The body and the brain

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

    21 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Does self-knowledge help? A rationalist, presumably, thinks that it does: both that self-knowledge is possible and that, if gained through appropriate channels, it is desirable. Descartes notoriously claimed that, with appropriate methods of enquiry, each of his readers could become an expert on herself or himself. As well as the direct, first-person knowledge of self to which we are led in the Meditationes, we can also seek knowledge of our own bodies, and of the union of our minds and our bodies: the latter forms of self-knowledge are inevitably imperfect, but are no less important in guiding our conduct in the search after truth.

    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationDescartes' natural philosophy
    EditorsStephen Gaukroger, John Schuster, John Sutton
    Place of PublicationLondon ; New York
    PublisherRoutledge, Taylor and Francis Group
    Pages697-722
    Number of pages26
    ISBN (Electronic)0203463013, 9781134600922, 0203771257
    ISBN (Print)0203771257, 9780415510707, 0415219930
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2000

    Publication series

    NameRoutledge Studies in Seventeenth-Century Philosophy
    PublisherRoutledge
    Number3

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