DESCARTES IN SEVENTEENTH CENTURY EN

Rene Descartes (1596-1650), the father of modern philosophy; metaphysician, natural philosopher and mathematician, had an enormous influence on 17th-century thought.

From Descartes's central arguments in logic, metaphysics and physics came the subsequent enquiries of Locke, Leibniz and Newton, and from this all modern scientific and philosophical thought followed.

This ten-volume collection examines the reception of Descartes's philosophy in England during the 17th century, illustrating the multiplicity of English philosophical reaction."Descartes in Seventeenth-Century England" contains Descartes's main works in their first English translations, including the 1653 "Compendium of Musick", the 1661 "Mechanicks and The Passions of the Soule" (1650), the last work published in his lifetime.

Also included are critiques of Descartes's philosophy translated into English, for example Gabriel Daniel's "Voyage to the World of Cartesius" (1692) and Ignace Pardies, "A Discourse of Local Motion" (1670), in addition to the early critical pieces on his ideas written in English, by scholars such as Edward Howard and John Davies.

Other volumes in this set bring together works by Cartesians in English translation, for example by Gerard de Cordemoy and Francois Bayle, and by English thinkers influenced by Descartes (Walter Charleton).

Scholars of Descartes can also read the standard 17th-century biographies in English translation including Adrien Baillet's "Life" (1693) and Pierre Borel's "Summary of the Life of Descartes" (1670).This set collects together rare and largely inaccessible works and is a resource for all scholars wishing to assess the enormous impact of Descartes's philosophy in the 17th century on the history of ideas.