•  109
    I—Sarah Patterson: Descartes on Nature, Habit and the Corporeal World
    Aristotelian Society Supplementary Volume 87 (1): 235-258. 2013.
    Descartes says that the Meditations contains the foundations of his physics. But how does the work advance his geometrical view of the corporeal world? His argument for this view of matter is often taken to be concluded with the proof of the existence of bodies in the Sixth Meditation. This paper focuses on the work that follows the proof, where Descartes pursues the question of what we should think about qualities such as light, sound and pain, as well as the size and shape of particular bodies…Read more
  •  25
    Clear and distinct perception
    In Janet Broughton & John Carriero (eds.), A Companion to Descartes, Blackwell. pp. 216-234. 2008.
    Book synopis: A collection of more than 30 specially commissioned essays, this volume surveys the work of the 17th-century philosopher-scientist commonly regarded as the founder of modern philosophy, while integrating unique essays detailing the context and impact of his work. Covers the full range of historical and philosophical perspectives on the work of Descartes Discusses his seminal contributions to our understanding of skepticism, mind-body dualism, self-knowledge, innate ideas, substance…Read more
  •  121
    Descartes on the Errors of the Senses
    Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplement 78 73-108. 2016.
    Descartes first invokes the errors of the senses in the Meditations to generate doubt; he suggests that because the senses sometimes deceive, we have reason not to trust them. This use of sensory error to fuel a sceptical argument fits a traditional interpretation of the Meditations as a work concerned with finding a form of certainty that is proof against any sceptical doubt. If we focus instead on Descartes's aim of using the Meditations to lay foundations for his new science, his appeals to s…Read more
  •  14
    Forum
    Mind and Language 11 (1): 68-69. 1996.
  •  62
    Doubt and Human Nature in Descartes's Meditations
    Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplement 70 189-217. 2012.
    Descartes is well known for his employment of the method of doubt. His most famous work, the Meditations, begins by exhorting us to doubt all our opinions, including our belief in the existence of the external world. But critics have charged that this universal doubt is impossible for us to achieve because it runs counter to human nature. If this is so, Descartes must be either misguided or hypocritical in proposing it. Hume writes:There is a species of scepticism, antecedent to all study and ph…Read more