness into existence. Yet how do we find the wherewithal to make such responsible choices rather than lapse into paralysis before their essentially arbitrary differences? My positive thesis is that we may do so by acknowledging how all of us in this existential predicament critically and mutually provoke each to commit oneself to depart from the others in specific ways. This process of provocation is thus educational. It broaches a conception of non-instrumental, non-mimetic, liberal study, one which I try to enact in a writing that employs direct address, regular returns to questions that put discourse at a loss, and expanding webs of association. In this manner, I hope to demonstrate that liberal study may deepen our appreciation of our communal nature, our camaraderie, and thus motivate us to participate unselfishly in the conversation of justice. (shrink)

First Published in 1995. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This essay examines the ambiguous role of imagination in Kierkegaard's work, arguing that the concept of imagination is fundamental to his existential transformation of the question of reality.

El propósito de este texto es sugerir algunas ideas sobre el tiempo y la impronta. Comenzando con una breve consideración de la expresión francesa maintenant, el texto pasa a examinar la diferencia, propuesta por G. Dumezil, entre impronta y fósil. En un primer momento, la inspiración viene de algunos aspectos de la religión; luego, de las dos dimensiones del tiempo de la historia que propone Peguy: una que solo considera la pura secuencia de los acontecimientos y la otra que retiene (...) lo posible, la impronta del pasado; finalmente, del poema de Baudelaire "Le Cygne", en el cual es posible distinguir una historia que lo arrasa todo y una conservación del pasado como forma de resistencia o protesta del individuo. A partir de aquí el texto presenta la impronta como la dimensión del tiempo en la que la subjetivación le añade profundidad, permanencia de lo que ya pasó, al tiempo de la historia. En un segundo momento, inspirado en la unidimensionalidad de Marcuse y en la sociedad de consumo de Pasolini, el texto trata las ideas de realidad y de progreso para sugerir que la realidad no es solo la actualidad y el progreso no es la moda: la impronta añade conservación. Para el tercer momento, la inspiración viene de Andy Warhol. Ahora la idea es presentar la impronta en su función de puente, de vínculo entre el arte contemporáneo y el antiguo. Finalmente, el texto alude a la noción de difracción, tomada de Fourier, para subrayar la idea de que la impronta implica contestación del puro presente, resistencia, liberación. The purpose of this text is to suggest some ideas about the issue of time and trace. Beginning with a short consideration about the French expression "maintenant", the text goes on examining the difference, pointed out by G. Dumézil, between trace and fossil. In a first moment, the inspiration comes from some aspects of religion. Then, from Peguy's two dimensions of the time of history: one concerned with the pure sequence of events and the other retaining the possible, the trace of the past. Finally from Baudelaire's poem "Le Cygne", where it is possible to distinguish between a history that sweeps everything and a conservation of the past as some sort of resistance or protest of the individual. With this in mind, the text presents trace as this dimension of time where subjectivation adds depth, permanence of what is already gone, to the time of history. In a second moment, inspired by Marcuse's unidimensionality and Pasolini's consumer society, the text examines de idea of reality and progress to say that reality is not just current events and progress is not fashion: trace adds conservation. For the third moment, the inspiration comes from Andy Warhol. Now the idea is to present the trace in its function ofbridge or link between the contemporary and the ancient art. Finally, the text considers the notion of diffraction, taken from Fourier, which helps to underline the idea that trace means challenge to the pure present, resistance, liberation. (shrink)

On n’imagine pas de justice sans possibilité de faire miséricorde ; inversement, une miséricorde qui ne tiendrait pas compte de la justice ne serait plus la miséricorde. Les deux notions sont liées, mais sur un socle inégal : car la justice inspirée par la loi naturelle déborde la justice positive, de même que la misère des miséreux ne se laisse pas ramener au mal commis par le misérable. En découlent des variations où l’on peut voir se profiler trois moments : (...) 1. La loi coutumière est bousculée par le Dieu de justice qui en questionne la légitimité ; 2. La répartition des tâches en chrétienté délègue l’exercice de la justice au pouvoir civil, l’Église se réservant la charité ; 3. L’époque contemporaine fait prévaloir l’idée de seconde chance à la base de toute justice, la responsabilité collective contrebalançant alors la culpabilité individuelle. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Kierkegaard Studies Yearbook Jahrgang: 19 Heft: 1 Seiten: 79-108.

This chapter pursues a threefold aim: to clarify Kierkegaard's philosophical conception of psychology, to examine the principal reasons for his absence in the work of present‐day psychologists, and to argue for the relevance of his thinking for contemporary psychology. A concise historical sketch of the development of contemporary psychology as an independent scientific discipline brings out the reasons why academic psychologists today have difficulty appreciating philosophical psychology in general, and Kierkegaard's version in particular. This historical sketch allows for a systematic (...) presentation of Kierkegaard's philosophical conception of psychology, focusing on six concepts that are still at the forefront of current psychological research. This presentation unfolds the principal argument of the chapter; namely, that the question of autonomy—in terms of the intricate entanglement of activity and passivity—is the fundamental philosophical problem at the heart of Kierkegaard's psychology. The chapter ends with an outline of how Kierkegaard's exploration of the problem of autonomy can contribute to contemporary psychology. (shrink)

This article argues that Kierkegaard’s account of emotions has something important to contribute to contemporary philosophy of emotions. The argument proceeds in five steps. The first section starts by outlining two influential paradigms in contemporary philosophy of emotions: the feeling theories and the cognitive theories. The second section then turns to a critique of two prominent approaches that read Kierkegaard’s conception of emotions as belonging to the cognitive theories. The third section presents Kierkegaard as a phenomenologist of emotional ambiguity, while (...) the fourth section attempts to outline a taxonomy of Kierkegaard’s phenomenology of emotional experience. The fifth and final section argues that Kierkegaard’s primary contribution to contemporary philosophy of emotions is to be found in his concept of anxiety as the experience of human freedom particularly with respect to the ambiguity of feeling and understanding characteristic of this fundamental affective phenomenon. (shrink)

Rene Descartes Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting the Reason, and Seeking Truth in the Sciences by Rene Descartes The Discourse on the Method (French: Discours de la methode) is a philosophical and autobiographical treatise published by Rene Descartes in 1637. Its full name is Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting One's Reason and of Seeking Truth in the Sciences (French title: Discours de la methode pour bien conduire sa raison, et chercher la verite dans les sciences). The (...) Discourse on The Method is best known as the source of the famous quotation "Je pense, donc je suis" ("I think, therefore I am"), which occurs in Part IV of the work. Good sense is, of all things among men, the most equally distributed; for every one thinks himself so abundantly provided with it, that those even who are the most difficult to satisfy in everything else, do not usually desire a larger measure of this quality than they already possess. And in this it is not likely that all are mistaken the conviction is rather to be held as testifying that the power of judging aright and of distinguishing truth from error, which is properly what is called good sense or reason, is by nature equal in all men; and that the diversity of our opinions, consequently, does not arise from some being endowed with a larger share of reason than others, but solely from this, that we conduct our thoughts along different ways, and do not fix our attention on the same objects. For to be possessed of a vigorous mind is not enough; the prime requisite is rightly to apply it. The greatest minds, as they are capable of the highest excellences, are open likewise to the greatest aberrations; and those who travel very slowly may yet make far greater progress, provided they keep always to the straight road, than those who, while they run, forsake it. (shrink)

O artigo analisa a relação existente entre o poder e a violência, tendo por base a filosofia de Hannah Arendt. A tradição do pensamento político conceitua o poder a partir da fórmula de domínio, isto é, a capacidade de influência e controle que determinado grupo possui sobre o comportamento alheio, materializando-se em geral mediante o emprego dos implementos de violência. Ao distanciar suas reflexões desta concepção, Hannah Arendt fundamenta o poder na capacidade de ação conjunta das pessoas, e a política (...) no espaço criado pela reunião de mulheres e homens capazes de agir e de trazer a novidade ao mundo. (shrink)