Cogito, Ergo Sum: The Life of Rene Descartes |  | Author: Richard Watson
Publisher: David R Godine
Category: Book
List Price: $21.95
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Rating:  11 reviews
Sales Rank: 1564032
Media: Paperback
Edition: Revised
Pages: 384
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 6 x 1.2
ISBN: 1567923356
EAN: 9781567923353
ASIN: 1567923356
Publication Date: August 15, 2007
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Product Description
René Descartes is the philosophical architect of our modern world. In metaphysics, he established the view that mind and body are distinct substances, which is foundational for any belief that the human soul is immortal. In mathematics, he invented analytic geometry the basis of calculus which makes physics as we know it possible. Descartes perfected the method of proposing and testing hypotheses with experiments that anyone could repeat, which forms the basis of modern science. In optics, he discovered and described laws of refraction and reflection. In medicine, he was a pioneer in vivisection and anatomical description for understanding the human body. In physiology, his analysis of the relations among the sense organs, nerves, and the brain is still taught today. In psychology, he discovered conditioned reflexes and investigated the role of the emotions in human behavior.
Descartes said there was no point in trying to refute Aristotelian Scholasticism; rather, he would simply show a better way. Some 350 years after his death, our twenty-first-century world from mind-body dualism to heart pumps, from pop psychology to personal computers is thoroughly Cartesian. Nothing in the modern world would alarm, or surprise, Descartes were he alive today.
Descartes's motto was that a life well hidden is well lived. Much of his own life is obscure to us now, which has led to tales of the great philosopher lying in bed meditating each morning until eleven, piously following the dictates of a Cardinal, writing verses for a Queen, and so on. Many of these myths are exploded in Cogito Ergo Sum, the first biography published since 1920 based on extensive original archival and field research. It is also explicitly the life of Descartes, in the flesh and blood, not a compendium of technical analyses of philosophical positions found in "life and works" biographies so dear to contemporary professional philosophers.
For more than forty years Watson has pursued Descartes in libraries and in the locales throughout Europe where Descartes studied, wrote, lived, and finally died. In this sometimes idiosyncratic and iconoclastic book, impeccably researched but amazingly readable, Watson brings Descartes and his milieu to life as has never been done before. Cogito Ergo Sum is certain to be the standard life of Descartes against which all future biographies will be judged.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 11
 Highly recommended for biography and library shelves. November 4, 2007
Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA)
Cogito, Ergo Sum: The Life of Rene Descartes is an in-depth biography of the "Father of Modern Philosophy", mathematician and architect Rene Descartes (1596-1650). From his childhood and schooling, to his contributions to science such as the invention of analytic geometry and his methods for testing hypotheses that formed the foundation of experimental science, to his piety as a Christian and much more, Cogito, Ergo Sum closely follows Descartes' life. A biography first and foremost, written for lay readers and scholars alike, Cogito, Ergo Sum brings alive the history of a truly remarkable and forward-thinking man. Highly recommended for biography and library shelves.
Superb Biography, Creatively Composed January 17, 2008
Thich Nhat Montaigne (Walla Walla)
Scholarly in what it delivers, but delightful in how it delivers what it delivers, COGITO ERGO SUM is highly informative and fun to read. Touching on all the key places, players, and events in the philosopher's life,Watson tells us (at least) as much as we want to know about Descartes as he cuts through the myths that have been passed down to us about him. This meant dissociating his biography from the still-operative hagiographic traditions: the French Catholic apologetic tradition and the scientific apologetic tradition. The result is a skeptical biography, full of distrust toward tradition and authority, written very much in the spirit of methodical doubt practiced by its subject. At the same time, COGITO ERGO SUM is wonderfully readable, humane, engaged, and funny. By destroying the monument called Descartes, Watson has unveiled the man who, it might have been suspected, turns out to be a much more compelling, complex, human, and interesting Descartes than we have known in the past. COGITO ERGO SUM is for specialists, general readers, and just about anyone interested in biography and imaginative prose writing.
Best (and Most Readable) Bio of DeCartes! August 25, 2009
Joanne Kirschner (Los Angeles, CA)
When I purchased this book, I was afraid it might be overly academic and a bit "dry" for me (I admit it, I'm mostly a fiction reader). However, I found it to be very engaging. I loved the way the author used personal asides and light humor to make the story more readable, and I also liked the way he used his own travel experiences to add extra "flavor". I'd recommend this book to anyone who'd like to learn about DeCartes, even (more mature)high schoolers.
READ THIS BOOK!!!! July 4, 2005
Paul
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
In Cogito Ergo Sum, Richard Watson, a distinguished Cartesian scholar and a former professor of philosophy at Washington University in St. Louis, takes us on a grand journey across Europe as he follows in the footsteps of Rene Descartes, the Father of Modern Philosophy.
Descartes's motto was that a life well hidden is a life well lived, but after forty years of extensive research, Watson takes Descartes's well hidden life and reveals it to us as no one else has. From his birth to his death, we learn about the life and times of Descartes. We read of Descartes's skills as a card shark, of his smoking pot, the fathering of his daughter, his romances, his travels, his inventions, his math skills, and all of the good times and bad times that come his way. Watson also debunks many of the long-standing stories associated with Descartes. Even for the casual reader, Watson's clear and colloquial writing style entertains us as if he were Descartes' own friend. And through it all we learn not only about Descartes, but also of Europe as it develops during Descartes's lifetime.
Watson also describes his own amusing adventures as he travels across Europe during his research for this book. In his quest to visit all fourteen of the farms that were owned by the Descates family, Watson and his wife, Patty Jo, test their hiking skills as they tromp through the Alps and along trails with sheer drops of 800 feet. Watson is no stranger to adventure. He is also the author of the classic American cave adventure, The Longest Cave.
Cogito Ergo Sum is one of those books that you enjoy more every time you read it. With this book, Watson has raised the bar for which all other Descartes biographies will be judged.
A Lifetime's Work May 27, 2005
A reader in Madison, WI
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
This biography is a rich and wonderful achievement. It clearly represents the fruit of a lifetime's devotion to studying one of the great philosophers. Watson, unlike other biographers of Descartes -- and, remarkably, there are not many -- decides to get the life right. To this end, he not only went to the archives, but personally traced Descartes's itinerary across Europe. The result is a highly readable, entertaining, beautifully written narrative, one that corrects many of the myths and errors that had crept into earlier studies. The New York Public Library named it one of the 25 best books of the year in 2002 -- it's no wonder why.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 11
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