The Breakdown of Cartesian Metaphysics

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This study combines historical research and philosophical analysis to cast light on why and how Cartesianism failed as a complete metaphysical system. After an initial discussion of methods in the history of philosophy, there is an analysis and criticism of late-17th-century Cartesianism, a survey of Cartesian theology, and two analytic chapters on Cartesian metaphysics which aim to demonstrate its logical inconsistency. The author argues that Descartes' ontology is incoherent and vacuous, his epistemology deceptive and his theology unorthodox - indeed, that "Descartes knows nothing".

Reviews

Original and stimulating. . . . The four new chapters deserve close attention. . . . Readers will await further studies by Richard A. Watson all the more impatiently. --Jean-Luc Marion, Archives de Philosophie
Downfall is required reading for anyone doing early modern philosophy, and its reappearance is welcome and long overdue. --Steven Nadler, International Studies in Philosophy