Abstracts

René Descartes is at the root of the modern world. Stephen Gaukroger explains why. Descartes sought to found philosophy on an investigation of the natural world rather than on theology and ethics. His task was complicated by the trial and condemnation of Galileo. He wished, as he says, to do nothing of which the Church could disapprove. In spite of this caveat he constructed over his lifetime an account of the world, from cosmology to psychology, which was fundamentally naturalistic, replacing the teleological thought of previous centuries with an unremitting mechanism. At the heart of his thought is mathematical physics. This determined his treatment of psychophysiology and the mind-body problem. In spite of 350 years of subsequent research the general idea of his neuropsychology remains surprisingly modern. He was one of the first to see humans as part of nature and his account of the relation of mind to brain is remarkably comprehensive and clear. Gaukroger’s book, although in this reviewer’s opinion open to criticism in some respects, provides a fascinating and in-depth account of the structure of Descartes’ thought.