The Matter of Mind
Reason and Experience in the Age of Descartes
By Christopher Braider, professor of French and comparative literature
University of Toronto Press
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.
“’The Matter of Mind: Reason and Experience in the Age of Descartes’ offers readers a paradigm-shifting, vigorous rereading of canonical seventeenth-century works of French literature, drama, philosophy, theology, and painting, including those by Boileau, Corneille, Molière, Pascal, and Poussin. It takes issue with the long-held view that Descartes’s mind-body dualism is the decisive innovation of French culture in the Grand Siècle, arguing instead for the primacy of conceptions of the self that evade Descartes’s radical rationalism. Christopher Braider’s study displays an admirable grasp of the complexity of canonical texts and their ability to continuously offer up interpretative possibilities that withstand attempts at definitive appropriations by even the strongest theoretical frameworks. The writing is elegant, clearly the fruit of long, mature reflection and impeccable scholarship. It is well said, well thought out, and leaves the reader perpetually impressed.”
By Christopher Braider, professor of French and comparative literature
University of Toronto Press
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.
“’The Matter of Mind: Reason and Experience in the Age of Descartes’ offers readers a paradigm-shifting, vigorous rereading of canonical seventeenth-century works of French literature, drama, philosophy, theology, and painting, including those by Boileau, Corneille, Molière, Pascal, and Poussin. It takes issue with the long-held view that Descartes’s mind-body dualism is the decisive innovation of French culture in the Grand Siècle, arguing instead for the primacy of conceptions of the self that evade Descartes’s radical rationalism. Christopher Braider’s study displays an admirable grasp of the complexity of canonical texts and their ability to continuously offer up interpretative possibilities that withstand attempts at definitive appropriations by even the strongest theoretical frameworks. The writing is elegant, clearly the fruit of long, mature reflection and impeccable scholarship. It is well said, well thought out, and leaves the reader perpetually impressed.”
—Modern Language Association’s award citation for the 2013 Scaglione Prize for French and Francophone Literary Studies, which "The Matter of Mind" won