The Matter of Mind : : Reason and Experience in the Age of Descartes / / Christopher Braider.

What influence did René Descartes' concept of mind-body dualism have on early modern conceptions of the self? In The Matter of Mind, Christopher Braider challenges the presumed centrality of Descartes' groundbreaking theory to seventeenth-century French culture. He details the broad opposi...

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Place / Publishing House:Toronto : : University of Toronto Press, , [2017]
©2012
Year of Publication:2017
Language:English
Online Access:
Physical Description:1 online resource (296 p.)
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Other title:Frontmatter --
Contents --
List of Illustrations --
Acknowledgments --
Introduction. Experience and the Matter of Mind: Dualism, Classicism, and the Myth of the Modern Subject in Seventeenth-Century France --
1. Front Matter: Placing Descartes's Meditations --
2. A State of Mind: Embodying the Sovereign in Poussin's The Judgment of Solomon --
3. The Witch from Colchis: Corneille's Médéé, Chiméne's Le Cid, and the Invention of Classical Genius --
4. Seeing Is Believing: Image and Imaginaire in Molière's Sganarelle --
5. The Ghost in the Machine: Reason, Faith, and Experience in Pascalian Apologetics --
6. Des mots sans fin: Meaning and the End(s) of History in Boileau's Satire XII, 'Sur l'Equivoque' --
Notes --
Bibliography --
Index
Summary:What influence did René Descartes' concept of mind-body dualism have on early modern conceptions of the self? In The Matter of Mind, Christopher Braider challenges the presumed centrality of Descartes' groundbreaking theory to seventeenth-century French culture. He details the broad opposition to rational self-government among Descartes' contemporaries, and attributes conventional links between Descartes and the myth of the 'modern subject' to post-structuralist assessments.The Matter of Mind presents studies drawn from a range of disciplines and examines the paintings of Nicolas Poussin, the drama of Pierre Corneille, and the theology of Blaise Pascal. Braider argues that if early modern thought converged on a single model, then it was the experimental picture based on everyday experience proposed by Descartes' sceptical adversary, Michel de Montaigne. Forceful and provocative, The Matter of Mind will encourage lively debate on the norms and discourses of seventeenth-century philosophy.
Format:Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
ISBN:9781442696204
DOI:10.3138/9781442696204
Access:restricted access
Hierarchical level:Monograph
Statement of Responsibility: Christopher Braider.