Overview

Although the basis of modern biology is Cartesian, Descartes's theories of biology have been more often ridiculed than studied. Yet, Dennis Des Chene demonstrates, the themes, arguments, and vocabulary of his mechanistic biology pervade the writings of many seventeenth-century authors. In his illuminating account of Cartesian physiology in its historical context, Des Chene focuses on the philosopher's innovative reworking of that field, including the nature of life, the problem of generation, and the concepts of health and illness. Des Chene begins by surveying works that Descartes would likely have encountered, from late Aristotelian theories of the soul to medical literature and treatises on machines. The Cartesian theory of vital operations is examined with particular attention to the generation of animals. Des Chene also considers the role of the machine-model in furnishing a method in physiology, the ambiguities of the notion of machine, and of Descartes's problem of simulation. Finally, he looks at the various kinds of unity of the body, both in itself and in its union with the soul. Spirits and Clocks continues Des Chene's highly regarded exploration-begun in his previous book, Life's Form-of the scholastic and Cartesian sciences as well as the dialogue between these two worldviews.

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9780801437649

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Reviews

Spirits and Clocks is the third in a series of magnificent books in which Des Chene explores the relationship between late Scholastic (particularly Jesuit) philosophy and Cartesian thought. . . . The result is a superbly nuanced study of a thinker whose brilliance has often dazzled his modern commentators so much that they have forgotten he was addressing a philosophical tradition out of which many of his own concepts and arguments derived. -Margaret J. Osler, Isis, Vol. 93, No. 1 (2002)

Spirits and Clocks is an enormously impressive accomplishment. In this book, Dennis Des Chene brings together the history of biology, the history of mechanics and late scholastic philosophy to illuminate the way in which Descartes transformed our understanding of living creatures. It isn't easy to make an original contribution to the literature on Descartes, but Des Chene has done it. Daniel Garber, University of Chicago

Author Information

Dennis Des Chene is Professor of Philosophy at Washington University in Saint Louis.

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