Descartes' Bones A Skeletal History of the Conflict Between Faith and Reason |
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| Author:
| Shorto, Russell |
| ISBN: | 978-0-307-27566-0 |
| Publication Date: | Aug 2009 |
| Publisher: | Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
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| Imprint: | Vintage |
| Book Format: | Paperback |
| List Price: | USD $21.00 |
Book Description:
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Sixteen years after René Descartes' death in Stockholm in 1650, a pious French ambassador exhumed the remains of the controversial philosopher to transport them back to Paris. Thus began a 350-year saga that saw Descartes' bones traverse a continent, passing between kings, philosophers, poets, and painters.
But as Russell Shorto shows in this deeply engaging book, Descartes' bones also played a role in some of the most momentous episodes in history, which are also part of the...
More Description
Sixteen years after René Descartes' death in Stockholm in 1650, a pious French ambassador exhumed the remains of the controversial philosopher to transport them back to Paris. Thus began a 350-year saga that saw Descartes' bones traverse a continent, passing between kings, philosophers, poets, and painters.
But as Russell Shorto shows in this deeply engaging book, Descartes' bones also played a role in some of the most momentous episodes in history, which are also part of the philosopher's metaphorical remains: the birth of science, the rise of democracy, and the earliest debates between reason and faith. Descartes' Bones is a flesh-and-blood story about the battle between religion and rationalism that rages to this day.
A New York Times Notable Book