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Descartes' Bones: A Skeletal History Of The Conflict Between Faith And Reason (2008)

by Russell Shorto(Favorite Author)

3.66 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

038551753X (ISBN13: 9780385517539)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Doubleday

review 1: The perfect confluence - a conscious effort to read more non-fiction and a need to purge and reorganize the books - led me to Descartes' Bones. Shorto traces the history of the Enlightenment from Descartes' famous "I think, therefore I am" to the present day and along the way he also traces the history of the skeleton of Descartes, its disposition especially newsworthy during the French Revolution. The book is packed with history and philosophy and prominent scientists and thinkers. Although Shorto is prone to heading off on (interesting, but still...)tangents, he does manage to tie everything together, including a decent summary of how Descartes ideas are still being debated today in the guise of the separation of church and state and radical/fundamentalist leaders. I lea... morerned a boatload reading this book, now to try to remember some of it.
review 2: Having not known much about Descartes besides "I think therefore I am", I was looking forward to learning more about him and what specifically makes him a famous personage in history. This book relates that, as well as tracing the journey that his physical bones takes throughout the world and history. It also taught me that the "bones" of Descartes philosophy of cartesianism ushered in the age of modernism and the basis for scientific method. I think this was a very good book to get your feet wet with to begin a study of Descartes philosophy and what it meant to the world and religion. I found the book most interesting while it was discussing the the religious repercussions his philosophy had on the catholic church and the French Revolution. The actual story behind his bones and skull was not that exciting but provided an original framework in which to discuss the philosophy.All in all I enjoyed this book and it opened my eyes and mind to a lot of philosophical and theological questions. I never realized how earth shattering and revolutionary the phrase "I think therefore I am" was in the context of history, religion and the growth of human society. less

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