Bold and pioneering, this book makes a detailed historical and systematic case that Descartes's theory of knowledge is an elegant and powerful combination of a priori, naturalistic, and dialectical elements meriting serious consideration by both contemporary analytic philosophers and postmodern thinkers. In the course of making this case Thomas Vinci develops a broad reinterpretation of Cartesian thought that unlocks novel solutions to many of the most vexed questions in Cartesian scholarship.

Thomas C. Vinci's profile page

Thomas C. Vinci is at Dalhousie University.

[Hatfield cont.] Vinci offers new insights in his examination of Descartes's theory of the cognition of object properties, and especially of the so-called 'primary qualities.' On other key Cartesian philosophical arguments and positions, Vinci offers analysis of equal depth and interest. Overall, this penetrating work shows that the project of speculative argumentative reconstruction is alive and well."--Gary Hatfield, University of Pennsylvania

"Cartesian Truth offers a careful philosophical reconstruction of central parts of Descartes's metaphysics and his theory of perception, each considered in relation to Descartes's epistemology. Vinci aims to further our contemporary understanding of what Wilfrid Sellars called the relation between the 'scientific' and 'manifest' images of the world, thereby establishing the continuing interest of Descartes's epistemology. Of the many substantial original contributions here, most notable perhaps is Vinci's examination of the important positive role Descartes gave to sense perception in his epistemology, and of the use to which Descartes put his reflections on sense perception in framing his criticism of previous theories of the sensory qualities of objects.