Descartes, René 1596-1650

Discours de la méthode : pour bein [sic] conduire sa raison et chercher la verité dans les sciences = Discourse on the method : of conducting one's reason well and of seeking the truth in the sciences : a bilingual edition and an interpretation of René Descartes' philosophy of method by René Descartes ( Book )
1,018 editions published between 1637 and 2013 in 9 languages and held by 4,942 WorldCat member libraries worldwide
"Dans son Discours de la méthode, Descartes semble annoncer Le Corbusier quand il rêve de villes tracées au cordeau, délivrées du désordre médiéval, et qu'il compare l'empilement chaotique des savoirs hérités de la tradition à ces constructions de guingois encombrant le coeur de la capitale. Déplorant la confusion de leur agencement et magnifiant la transparence des édifices rationnels, Descartes formule le projet utopique d'un futur proche où l'homme se serait rendu "comme maître et possesseur de la nature". Relire le Discours de la méthode c'est à cet égard remonter à la source des fantasmes prométhéens de la modernité. Cependant, Descartes redevient philosophe dès lors qu'il rejoint sa chambre et nous invite, à son instar, à nous arrêter en chemin pour tester la solidité de nos certitudes. C'est à l'âge d'homme, quand le savoir accumulé obscurcit l'esprit, qu'il faut savoir s'offrir, au moins une fois en sa vie, le luxe du doute. Faites place nette sur votre table de chevet pour y déposer, comme une purge aux vertus cathartiques, ce texte radicalement moderne!"--[Source inconnue]

Meditations on first philosophy by René Descartes ( )
108 editions published between 1932 and 2013 in 3 languages and held by 4,077 WorldCat member libraries worldwide
In Descartes's Meditations, the thinker rejects all his former beliefs in the quest for new certainties. He develops new conceptions of body and mind to create a new science of nature. This new translation includes a wide-ranging, accessible introduction, notes and full selections from the Objections and Replies. - ;'It is some years now since I realized how many false opinions I had accepted as true from childhood onwards...I saw that at some stage in my life the whole structure would have to be utterly demolished'. In Descartes's Meditations, one of the key texts of Western philosophy, the t

Discourse on method, optics, geometry and meteorology by René Descartes ( Book )
165 editions published between 1060 and 2013 in English and Undetermined and held by 3,938 WorldCat member libraries worldwide
Rene Descartes was a central figure in the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century. In his Discourse on Method he outlined the contrast between mathematics and experimental sciences, and the extent to which each one can achieve certainty. Drawing on his own work in geometry, optics, astronomy and physiology, Descartes developed the hypothetical method that characterizes modern science, and this soon came to replace the traditional techniques derived from Aristotle. Many of Descartes' most radical ideas such as the disparity between our perceptions and the realities that cause them have been highly influential in the development of modern philosophy. from http://www.abebooks.com (August 22, 2011)

Discourse on the method of rightly conducting the reason, and seeking truth in the sciences by René Descartes ( )
88 editions published between 1850 and 2013 in English and held by 3,527 WorldCat member libraries worldwide
"This new translation is accompanied by a substantial introductory essay which draws on Descartes's correspondence to examine his motivation and the impact of his great work on his contemporaries. Detailed notes explain his philosophical terminology and ideas."--BOOK JACKET

Rules for the direction of the mind. Discourse on the method. Meditations on first philosophy. Objections against the Meditations and replies. The geometry. by René Descartes ( Book )
27 editions published between 1952 and 1989 in English and held by 1,718 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

The world and other writings by René Descartes ( )
11 editions published in 1998 in English and held by 1,680 WorldCat member libraries worldwide
"Descartes' The World offers the most comprehensive vision of the nature of the world since Aristotle, and is crucial for an understanding of his later writings, in particular the Meditations and Principles of Philosophy. Above all, it provides an insight into how Descartes conceived of natural philosophy before he started to reformulate his doctrines in terms of a skeptically driven epistemology. Of its two parts, The Treatise on Light introduced the first comprehensive, quantitative version of a mechanistic natural philosophy, supplying a theory of matter, physical optics, and a cosmology, and The Treatise on Man provided the first comprehensive mechanist physiology. This volume also includes translations of material important for an understanding of the work: related sections from The Dioptrics and The Meteors, and the first English translation of the complete text of The Description of the Human Body."--Jacket

The philosophical works of Descartes by René Descartes ( Book )
83 editions published between 1911 and 2009 in English and Undetermined and held by 1,648 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

A discourse on method by René Descartes ( Book )
42 editions published between 1912 and 2012 in English and held by 1,488 WorldCat member libraries worldwide
Contains the three most important works by the French philosopher whose establishment of philosophical methods on the ground of reason ushered in the scientific revolution while providing fertile ground for philosophical debate ever since

The geometry of René Descartes : [with a facsimile of the first edition] by René Descartes ( Book )
50 editions published between 1925 and 2007 in English and Undetermined and held by 1,375 WorldCat member libraries worldwide

Discourse on the method and, Meditations on first philosophy by René Descartes ( )
5 editions published in 1996 in English and held by 1,269 WorldCat member libraries worldwide