Cogito?

Descartes and Thinking the World

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Philosophy, History, Criticism, & Surveys, Mind & Body
Cover of the book Cogito? by Joseph Almog, Oxford University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Joseph Almog ISBN: 9780190450755
Publisher: Oxford University Press Publication: March 21, 2008
Imprint: Oxford University Press Language: English
Author: Joseph Almog
ISBN: 9780190450755
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Publication: March 21, 2008
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Language: English

Decartes' maxim Cogito, Ergo Sum (from his Meditations) is perhaps the most famous philosophical expression ever coined. Joseph Almog is a Descartes analyst whose last book WHAT AM I? focused on the second half of this expression, Sum--who is the "I" who is existing-and-thinking and how does this entity somehow incorporate both body and mind? This volume looks at the first half of the proposition--cogito. Almog calls this the "thinking man's paradox": how can there be, in the the natural world and as part and parcel of it, a creature that... thinks? Descartes' proposition declares that such a fact obtains and he maintains that it is self-evident; but as Almog points out, from the point of view of Descartes' own skepticism, it is far from obvious that there could be a thinking-man. How can it be that a thinking human be both part of the natural world and yet somehow distinct and separate from it? How did "thinking" arise in an otherwise "thoughtless" universe and what does it mean for beings like us to be thinkers? Almog goes back to the Meditations, and using Descartes' own aposteriori cognitive methodology--his naturalistic, scientific, approach to the study of man--tries to answer the question.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Decartes' maxim Cogito, Ergo Sum (from his Meditations) is perhaps the most famous philosophical expression ever coined. Joseph Almog is a Descartes analyst whose last book WHAT AM I? focused on the second half of this expression, Sum--who is the "I" who is existing-and-thinking and how does this entity somehow incorporate both body and mind? This volume looks at the first half of the proposition--cogito. Almog calls this the "thinking man's paradox": how can there be, in the the natural world and as part and parcel of it, a creature that... thinks? Descartes' proposition declares that such a fact obtains and he maintains that it is self-evident; but as Almog points out, from the point of view of Descartes' own skepticism, it is far from obvious that there could be a thinking-man. How can it be that a thinking human be both part of the natural world and yet somehow distinct and separate from it? How did "thinking" arise in an otherwise "thoughtless" universe and what does it mean for beings like us to be thinkers? Almog goes back to the Meditations, and using Descartes' own aposteriori cognitive methodology--his naturalistic, scientific, approach to the study of man--tries to answer the question.

More books from Oxford University Press

Cover of the book Your Name Is Renée by Joseph Almog
Cover of the book The Essential Child by Joseph Almog
Cover of the book Back to the Fifties by Joseph Almog
Cover of the book Biomedical Optical Imaging by Joseph Almog
Cover of the book Ecology or Catastrophe by Joseph Almog
Cover of the book Aeschylus: Oxford Bibliographies Online Research Guide by Joseph Almog
Cover of the book A Practical Guide to Geriatric Neuropsychology by Joseph Almog
Cover of the book New York and Los Angeles by Joseph Almog
Cover of the book Planck by Joseph Almog
Cover of the book Modernism and Copyright by Joseph Almog
Cover of the book Immigration and Democracy by Joseph Almog
Cover of the book Development and Growth in the Mexican Economy by Joseph Almog
Cover of the book Agnes de Mille by Joseph Almog
Cover of the book The Oxford Handbook of Social Psychology and Social Justice by Joseph Almog
Cover of the book Civil Society in China by Joseph Almog
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy