Descartes' Discourse marks a watershed in European thought; in it, the author sets out in brief his radical new philosophy, which begins with a proof of the existence of the self (the famous "cogito ergo sum"). Next he deduces from it the existence and nature of God, and ends by offering a radical new account of the physical world and of human and animal nature. Written in everyday language and meant to be read by common people of the day, it swept away all previous philosophical traditions. This new translation is an ideal introduction to Descartes for the general reader. It is accompanied by a substantial introductory essay from Renaissance scholar Ian Maclean that is designed to provide in-depth historical and philosophical context. The essay draws on Descartes' correspondence to examine what brought him to write his great work, and the impact it had on his contemporaries. A detailed section of notes explain Descartes' philosophical terminology and ideas, as well as historical references and allusions. Any reader can feel comfortable diving in to this classic work of Renaissance philosophical thought.

A Discourse on the Method (Oxford World's Classics)

Politics & Social Sciences

MacLean, Ian

Descartes`, René

Philosophy

Oxford University Press

Moliere's prose plays demonstrate both his versatility as a playwright and the reasons for his enduring popularity from the France of Louis XIV to the present.

Don Juan: and Other Plays (Oxford World's Classics)

Literature & Fiction

Molière

Graveley, George

Dramas & Plays

Woman Triumphant: Feminism in French Literature, 1610-1652

Oxford Univ. Pr.

This book examines Renaissance modes of interpretation as they arise in legal contexts, and relates them to modern debates about meaning and its determination. By placing legal hermeneutic theories in their institutional and pedagogical contexts, the author is able to give an account of Renaissance thought showing how it operates in its own terms, and in relation to the thought of the medieval period. Renaissance legal thought is also compared to modern discussions of interpretation, allowing a critical examination of its coherence and consistency.

Interpretation and Meaning in the Renaissance: The Case of Law (Ideas in Context, Series Number 21)

Arts & Photography

Cambridge University Press

This is a major work by Ian Maclean exploring the foundations of learning in the Renaissance. Logic, Signs and Nature offers a profoundly learned, compelling and original account of the range of what was thinkable and knowable by learned medics of the period c.1530-1630. This is a study of great significance to the history of medicine, as well as the history of European ideas in general.

Logic, Signs and Nature in the Renaissance: The Case of Learned Medicine (Ideas in Context, Series Number 62)

History

This study of the world of scholarship and scholarly texts in the Renaissance, the so-called respublica literaria, affords insights into the intellectual infrastructure and modes of thought of the period by its examination of contemporary attitudes towards women. It addresses the questions: What is the notion of woman to be found in Renaissance texts, and how does it evolve? What is the relationship between the notion of woman and that of sex difference, and how is sex difference related in turn to other differences and to the concept of difference itself? Theology, medicine, ethics, politics, and law are examined in succeeding chapters. The threads of the investigation are then drawn together and Dr Maclean shows how the notion of woman was influenced by both forces of conservatism and forces which fostered change, forces which were to be found both inside the confines of intellectual life and beyond them. The final section offers a context for the understanding of European Renaissance feminism and sketches its connections with social and political evolution, humanist scholarship, religious thought and finally problems of language and expression.

The Renaissance Notion of Woman: A Study in the Fortunes of Scholasticism and Medical Science in European Intellectual Life (Cambridge Studies in the History of Medicine)

Europe

This book examines Renaissance modes of interpretation as they arise in legal contexts, and relates them to modern debates about meaning and its determination. By placing legal hermeneutic theories in their institutional and pedagogical contexts, the author is able to give an account of Renaissance thought showing how it operates in its own terms, and in relation to the thought of the medieval period. Renaissance legal thought is also compared to modern discussions of interpretation, allowing a critical examination of its coherence and consistency.

This is a major work by Ian Maclean exploring the foundations of learning in the Renaissance. Logic, Signs and Nature offers a profoundly learned, compelling and original account of the range of what was thinkable and knowable by learned medics of the period c.1530-1630. This is a study of great significance to the history of medicine, as well as the history of European ideas in general.

Historical Study & Educational Resources

A decade ago in the Times Literary Supplement, Roderick Conway Morris claimed that “almost everything that was going to happen in book publishing―from pocket books, instant books and pirated books, to the concept of author’s copyright, company mergers, and remainders―occurred during the early days of printing.” Ian Maclean’s colorful survey of the flourishing learned book trade of the late Renaissance brings this assertion to life. 
The story he tells covers most of Europe, with Frankfurt and its Fair as the hub of intellectual exchanges among scholars and of commercial dealings among publishers. The three major religious confessions jostled for position there, and this rivalry affected nearly all aspects of learning. Few scholars were exempt from religious or financial pressures. Maclean’s chosen example is the literary agent and representative of international Calvinism, Melchior Goldast von Haiminsfeld, whose activities included opportunistic involvement in the political disputes of the day. Maclean surveys the predicament of underfunded authors, the activities of greedy publishing entrepreneurs, the fitful interventions of regimes of censorship and licensing, and the struggles faced by sellers and buyers to achieve their ends in an increasingly overheated market. 
The story ends with an account of the dramatic decline of the scholarly book trade in the 1620s, and the connivance of humanist scholars in the values of the commercial world through which they aspired to international recognition. Their fate invites comparison with today’s writers of learned books, as they too come to terms with new technologies and changing academic environments.

Scholarship, Commerce, Religion: The Learned Book in the Age of Confessions, 1560–1630

Religion & Spirituality

Harvard University Press

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by MacLean, Ian. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by MacLean, Ian

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by MacLean, Ian. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

A Discourse on the Method (Oxford World's Classics)

Don Juan: and Other Plays (Oxford World's Classics)

Woman Triumphant: Feminism in French Literature, 1610-1652

Interpretation and Meaning in the Renaissance: The Case of Law (Ideas in Context, Series Number 21)

Logic, Signs and Nature in the Renaissance: The Case of Learned Medicine (Ideas in Context, Series Number 62)

The Renaissance Notion of Woman: A Study in the Fortunes of Scholasticism and Medical Science in European Intellectual Life (Cambridge Studies in the History of Medicine)

The Renaissance Notion of Woman: A Study in the Fortunes of Scholasticism and Medical Science in European Intellectual Life (Cambridge Studies in the History of Medicine)

Interpretation and Meaning in the Renaissance: The Case of Law (Ideas in Context, Series Number 21)

Logic, Signs and Nature in the Renaissance: The Case of Learned Medicine (Ideas in Context, Series Number 62)

Scholarship, Commerce, Religion: The Learned Book in the Age of Confessions, 1560–1630