"Versions of several chapters have appeared as journals articles or edited volumes ..."--P. [xi]
Includes bibliographical references (pages [305]-321) and index
Introduction. Experience and the matter of mind : dualism, classicism, and the myth of the modern subject in seventeenth-century France -- Front matter : placing Descartes's Meditations -- A state of mind : embodying the sovereign in Poussin's The judgment of Solomon -- The witch from Colchis : Corneille's Médée, Chimène's Le Cid, and the invention of classical genius -- Seeing is believing : image and Imaginaire in Molière's Sganarelle -- The ghost in the machine : reason, faith, and experience in Pascalian apologetics -- Des mots sans fin : meaning and the end(s) of history in Boileau's Satire XII, 'Sur l'equivoque'
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"What influence did René Descartes' concept of mind-body dualism have on early modern conceptions of the self? In The Matter of Mind, Christopher Braider challenges the presumed centrality of Descartes' groundbreaking theory to seventeenth-century French culture. He details the broad opposition to rational self-government among Descartes' contemporaries, and attributes conventional links between Descartes and the myth of the 'modern subject' to post-structuralist assessments
The Matter of Mind presents studies drawn from a range of disciplines and examines the paintings of Nicolas Poussin, the drama of Pierre Corneille, and the theology of Blaise Pascal. Braider argues that if early modern thought converged on a single model, then it was the experimental picture based on everyday experience proposed by Descartes' sceptical adversary, Michel de Montaigne. Forceful and provocative, The Matter of Mind will encourage lively debate on the norms and discourses of seventeenth-century philosophy."--pub. desc
Descartes, René,1596-1650-- Influence
Experience in literature
French literature-- 17th century-- History and criticism