Discourse on Method and Related Writings (Penguin Classics) Book

This is the second of a new two-volume edition of the works of Descartes in Penguin Classics. This volume is designed for students who approach Descartes from the point of view of his philosophy of science. Includes DISCOURSE ON METHOD, the most accessible and well-known of his discussions of scientific method; the first seven chapters of the earlier, unpublished work, THE WORLD; as well as a selection of Descartes' correspondence and his replies to his critics.

'It is not enough to have a good mind; it is more important to use it well' Rene Descartes was a central figure in the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century.

A new, superb translation of Descartes' seminal contribution to modern philosophy and science.

The age of Newton marks one of the great turning points in intellectual history, and Descartes has a key place at its very heart. Designed for students who approach Descartes from the point of view of his philosophy of science, this is the second of a new two-volume edition of the works of Descartes in Penguin Classics. Descartes did major research in optics, geometry, astronomy, and physiology, although (partly because Galileo had just been condemned by the Inquisition) he published nothing until he was over forty. The Discourse forms the preface to his first collection of scientific papers, outlining a new method based on hypothesis and deduction, which effectively replaced Aristotelian techniques. This edition puts the work in context by including extracts from Descartes' correspondence, the Rules for Guiding One's Intelligence, and The World--a posthumously published summary of his physical theories.

Translated with an Introduction and Notes by Desmond M. Clarke