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The Western Canon Mailing List
Moderator: Paul John Barnette Jr.
Activation Date: March 8, 1997
Current Date: May 27, 1997
Current Membership: 64
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The following works will be discussed
during the month of June, 1997.

Titles: Discourse on the Method
           Meditations on First Philosophy

Author: Rene Descartes

Years: 1637,1641

Subject: Philosophy

URL: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/6681/descarte.htm

There are a number of versions of both of Descartes'
works available online in a varierty of formats and
languages.


The Discourse:

HTML format
(English) http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/text/descart/des-meth.htm
(French) 
http://www.comp.lancs.ac.uk/languages/users/mla002/desc.dir/methode.html

Text format
(English) gopher://wiretap.area.com/00/Library/Classic/reason.txt


The Meditations:

HTML format
(English) http://philos.wright.edu/DesCartes/MedE.html
(French)  http://philos.wright.edu/DesCartes/MedF.html
(Latin)   http://philos.wright.edu/DesCartes/MedL.html

Text format
(English) http://www.ul.cs.cmu.edu/books/DescaMedit/meditations.txt


The following is a suggested timetable for
the reading of the selected works.

June 1-8

The Discourse:
Prefatory Note to the Reader
Part I
Part II
Part III

June 9-15

The Discourse:
Part IV
Part V
Part VI

June 16-22

The Meditations:
Letter of Dedication
Preface to the Reader
Synopsis
Meditation I
Meditation II
Meditation III

June 23-30

The Meditations:
Meditation IV
Meditation V
Meditation VI

Please note that this is only a suggested
time table. Your reading of the works does
not have to progress in exactly this manner.


I decided to choose these works of Descartes
for the June selection for the following reasons.

1. Descartes is generally considered to be the father
   of modern philosophy, and besides Plato, is probably
   the best introduction to reading philosophy.

2. Most of the more notible philosophers of the Modern
   and Postmodern periods have been very critical of
   Descartes, and I would like to find out if this
   criticism is justified or not.

3. Descartes is not only a first rate philosopher. He
   is also a clear writer as well, which is a rare talent
   among philosophers. 

Important Note: Although we are are now leaving off
reading Milton and moving on to Descartes, this does
not mean that the discussion on Milton is closed. 
I encourage anyone who would like to make comments
on Milton's Paradise Lost to please do so.


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