Descartes' Natural Philosophy

The most comprehensive collection of essays on Descartes' scientific writings ever published, this volume offers a detailed reassessment of Descartes' scientific work and its bearing on his philosophy. The 35 essays, written by some of the world's leading scholars, cover topics as diverse as optics, cosmology and medicine, and will be of vital interest to all historians of philosophy or science. Introduction Mechanics and Cosmology 1. Descartes and the natural philosophy of the Coimbra commentaries Dennis Des Chene 2. Descartes' debt to Beeckman: inspiration, cooperation, conflict Klaas Van Berkel 3. The foundational role of hydrostatics and statics in Descartes' natural philosophy Stephen Gaukroger 4. Force, determination and impact Peter MaLaughlin 5. A different Descartes: Descartes' programme for a mathematical physics in his correspondence Daniel Garber 6. Casual powers and occasionalism from Descartes to Malebranche Desmond Clarje 7. Modelling nature: Descartes versus Reigus Theo Verbeek 8. The influence of Cartesian cosmology in England Peter Harrison Method, Optics, and the Role of Experiment 9. NeoAristotle and method: between Zabarella and Descartes Timothy Reiss 10. Figuring things out: figurate problem-solving in the early Descartes Dennis Sepper 11. The theory of the rainbow Jean-Robert Armogathe 12. Descartes' opticien : the construction of the law of refraction and the manufacture of its physical rationales, 1618-1629 John A. Schuster 13. A 'science for honn ecirc;teshommes' : La Recherche de la V eacute;rit eacute; and the deconstruction of experimental knowledge Alberto Guillermo Ranea 14. Descartes, experiments, and a first generation Cartesian, Jacques Rohault Trevor McLaughlin 15. Cartesian physiology Annie Bitbol-Hesperies 16. The resources of a mechanist physiology and the problem of goal-directed processes Stephen Gaukroger 17. B ecirc;tes machines Katherine Morris 18. Descartes' cardiology and its reception in English physiology Peter Anstey Imagination and Representation 19. Descartes' theory of imagination and perspectival art Betsy Newell Decyk 20. From sparks of truth to the glow of possibility Peter Schouls 21. Descartes' theory of visual spatial perception Celia Wolf-Devine 22. Symposium on Descartes on perceptual cognition. Introduction John Sutton Descartes and Formal Signs David Behan Descartes' startling doctrine of the reverse sign relation Peter Slezak Bibliography