Radical Cartesianism

by Tad M. Schmaltz

"This is the first book-length study of the highly original form of Cartesianism in the work of two of Descartes's French successors, Robert Desgabets (1610-78) and Pierre-Sylvain Regis (1632-1707). The book focuses on radical doctrines in these Cartesians concerning the creation of the eternal truths, the intentionality of ideas, and the soul-body union, three issues that Descartes broached but did not fully explore. In addition to relating their discussion of these issues to the views of Descartes and of Cartesians such as Malebranche and Arnauld, the book establishes that Desgabets and Regis played an important, though neglected, role in the theologically and politically charged reception of Descartes in early modern France." "A major contribution to the history of Cartesianism, this study will be of special interest to historians of early modern philosophy and historians of ideas."--Cover.