Taking Down Descartes: The Canon Wars.

The history of modern philosophy begins with Descartes, right? Wrong. In “Descartes Is Not Our Father,” a very interesting–but I also think, very wrong-headed– essay published in The New York Times on 25 September 2017, Christia Mercer writes this: René Descartes has long been credited with the near-single-handed creation of modern philosophy. Generations of students … [continue reading]