Although the basis of modern biology is Cartesian, Descartes's theories of biology have been more often ridiculed than studied. Yet, Dennis Des Chene demonstrates, the themes, arguments, and vocabulary of his mechanistic biology pervade the writings of many seventeenth-century authors. In his illuminating account of Cartesian physiology in its historical context, Des Chene focuses on the philosopher's innovative reworking of that field, including the nature of life, the problem of generation, and the concepts of health and illness. Des Chene begins by surveying works that Descartes would likely have encountered, from late Aristotelian theories of the soul to medical literature and treatises on machines. The Cartesian theory of vital operations is examined with particular attention to the generation of animals. Des Chene also considers the role of the machine-model in furnishing a method in physiology, the ambiguities of the notion of machine, and of Descartes's problem of simulation. Finally, he looks at the various kinds of unity of the body, both in itself and in its union with the soul. Spirits and Clocks continues Des Chene's highly regarded exploration?begun in his previous book, Life's Form?of the scholastic and Cartesian sciences as well as the dialogue between these two worldviews.

Dennis Des Chene's profile page

Dennis Des Chene is Professor of Philosophy at Washington University in Saint Louis.

Treating material of mostly historical interest and intended for a rather specialized audience, the book is very thoroughly researched and admirably written. A valuable addition to the literature.

Choice

Spirits and Clocks fills an important gap in the study of the history of ideas.... Des Chene has done much to locate the natural philosophies of Descartes and his scholastic contemporaries and predecessors in relationship to Aristotle's work, and he continues to make use of his extraordinary knowledge of these different periods of philosophy.... Overall, the book is an excellent piece of scholarship, with particular appeal to historians of ideas.

Journal of Transcendent Philosophy

Confronted with the thousandth 'entirely new' interpretation of the Cartesian mind-body union, one sometimes wonders whether anything new can in fact be said about the great Descartes. Once again... Des Chene proves that a serious historian, with a keen awareness of historical context, actually can.

Journal of the History of Philosophy

Des Chene provides insight into.... the fashion for, and discussion of, machines in Descartes' time. Descartes himself, of course, was happy to provide some engineering designs for his friend Huygens, and he was enthusiastic about the automata one could observe in action in the gardens of Versailles. But to see his interests in their contemporary setting sheds vivid new light on his fascination with machinery.... In short, this is a superb book.... Des Chene has here again shown himself in the forefront of contemporary Cartesian scholars.

Philosophy in Review

Spirits and Clocks is the third in a series of magnificent books in which Des Chene explores the relationship between late Scholastic (particularly Jesuit) philosophy and Cartesian thought.... The result is a superbly nuanced study of a thinker whose brilliance has often dazzled his modern commentators so much that they have forgotten he was addressing a philosophical tradition out of which many of his own concepts and arguments derived.

Isis

Des Chene is a scholar on the work of Rene Descartes and is interested in trying to stimulate scholars to look at a fuller picture of the influences on Descartes.... Des Chene's book makes a valuable contribution to an already vast literature on Descartes and his contributions to Western thought.

Research News and Opportunities