Self Reason and Freedom

<p>Freedom and its internal relation to reason is fundamental to Descartes’ philosophy in general and to his <i>Meditations on First Philosophy</i> in particular. Without freedom his entire enquiry would not get off the ground and without understanding the rôle of freedom in his work we could not understand what motivates key parts of his metaphysics. Yet not only is freedom a relatively overlooked element but its internal relation to reason has gone unnoticed by most studies of his philosophy.</p><p>Self Reason and Freedom: A New Light on Descartes’ Metaphysics by defending freedom’s internal relation to reason sheds new light on Descartes’ metaphysics and restores the often dismissed <i>Fourth Meditation</i> to the core of his metaphysics as he conceived it. Implicit in that relation is a rejection of any authority external to reason. Andrea Christofidou shows how this lends strength and explanatory force to Descartes’ enquiry and reveals his conception of the unity of the self and of its place in the world.</p><p>Self Reason and Freedom: A New Light on Descartes’ Metaphysics is essential reading for students and scholars of Descartes and anyone studying seventeenth-century philosophy.</p>