Customer Reviews
All sophestry and lies throw to the flames. - By: , 06 Jun 2005 
Sophestry, Sophestry condemn it to the flames. This book is like a spot the mistakes book of philosophy. From the Cartesian Circle to the Intentional fallacy to the blatent disreguard of predicates this book is seriously flawed. Making the reader use pons asinorum from previous meditations to attempt to prove the most propostrous assertions from the existence of god to the idea that dualism has to occur.
Saying that i like this book. It was certainly needed to get philosophy moving & is very readable. Beware of taking it at face value this book has to be read very carefully to be understood deeply. There are about 5 levels of people who read this book. On first reading you will probably become lost through the forth meditation onwards but this is where the sophestry becomes the most intense.
Don't throw it to the flames becuase it is enjoyable to destroy.
Cogito Ergo Sum.... The Matrix, Dude!! - By: marty mcfly, 14 Jan 2004 
As a former student of philospohy amid the dreaming spires & an avid movie fan, my delight at seeing a modern rendition of a classic theory, instead of just seeing Shakespeare 'done teen' (10 things i hate about you...etc.) was clear to all.
The Matrix also did me a favour, because, to my mind, the key to unlocking philosophical concepts is alwaysin the useful analogy or visualisation & here was a 2-hour visualisation with Keanu & special fx.
Anyway, Descartes' best-known piece is probably my favourite among the classic theories; accessible, easy to understand & easy to take a view on, as opposed to, say, Kant's theory of moral obligation...
All Descartes really does is walk you through a series of logical thought processes that he took himself throughin order to clarify his views on God & existence. The classic sceptics, for example, believed that we could not know anything, whereas Descartes shows us his reasoning that God is all the proof we need.
For example, Descartes takes us through such questions as, how can i know the dream from the waking? how do i know that i am not a brainin a vat being manipulated by some devil? Since all philosophers seem to agree that logic is an acceptable proof, we then follow Descartes' attempts to reason his existence & he reasons 'Cogito Ergo Sum' or, 'I think therefore I am'. Go ahead & make up your own mind, it sounds ridiculous, but it becomes quite fun when you realise the difficultiesin proving your own existence...! Enjoy.
By the way, this edition is fantastic & has all you need to lead you on to further reading, should you wish.
a very important, if the not the most to modern philosophy - By: , 19 Mar 2001 Descartes is widely recognised as the founding father of modern philosophy. The Meditations introduce a scientific method into philosophical thought, & are the foundation to Descartes' workin science.
It is a very hard piece of work to understand, & to reaps its benefits fully, it is essential to also read the Objections & Replies (to Descartes) & also the secondary texts (especially B. Williams, Curley, Wilson & Cottingham).
On the superficial level The Meditations are very far fetched & can be dismissed as an invalid proof of the existence of God. This may be so, but the real impact Descartes makes isin changing the methodology that Philosophy begins to take. For these reasons The Meditations is an extrememly important text. And though I would not label any book as being essential for a student or lover of Philosophy to have read, I would label the Meditations as a classic.
It is worth reading just to find out what all the hype (surrounding the cogito 'i think, (therefore) i am') is all about.
