Descartes reinvented /

Sorell (Univ. of Essex, UK) makes a strong case that the received view of Descartes rests on mistaken interpretations of Descartes' work, especially the Meditations. After distinguishing "unreconstructed Cartesianism" (Descartes' words) from "innocent Cartesianism" (the reinterpretation and sometimes outright revision of unreconstructed Cartesianism), Sorell argues that "elements of unreconstructed Cartesianism can be rejected ... without a repudiation of all unreconstructed Cartesianism." Furthermore, properly reconstructed, Cartesian elements are to be found in much of recent analytical philosophy. For example, Descartes' rejection of Aristotelian scientific methodology, overreliance on sensory information in which "biology--species membership--interferes with systematic knowledge of causes in nature," and the claim that "consciousness is irreducible" are to be found in recent accounts by S. Kripke, T. Nagel, J. Searle, and others. Innocent Cartesianism can reject the substantive dualism--a "temporary coincidence of types of substance that essentially have nothing to do with each other," and replace it with a view of mind-body union, "the philosophy according to which mind and body are best understood as a working partnership." This work will be especially useful for those who wish to understand the Cartesian underpinnings of recent analytical philosophy. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. W. F. Desmond Black Hawk College