Cartesian Metaphysics

This is the first book-length study of Decartes'' metaphysics to place it in its immediate historical context the Late Scholastic philosophy of thinkers such as Surez against which Descartes reacted. Jorge Secada views Cartesian philosophy as an essentialist reply to the existentialism of the School and his discussion includes careful analyses and original interpretations of such central Cartesian themes as the role of skepticism the theory of substance and the dualism of mind and matter. His study offers a picture of Descartes'' metaphysics that is both novel and philosophically illuminating.