Descartes and the Scientific Revolution, 1618-1634: An Interpretation

This dissertation reconstructs Descartes' early career as symptomatic and constitutive of the crucial phase of the

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English Pages xiii, 768 [841] Year 1977

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Descartes and the Scientific Revolution, 1618-1634: An Interpretation

Table of contents :
I. THE BACKGROUND TO DESCARTES' EARLY CAREER
A. The making of a Conservative Prophet
B. Natural Philosophy, Science and the Scientific Revolution
C. The Classical Geometrical Sciences and the Scientific Revolution--1590-1630
D. The Proliferation of Natural Philosophies--1590-1630
E. The Crisis of the Seventeenth Century and the Career of Descartes
II. THE DUTCH APPRENTICESHIP: 1618-1620
A. Introduction
B. Beeckman and Descartes
C. The Mathematical Descriptions of Fall
D. Toward a Micro-Mechanical Science--The Hydrostatics Manuscript of 1619
E. Straining at the Classical Bit: Descartes' Initial Work in Geometrical and Algebraic Analysis in 1619
F. Beyond the Ancients: The Solution to all "Solid" Problems--1619-25
III. THE UNIVERSAL METHOD OF 1619 AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR THE CAREER OF DESCARTES
A. Introduction
B. Origins of the Universal Method
C. 'Universal Mathematics'
D. The Methodological Insights of November 1619 as Revealed in the Regulae
E. The Metaphorical Roots of 'Universal Mathematics'
F. Implications of the Method for Interpretation of the Biography of Descartes 1619-28
G. Method in the Autobiography in Discours II
IV. THE EARLY SCIENTIFIC CAREER-- THE OPTICAL TRIUMPH OF THE PARISIAN YEARS
A. Introduction
B. The Mechanics of Light: Heuristic and Real Models
C. The Optical Triumph of the 1620s
D. Toward the Micro-Mechanical Theory of Light
E. Conclusion: The Parting of the Ways of the Parisian Opticians
V. THE CRISIS OF THE 1620S: MERSENNE AND THE DEFENSE OF NATURAL PHILOSOPHICAL KNOWLEDGE
A. Introduction
B. The Parisian Crisis of the 1620s
C. Mersenne in the Early 1620s: Piecemeal Science in the Service of Apologetic
D. La Vérité des Sciences: The Justification of Macro-Mathematical Natural Philosophy
E. Mitigated Scepticism, "Mechanism" and the Style of Mersenne's Defense of Science
F. Descartes in the Crisis of the 1620s
VI. THE DOCTRINE OF THE LATER REGULAE: 1626-28
A. Introduction
B. Rule 8--The Emergence of the Enterprise of the Later Regulae
C. Rule 12--From "Most Splendid Example" to Scientistic Justification of Universal Mathematics
D. Universal Mathematics, Algebra and Analysis: The Legitimation of Objects and Procedures
E. The Scientistic Conquest of Knowledge
F. The Instability of the Doctrine of the Later Regulae
VII. THE BACKGROUND TO LE MONDE--1628-34
A. Introduction
B. Problems and Events (1628): Toward a Second Philosophical Reconstruction
C. The Composition of Le Monde
D. The New Justificatory Doctrines: Metaphysics and Voluntarist Theology
E. Conclusion: The Origins of Mechanism Reconsidered
VIII. LE MONDE
A. Introduction
B. The Common Sense of Micro-Mechanism: The Opening Chapters of Le Monde
C. The Fable of the World: Construction of the Mechanistic Cosmos
D. The Matching of Appearances
E. Conclusion

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