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1998The Concept of Space and the Metaphysics of Extended Substance in DescartesHistory of Philosophy Quarterly 31 (1): 21-40. 2014.This essay offers an interpretation of Descartes’ treatment of the concepts of place and space in the Principles of Philosophy. On the basis of that interpretation, I argue that his understanding and application of the concept of space supports a pluralist interpretation of Descartes on extended substance. I survey the Scholastic evolution of issues in the Aristotelian theory of place and clarify elements of Descartes’ appropriation and transformation thereof: the relationship between internal a…Read more
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1017Descartes on Physical Vacuum: Rationalism in Natural-Philosophical DebateSociety and Politics 7 (2): 126-141. 2013.Descartes is notorious for holding a strong anti-vacuist position. On his view, according to the standard reading, empty space not only does not exist in nature, but it is logically impossible. The very notion of a void or vacuum is an incoherent one. Recently Eric Palmer has proposed a revisionist reading of Descartes on empty space, arguing that he is more sanguine about its possibility. Palmer makes use of Descartes’ early correspondence with Marin Mersenne, including his commentary on Galile…Read more
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685Galileo's Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina: Genre, Coherence, and the Structure of DisputeGalilaeana 1 (XVI): 41-75. 2019.This paper proposes a reading of Galileo’s Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina as analogous to a legal brief submitted to a court en banc. The Letter develops a theory of the general issues underlying the case at hand, but it is organized around advocacy for a particular judgment. I have drawn two architectonic implications from this framework, each of which helps to resolve an issue still standing in the literature. First, the Letter anticipates varying degrees of acquiescence to its ge…Read more
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349Exclusion in Descartes's Rules for the Direction of the Mind: the emergence of the real distinctionIntellectual History Review 26 (2): 203-219. 2016.The distinction between the mental operations of abstraction and exclusion is recognized as playing an important role in many of Descartes’ metaphysical arguments, at least after 1640. In this paper I first show that Descartes describes the distinction between abstraction and exclusion in the early Rules for the Direction of the Mind, in substantially the same way he does in the 1640s. Second, I show that Descartes makes the test for exclusion a major component of the method proposed in the Rule…Read more
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37Galileo on Theology’s Status as a ScienceHeythrop Journal 63 (3): 473-479. 2022.The Heythrop Journal, Volume 63, Issue 3, Page 473-479, May 2022.
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33Argument and Persuasion in Descartes' MeditationsBritish Journal for the History of Philosophy 19 (6). 2011.British Journal for the History of Philosophy, Volume 19, Issue 6, Page 1216-1220, December 2011
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20Matter Matters: Metaphysics and Methodology in the Early Modern Period (review)Isis 103 596-597. 2012.
Joseph Zepeda
Thomas Aquinas College
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Thomas Aquinas CollegeRegular Faculty
Areas of Specialization
17th/18th Century Philosophy |
Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy |
History of Science |