The Rationalists [Paperback]

The seventeenth century saw a major revolution in our ways of thinking about such issues as the method appropriate to philosophy and science, the relation between mind and body, the nature of substance, and the place of humanity in nature. While not neglecting the lesser but still influential figures, such as Arnauld and Malebranche, John Cottingham focuses primarily on the three great rationalists : Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz. He examines how they approached central problems of philosophy, and shows how closely their ideas are related, despite the radically different philosophical systems they produced. He not only places the major thinkers in their historical and philosophical contexts, but engages their ideas in a vigorously critical way, revealing their capacity to throw light on major philosophical topics that are still very much alive today.

1. Background
2. Method
3. Substance
4. Matter and Mind
5. Freedom and Morality
Notes; Reference List; Index

There is a pedagogical need which this book fills very well: almost every university philosophy programme offers a course in second or third year in which Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz are treated together as a package....Because it is lucid, informative and brief many teachers would find it a helpful commentary to assign as secondary reading. --Teaching Philosophy

A superb view of the main issues in Continental Rationalism....It would be an excellent supplement to primary sources. Well suited for undergraduates. --Alan Hart,University of Akron

A clear, accurate, and very readable account of themes in the philosophies of Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, and others. --Willis Doney,Dartmouth College

Given its limited aims the book is a real tour de force, and I myself should be tempted to use it as a base on which to structure an undergraduate course on the rationalists. --Canadian Philosophical Reviews