La géométrie de René Descartes.

Available on demand as hard copy or computer file from Cornell University Library.

From inference to affordance : the problem of visual depth-perception in the optical writings of Descartes, Berkeley, and Gibson

This thesis explores the debate and issues regarding the status of visual ;,iferellces in the optical writings of Rene Descartes, George Berkeley and James 1. Gibson. It gathers arguments from across their works and synthesizes an account of visual depthperception that accurately reflects the larger, metaphysical implications of their philosophical theories. Chapters 1 and 2 address the Cartesian and Berkelean theories of depth-perception, respectively. For Descartes and Berkeley the debate can be put in the following way: How is it possible that we experience objects as appearing outside of us, at various distances, if objects appear inside of us, in the representations of the individual's mind? Thus, the Descartes-Berkeley component of the debate takes place exclusively within a representationalist setting. Representational theories of depthperception are rooted in the scientific discovery that objects project a merely twodimensional patchwork of forms on the retina. I call this the "flat image" problem. This poses the problem of depth in terms of a difference between two- and three-dimensional orders (i.e., a gap to be bridged by one inferential procedure or another). Chapter 3 addresses Gibson's ecological response to the debate. Gibson argues that the perceiver cannot be flattened out into a passive, two-dimensional sensory surface. Perception is possible precisely because the body and the environment already have depth. Accordingly, the problem cannot be reduced to a gap between two- and threedimensional givens, a gap crossed with a projective geometry. The crucial difference is not one of a dimensional degree. Chapter 3 explores this theme and attempts to excavate the empirical and philosophical suppositions that lead Descartes and Berkeley to their respective theories of indirect perception. Gibson argues that the notion of visual inference, which is necessary to substantiate representational theories of indirect perception, is highly problematic. To elucidate this point, the thesis steps into the representationalist tradition, in order to show that problems that arise within it demand a tum toward Gibson's information-based doctrine of ecological specificity (which is to say, the theory of direct perception). Chapter 3 concludes with a careful examination of Gibsonian affordallces as the sole objects of direct perceptual experience. The final section provides an account of affordances that locates the moving, perceiving body at the heart of the experience of depth; an experience which emerges in the dynamical structures that cross the body and the world.

French and English philosophers : Descartes, Rousseau, Voltaire, Hobbes ; with introductions and notes.

Discourse on the method of rightly conducting the reason and seeking the truth in the sciences, by Rene Descartes.--Letters on the English, by Voltaire.--A discourse upon the origin and the foundation of the inequality among mankind. Profession of faith of a Savoyard vicar. By J. J. Rousseau.--Of man, being the first part of Leviathan, by T. Hobbes.

French and English philosophers : Descartes, Rousseau, Voltaire, Hobbes ; with introductions and notes.

Discourse on the method of rightly conducting the reason and seeking the truth in the sciences / by René Descartes -- Letters on the English / by Voltaire -- On the inequality among mankind. Profession of faith of a Savoyard vicar / by J. J. Rousseau -- Of man, being the first part of Leviathan / by Thomas Hobbes.

Plato's Doctrine Of Forms: Modern Misunderstandings

Among the philosophical ideas of Plato, perhaps the most famous is his doctrine of forms. This doctrine has faced harsh criticism due, in large part, to the interpretations of this position by modern philosophers such as René Descartes, John Locke, and Immanuel Kant. For example, Plato has been interpreted as presenting a ¿two-worlds¿ approach to form and thing and as advancing a rationalist approach to epistemology. His forms have often been interpreted as ideas and as perfect copies of the things of the visible world. In this thesis, I argue that these, along with other interpretations of Plato presented by the moderns, are based on misunderstandings of Plato¿s overall philosophy. In so doing, I attempt to show that the doctrine of forms cannot be directly interpreted into the language of Cartesian, Lockean, and Kantian metaphysics and epistemology, and thus should not be prematurely dismissed because of these modern Platonic interpretations. By analyzing the Platonic dialogues beside the writings of the modern philosophers, I conclude that three of the most prominent modern philosophers, as representatives of their respective philosophical frameworks, have fundamentally misunderstood the nature of Plato¿s famous doctrine of forms. This could have significant implications for the future of metaphysics and epistemology by providing an interpretation of Plato which adds to, instead of contradicts, the developments of modern philosophy.

Corpo e consciência: Merleau-Ponty, crítico de Descartes

Pós-graduação em Filosofia - FFC

Arquimedes, Pappus, Descartes e Polya - Quatro episódios da história da heurística. -

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Geschichte der neuern Philosophie : Descartes und seine Schule.

T.2 has imprint: Heidelberg, F. Basserman.

La correspondance de Descartes dans les inédits de fonds Libri : étudiée pour l'histoire des mathématiques /

Includes bibliographical references,

Œuvres de Descartes,

With reproductions of original title-pages.

La morale de Descartes.

Thèse--Univ. de Dijon.

The Method, Meditations, and selections from the Principles of Descartes,

Tr. of: Discours sur lamethode