Reviews for Descartes's Ballet: His Doctrine of Will and His Political Philosophy

The average rating for Descartes's Ballet: His Doctrine of Will and His Political Philosophy based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-10-31 00:00:00 Riley Ban This is a collection of thirteen essays related to a range of issues concerning Wittgenstein's philosophy. Topics include Wittgenstein's views on The Golden Bough; the idea of nonsense in the Tractatus; Wittgenstein's relation to Frege in both his early and late philosophy; the Vienna Circle's development of ostensive definition; Saul Kripke's take on the so-called private language argument; and a Wittgensteinian appraisal of Carnap's and Strawson's views of metaphysics. Anyone familiar with Hacker's monumental four-volume companion to the Philosophical Investigations (partly co-written with the late Dr Baker) will know roughly what to expect: formidable arguments elegantly expressed and supported by a superb grasp of historical detail. At his best Hacker can be both witty and brutally thorough. His demolition of Cora Diamond's views on nonsense in the Tractatus was almost painful to read. I kept thinking "Stop it now, Peter, she's had enough". Although it contains an excellent introductory essay on Wittgenstein this is not a suitable book for newcomers. Nor is it Hacker at his absolute best (ie, the companion to the PI or his magisterial book on Wittgenstein's place in 20th Century analytic philosophy). But for Wittgenstein obsessives (guilty as charged) it is well worth reading - especially, perhaps, the final two essays where Hacker sketches a post-Wittgenstein approach to metaphysics (an approach he has since begun to put into practice with his recent-ish book "Human Nature: the Categorical Framework").

Review # 2 was written on 2015-08-23 00:00:00 Normand Boucher 'Organs Without Bodies' was an interesting and even entertaining read. However, if one expects this to be an in-depth commentary or critique on Deleuzian thought, prepare to be disappointed. The book rather seems to be a collection of essays that sometimes 'encounter' the thought of Deleuze, but other thinkers as well (such as Alain Badiou). Nonetheless, some of the ideas that Žižek develops in 'Organs Without Bodies' are quite inspiring and stimulating. Moreover, I found Žižek's reading of Deleuze to be very fruitful. He punctures and transforms Deleuzian lingo to his own advantage - something which Deleuze enjoys doing to other authors as well. Although this is probably very upsetting for a Deleuze-scholar ("This is all wrong!"), I found it daring and sometimes illuminating. In short, 'Organs Wihtout Bodies' is an interesting read. Although I would not deem this book to be of much use for academic purposes, I did find it inspiring and stimulating for the development of my own ideas. Take the book for what it is; don't burn it for what it's not.