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Descartes’ Meditations Core Readings. Each week, we’ll read and discuss part of the Meditations, accompanied by a relevant chapter from Carriero’s recent book.

Descartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy. (J. Cottingham ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.) Carriero, J. 2008. Between Two Worlds: A Reading of Descartes’ Meditations. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Useful introductions It is recommended that you make use of one or more of the following additional introductory texts, relevant parts of which are signalled in the week-by-week additional readings. Hatfield is more introductory. Williams is more challenging but in some ways more rewarding.

Hatfield, G. 2003. Descartes and the Meditations. London: Routledge. Williams, B. Descartes: The Project of Pure Inquiry. London: Routledge. Useful collections. Many of the week-by-week additional readings, and in some cases the core readings, are to be found in the following collections of essays.

Broughton, J. and Carriero, J. eds. 2008. A Companion to Descartes. Oxford: Blackwell. [B&C] Gaukroger, S. ed. 2005. The Blackwell Guide to Descartes’ Meditations. Oxford: Blackwell. [G] Cottingham, J. ed. 1992. The Cambridge Companion to Descartes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [CC] Cottingham, J. ed. 1998. Descartes: Oxford Readings in Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press. [Cott] Plan of Seminars, including core reading followed by additional reading. Week 2. General introduction. Intellectual Background to the Meditations; Descartes’ life and works; Cartesian Science; the Synopsis of the Mediations. Core reading Preface and Synopsis (the latter, in particular, is extremely helpful) Carriero, J. 2008. Between Two Worlds: A Reading of Descartes’ Meditations. Introduction. Additional reading Ariew, R. 1998. ‘The Meditations and the Objections and Replies.’ [Cott]

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Des Chene, D. 2008. ‘Aristotelian Natural Philosophy: Body, Cause, Nature.’ [B&C] Gaukroger, S. 2008. ‘Life and Works.’ [B&C] Hatfield, G. 2003. Descartes and the Meditations. Chs. 1 and 2. Rodis-Lewis, G. 1992. ‘Descartes’ life and the development of his philosophy.’ [C] Week 3. First Meditation: Scepticism and the Method Doubt

Core reading First Meditation. Carriero, J. 2008. Between Two Worlds: A Reading of Descartes’ Meditations. Ch.1. Additional reading Broughton, J. 2002. Descartes' Method of Doubt. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Introduction and Part 1. Foucault, M. 1998. ‘My Body, this paper, this fire.’ In M. Foucault, Aesthetics. London: Penguin. Hatfield, G. 2003. Descartes and the Meditations. Ch. 3. Larmore, C. 1998. ‘Descartes and Skepticism.’ [Cott] MacArthur, D. 2003. ‘The seriousness of doubt in the First Meditation.’ Canadian Journal of Philosophy 33: 159–82. Owens, D. 2000. ‘Scepticisms: Descartes and Hume.’ Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Supp. Vol. 74: 119–42. Owens, D. 2008. ‘Descartes’ Use of Doubt.’ [B&C] Williams, B. Descartes: The Project of Pure Inquiry. London: Routledge. Ch. 2 and Appendix 3. Williams, M. ‘Descartes and the Metaphysics of Doubt.’ [C] E. Curley, Descartes against the Skeptics, chs. 1–3. Wilson, M. 1978. Descartes. London: Routledge. Ch. 1. Week 4. Second Meditation: The Cogito; Understanding what this ‘I’ is; the Mind is better known than body

Core reading Second Meditation. Carriero, J. 2008. Between Two Worlds: A Reading of Descartes’ Meditations. Ch.2. Additional reading Broughton, J. 2002. Descartes' Method of Doubt. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Chs. 6 and 7. Broughton, J. 2008. ‘Self-Knowledge.’ [B&C] Curley, E. 1998. ‘The Cogito and the foundations of knowledge.’ [Cott] Hatfield, G. 2003. Descartes and the Meditations. Ch.4. Hintikka, P. 1962. ‘The Cogito: inference or performance?’ The Philosophical Review 71. Kenny, A. J. Descartes. London: Penguin. Ch. 3 Markie, P. ‘The Cogito and Its Importance.’ [Cott] [C] Miles, M. 2008. ‘Descartes’ Method.’ [B&C]

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Radner, D. 1988. ‘Thought and consciousness in Descartes.’ Journal of the History of Philosophy 26, 3: 439–452. Rozemond, M. 1998. ‘The Nature of the Mind.’ [Cott] Williams, B. Descartes: The Project of Pure Inquiry. London: Routledge. Ch.3. Wilson, M. 1978. Descartes. London: Routledge. Ch. 2. Week 5. Third Meditation: Extracting a method from the Cogito; the theory of ideas; two arguments for the existence of God.

Core reading Third Meditation. Carriero, J. 2008. Between Two Worlds: A Reading of Descartes’ Meditations. Chs. 3(I) and (II). Additional reading Beyssade, J.-M. 1992. ‘The idea of God and the proofs of his existence.’ [C] Brown, D. 2008. ‘Descartes on True and False Ideas.’ [B&C] Hatfield, G. 2003. Descartes and the Meditations. Ch.5. Nadler, S. 1998. ‘The doctrine of ideas.’ [Cott] Nolan, L. and Nelson, A. 1998. ‘Proofs for the Existence of God.’ [Cott] Patterson, S. 2008. ‘Clear and Distinct Perception.’ [B&C] Week 6. Reading week; no seminar

Week 7. Fourth Meditation: Judgement, Error and the Will

Core reading Fourth Meditation. Carriero, J. 2008. Between Two Worlds: A Reading of Descartes’ Meditations. Ch.4. Additional reading Della Rocca, M. 1998. ‘Judgment and Will.’ [Cott] Hatfield, G. 2003. Descartes and the Meditations. Ch.6. Newman, L. 2008. ‘Descartes on the Will in Judgment.’ [B&C] Week 8. Fifth Meditation: The Ontological Argument for God’s existence

Core reading Fifth Meditation. Carriero, J. 2008. Between Two Worlds: A Reading of Descartes’ Meditations. Ch.5.

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Additional reading Hatfield, G. 2003. Descartes and the Meditations. Chs. 7. Miles, M. 2008. ‘Descartes’ Method.’ [B&C] Nolan, L. 2011. ‘Descartes' Ontological Argument.’ The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2011 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2011/entries/descartes-ontological/>. Week 9. Intermission: The exit from scepticism and the Cartesian Circle

Core reading Broughton, J. 2002. Descartes Method of Doubt. Chs. 8 and 9. Carriero, J. 2008. ‘The Cartesian Circle and the Foundations of Knowledge.’ [B&C] Additonal reading Hatfield, G. 1998. ‘The Cartesian circle.’ [Cott] Hatfield, G. 2003. Descartes and the Meditations. Chs.7. Loeb, L. 1992. ‘The Cartesian circle.’ [C] Newman, L. and Nelson, A. 1999. ‘Circumventing Cartesian Circles.’ Noûs 33, 3: 370–404. van Cleve, J. 1979. ‘Foundationalism, Epistemic Principles, and the Cartesian Circle.’ Philosophical Review 88. [Cott] Week 10. Sixth Meditation: The Real Distinction between Mind and Body; Mind-Body Interaction and the Material World.

Core reading Sixth Meditation. Carriero, J. 2008. Between Two Worlds: A Reading of Descartes’ Meditations. Ch.6. Additional reading Clarke, D. 1998. ‘Descartes proof of the existence of matter.’ [Cott] Cottingham, J. 1992. ‘Cartesian Dualism: theology, metaphysics, and science.’ [C] Cottingham, J. 1998. ‘The Mind–Body Relation.’ [Cott] Friedman, M. 1997. ‘Descartes on the real existence of matter.’ Topoi 16: 1–10. Friedman, M. 2008. ‘Descartes and Galileo: Copernicanism and the Metaphysical Foundations of Physics.’ [B&C] Hatfield, G. 2003. Descartes and the Meditations. Ch.8. Hoffman, P. ‘The Union and Interaction of Mind & Body.’ [B&C] Rorty, A. O. 1992. ‘Descartes on thinking with the body.’ [C] Rozemond, M. 2008. ‘Descartes’s Dualism.’ [B&C]