The Rationalists

Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz stand out among their
seventeenth-century contemporaries as the great rationalist
philosophers. Each sought to construct a philosophical system in
which theological and philosophical foundations serve to explain
the physical, mental and moral universe. Through a careful analysis
of their work, Pauline Phemister explores the rationalists seminal
contribution to the development of modern philosophy.

Broad terminological agreement and a shared appreciation of the
role of reason in ethics do not mask the very significant
disagreements that led to three distinctive philosophical systems:
Cartesian dualism, Spinozan monism and Leibnizian pluralism. The
book explores the nature of, and offers reasons for, these
differences. Phemister contends that Spinoza and Leibniz developed
their systems in part through engagements with and amendment of
Cartesian philosophy, and critically analyses the arguments and
contributions of all three philosophers. The clarity of the authors
discussion of their key ideas including their views on knowledge,
universal languages, the nature of substance and substances,
bodies, the relation of mind and body, freedom, and the role of
distinct perception and reason in morals will make this book the
ideal introduction to rationalist philosophy.