Reading Guide to Descartes` Meditations on First Philosophy

Emanuela Scribano is one of the foremost philosophers and commentators on Descartes. Though largely unknown in the United States, she is the author of innumerable books in Italy and has been translated in several other languages. This is her first full-length work translated into English.

• I. The Genesis of the Work1. At the Heart of the Meditations2. The Trunk3. The Roots4. Descartes’ ProjectII. The Structure of the WorkIII. An Analysis of the Work1. Doubt, the Indubitable, and What Is True1.1. Doubt as a Method1.2. The Object of Doubt1.3. To Doubt the Undoubtable2. The Existence and Nature of One’s Self                        2.1. The Existence of One’s Self (That I Exist)2.2. The Nature of the Self2.3. That the Mind is More Easily Known Than the Body2.4. Thought3. Ideas and the Existence of God3.1. The Nature of Ideas3.2. The Existence of God and the First a posteriori Proof3.3. The Existence of God and the Second a posteriori Proof3.4. The Idea of God4. Error4.1. God and Error4.2. The Theory of Judgment4.3. Freedom4.4. The Ends of God4.5. Some Observations of Method5. Innatism: The Essence of Material Things and the Existence of God5.1. Innatism5.2. The Essence of Material Things5.3. The a priori Proof of the Existence of God5.4. The Existence of God and the Truth of Ideas 5.5. The Cartesian Circle6. The Mind and the Body                        6.1. Real Distinction6.2. The Immortality of the Soul6.3. The Existence of Material Things 6.4. Substantial Union6.5. The Errors of NatureIV. The Fate of the Work1. God2. Ideas           3. The Mind and the BodyBibliography and Cited WorksIndex of Names