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3Spinoza's Monism and the Reality Of The FiniteIn Philip Goff (ed.), Spinoza on Monism, Palgrave-macmillan. 2012.
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1Occasionalism and the mind-body problemIn M. A. Stewart (ed.), Studies in Seventeenth-Century European Philosophy, Clarendon Press. 1997.
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Dualism and occasionalism: Arnauld and the development of Cartesian metaphysicsRevue Internationale de Philosophie 48 (190): 421-439. 1994.
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15Descartes et Cervantes : le malin génie et la folie de Don QuichotteLaval Théologique et Philosophique 53 (3): 605-616. 1997.
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17Probability and Truth in the ApologyPhilosophy and Literature 9 (2): 198-202. 1985.This article is a reply to an earlier piece by kenneth seeskin (philosophy and literature, 1982). I argue that socrates' defense is more of a parody of gorgian rhetoric than seeskin is willing to allow. They key lies in socrates' use of rhetoric to persuade the beliefs of the athenian jurors by means of probabilities. When replying to the expressed pretexts of the trial, He uses "base" rhetoric; when finally attending to the real reasons behind his accusations, He resorts to "the truth about his…Read more
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9Occult Powers and Hypotheses: Cartesian Natural Philosophy under Louis XIV. Desmond M. ClarkeIsis 81 (4): 772-773. 1990.
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1Could Spinoza Have Presented the Ethics as the True Content of the Bible?Oxford Studies in Early Modern Philosophy 4 1-50. 2008.
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25Spinoza: L'expérience et l'éternitéJournal of the History of Philosophy 34 (1): 143-145. 1996.BOOK REVIEWS 143 level of ignorance. I was, for example, surprised to learn that haecceitas is a compara- tively rare term in Scotus rather than signate matter. In his Introduction and Epilogue Gracia nicely counterbalances the tendency to- ward fragmentation stemming from the disparate accounts of individuality in the various thinkers represented in the volume. He does this, first, by highlighting for the reader the basic issues surrounding the problem of individuality, such as the concep- tion…Read more
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145Descartes and occasional causationBritish Journal for the History of Philosophy 2 (1). 1994.After a brief analysis of the nature of occasional causation, distinguishing it from both efficient causation and the doctrine of occasionalism, it is argued that this model of causation informs Descartes' account of the generation of sensory ideas in the mind. It is further argued that, consequently, Descartes is not an occasionalist on this matter
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8New Essays on the Rationalists (review)Journal of the History of Philosophy 38 (3): 437-439. 2000.In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:New Essays on the RationalistsSteven NadlerRocco J. Gennaro and Charles Huenemann, editors. New Essays on the Rationalists. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999. Pp. xvii + 391. Cloth, $60.00.Here is yet another collection of essays on early modern philosophy. The focus this time is on the Seventeenth century, in particular "the rationalists." What this apparently involves is, as the old-fashioned classification has it, …Read more
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68Malebranche's occasionalism: A reply to ClarkeJournal of the History of Philosophy 33 (3): 505-508. 1995.
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27Cartesianism and Port-Royal in Descartes and His ContemporariesThe Monist 71 (4): 573-584. 1988.CONTRARY TO WHAT APPEARS TO BE POPULAR BELIEF, PORT-ROYAL WAS NOT A BASTION OF CARTESIANISM. IN FACT, OF ALL THE PORT-ROYALISTS OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY, ONLY ARNAULD CAN BE CONSIDERED A CARTESIAN IN ANY INTERESTING SENSE. MOST OF THE OTHERS ASSOCIATED WITH THE ORDER WERE HOSTILE TO THE NEW PHILOSOPHY AND ACTIVELY CAMPAIGNED AGAINST IT, BELIEVING IT TO POSE A THREAT TO PIETY AND "TRUE" RELIGION. THIS CAN BE SEEN BY EXAMINING THE WRITINGS OF DE SACY, DU VAUCEL, AND NICOLE, AND THE VARIOUS PHILO…Read more
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11Spinoza and Medieval Jewish Philosophy (edited book)Cambridge University Press. 2014.Over the last two decades there has been an increasing interest in the influence of medieval Jewish thought upon Spinoza's philosophy. The essays in this volume, by Spinoza specialists and leading scholars in the field of medieval Jewish philosophy, consider the various dimensions of the rich, important, but vastly under-studied relationship between Spinoza and earlier Jewish thinkers. It is the first such collection in any language, and together the essays provide a detailed and extensive analy…Read more
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15Berkeley’s Ideas and the Primary/Secondary DistinctionCanadian Journal of Philosophy 20 (1): 47-61. 1990.Part of Berkeley's strategy in his attack on materialism in the Three Dialogues Between Hylas and Philonous is to argue that the epistemological distinction between ideas of so-called primary qualities and ideas of secondary qualities, especially as this distinction is found in Locke, is untenable. Both kinds of ideas-those presenting to the mind the quantifiable properties of bodies and those which are just sensations -are equally perceptions in the mind, and there is no reason to believe that …Read more
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14Lectures de Descartes ed. by Frédéric de Buzon, Élodie Cassan, and Denis KambouchnerJournal of the History of Philosophy 54 (1): 168-169. 2016.A fair number of recent monographs and essay collections on Descartes cover the same old ground, rehashing well-worn problems and taking us for another tour in Cartesian circles. Much to be preferred are those studies that go beyond the familiar and truly advance our understanding of Cartesian metaphysics, epistemology, science, ethics, and philosophical theology, especially with new insights into their complex relationships. The best anthologies will also contain original essays by both well-es…Read more
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9Review of Adam Sutcliffe, Judaism and Enlightenment (review)Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews 2003 (5). 2003.
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Oxford Studies in Early Modern Philosophy Volume V (edited book)Oxford University Press. 2010.Oxford Studies in Early Modern Philosophy presents a selection of the best current work in the history of early modern philosophy. It focuses on the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries -- the extraordinary period of intellectual flourishing that begins, very roughly, with Descartes and his contemporaries and ends with Kant.
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23Francis X. J. Coleman, "Neither Angel nor Beast. The Life and Work of Blaise Pascal" (review)Journal of the History of Philosophy 26 (3): 489. 1988.
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13Pierre-Francois Moreau, Spinoza: L'experience et l'eterniteJournal of the History of Philosophy 34 (1): 143-144. 1996.
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4Oxford Studies in Early Modern Philosophy: Volume Iii (edited book)Oxford University Press UK. 2006.Table of Contents Note from the Editors 1. Deflating Descartes’ Causal Axiom, Tad Schmaltz 2. The Dustbin Theory of Mind: A Cartesian Legacy?, Lawrence Nolan and John Whipple 3. Is Descartes a Libertarian?, C. P. Ragland 4. The Scholastic Resources for Descartes’ Concept of God as Causa Sui, Richard Lee 5. Hobbesian Mechanics, Doug Jesseph 6. Locks, Schlocks, and Poisoned Peas: Boyle on Actual and Dispositive Qualities, Dan Kaufman 7. Atomism, Monism, and Causation in the Natural Philosophy of M…Read more
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138Spinoza on Lying and SuicideBritish Journal for the History of Philosophy 24 (2): 257-278. 2016.Spinoza is often taken to claim that suicide is never a rational act, that a ‘free’ person acting by the guidance of reason will never terminate his/her own existence. Spinoza also defends the prima facie counterintuitive claim that the rational person will never act dishonestly. This second claim can, in fact, be justified when Spinoza's moral psychology and account of motivation are properly understood. Moreover, making sense of the free man's exception-less honesty in this way also helps to c…Read more
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1Doctrines of explanation in late scholasticism and in the mechanical philosophyIn Daniel Garber & Michael Ayers (eds.), The Cambridge History of Seventeenth-Century Philosophy, Cambridge University Press. pp. 2--513. 1998.
Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America
Areas of Interest
Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy |
17th/18th Century Philosophy |