Studies in the history of philosophy
1 primary work
Book 7
This is an English translation of Arnauld's philosophical reply to Malebranche's "Search After Truth". It forms the core of one of the most important philosophical controversies of the 17th century, and one which was to have an impact on 18th-century philosophy, especially in Britain. The translation is accompanied by an introductory essay which looks at the history of the problem of perceptual cognition up until the dispute between Arnauld and Malebranche. The subsequent exchanges between the two are discussed in an appendix. The concept of perceptual cognition offered is modern in its construal of the act of perception on the model of language rather than on the model of pictorial representation. Descartes said of Arnauld that no-one had understood his thought better, and this treatise offers a reading of Descartes' view of perception which contradicts what has become the traditional interpretation. The book will be of interest to those concerned with the history of philosophy and the history of the theories of perception, as well as to historians of science and intellectual historians.