A "New York Times" Notable BookSixteen years after Reneeacute; Descartes' death in Stockholm in 1650, a pious French ambassador exhumed the remains...
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Mar 13, 2010
Scot
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This is a stimulating book for those who like a well written, compelling narrative but are also interested in reflecting upon the broader sweep and impact of the history of ideas, more particularly the rise of modernism as summarized in the Enlightenment struggle between systems of Faith and those of Reason (and for that matter, the ongoing consequence of such struggles today, exemplified in fundamentalist challenges to rational understanding of the world around us, both here in the United State
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Jan 23, 2009
Seth
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The broader view of the book was very rewarding. I really enjoyed the "mind body question" and his explanation of how the modern era is separated by Decartes' grounding observations of rationalism and the absolute removal of assumptions. I enjoyed his treatment of religion and rationalism together. I also enjoyed Decartes' personal story. If the skeletal history theme were presented as a framework to contextualizing history (which was what seemed to be intended), without letting it
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Apr 06, 2009
Dave
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A fascinating, to me, examination of the influence of Rene Descartes on modern thought. Starts with the great philosopher's death, with a brief summary of Descartes' life. Then a circuitous narrative showing the impact of the philosopher's ideas on the split between faith and reason flowing through the following centuries.
The narrative meandered considerably but the loops were interesting. The story is part forensic mystery, part history of philosophy and part discussion of the More...
The narrative meandered considerably but the loops were interesting. The story is part forensic mystery, part history of philosophy and part discussion of the More...
Nov 03, 2011
Clif
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The author uses the story of Descartes' bones as a metaphor for the divisive and rambling path toward human progress. The use of Descartes' bones in this way is doubly clever because not only is the physical path of the bones mysterious and controversial; Descartes' philosophy of questioning received wisdom had its own controversy with traditional thinking. The book follows the history of The Enlightenment through to today's three-way tension between moderates, religious fundamentalist, and secu
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May 20, 2010
Ruth
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I am listening to this in my car. Descartes was Catholic, but his thinking made many in the Church feel threatened. He died in Sweden, the story of Queen Christina is fascinating in it's own right. Am still in the early chapters--apparently relics are still a big thing when R.D. dies, so it seems his bones will not be left alone.
Now it is the 1790s and DesCartes has been dead for quite some time. The French Revolution has set up a new and disease free republic. Churches are gett More...
Now it is the 1790s and DesCartes has been dead for quite some time. The French Revolution has set up a new and disease free republic. Churches are gett More...
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Jan 19, 2009
Marcus
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Before reading this, I was only marginally familiar with Descartes and his contributions to philosophy and science. This book made catching up him and realizing his contributions to, and influence on, modern society very accessible and entertaining. The story of his bones traveling around was at times interesting, though it was definitely overshadowed by the history of his life and his influence after death.
I thought the author did a pretty good job of handling the balance between re More...
I thought the author did a pretty good job of handling the balance between re More...
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Jul 27, 2011
Michael
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Frankly, this is one of the best and most interesting books I've ever read. Now, let me be clear - it's definitely not for everyone. However, it is a truly fascinating combination of a) the story of the foundations of western intellectual thought and b) a thrilling true crime mystery story. No, I'm not kidding. The book follows the path of Rene Descartes' bones (literally) as they mysteriously moved from place to place. Hundreds of years after his death, his head was on one place, his hand in an
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May 19, 2011
Barbara
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This book was fascinating. It was the author's intent to correlate the trail of Descartes skeletal remains to that of scientific development sparked by his writings. While the bones' two exhumations and reinterments were triggered by changing social climates, largely a result of the reason vs. faith conflict, I didn't feel that the weave was always successful.
It is not a biography; the book begins, understandably, with Descartes' death in Sweden and a review of his philosophies reg More...
It is not a biography; the book begins, understandably, with Descartes' death in Sweden and a review of his philosophies reg More...
Jun 11, 2010
David
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This book makes the case that Descartes is the father of modernity. Daddy’s bones make for interesting history, mystery, and detective work, and they form a good platform to go off on other fun and interesting tangents, which the author is not shy about doing. Touching on everything from philosophy to science to religion, the author weaves into the story Descartes biography, biographical sketches from other historic figures that followed in his wake (such as Cuvier), the early history of crani
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Nov 07, 2009
Dave
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A book such as this touches on numerous subjects. Biography, math, science, philosophy, and even a bit of mystery creeps in, but as the subtitle indicates, it is history, and specifically the history of the conflict between faith and reason which is the primary focus of this work. “Descartes’ Bones (A Skeletal History of the Conflict Between Faith and Reason)” by Russell Shorto is an all too brief history of the subject, and naturally focuses almost exclusively on the aspect of the subject whi
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Aug 14, 2009
Jeff
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Russell Shorto has written a rather wonderful book that uses the confusion and conflicts over the physical remains of the philosopher René Descartes to explore how Descartes ideas about the importance of reason have both influenced Western history and thinking, and how the issues Descartes first raised are still troubling us in the 21st century. I could quibble about certain aspects of Shorto's style, and his tendency to repeat himself at times, but over all, this is an engaging both as a histo
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Jul 16, 2009
Jeb
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A slow start. It begins with Descartes dying. I suppose I should have been alerted to that by the title, but, my first thought through the handful of beginning pages was "he's dead...that's no good...what's the rest of the book going to be about."
Fortunately, I continued and now I'm being rewarded.
The most interesting new information I've learned is the impact that Cartesianism had on the concept of transubstantiation (if that's not familiar to you, it's the Cat More...
Fortunately, I continued and now I'm being rewarded.
The most interesting new information I've learned is the impact that Cartesianism had on the concept of transubstantiation (if that's not familiar to you, it's the Cat More...
Jan 27, 2011
Walter
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This is a fascinating, excellent book. The subject matter is intriguing - essentially an examination of modernity through the lens of the tale of the imminent philosopher Rene Descartes' remains - and the writing is strong, fluid and melodious as well. True, the tale does weaken a tad as it draws to a close (as the author seems to try to make too broad a statement/to weave too many themes together in order to arrive a big finish that is in fact diminished by the attempt). Until the last chapt
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Jan 09, 2009
James
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Interesting premise. The author uses the strange history of Rene Descartes' remains after his internment as a means to illuminate the development of "modern" rationalism (rightly or wrongly attributed to Descartes) and its conflict with "faith" based world views. Not quite finished but overall very thought-provoking and generally well-written. My favorite passage to date: "If the West is heading toward some kind of crisis, it's worth asking ourselves a few basic ques
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Oct 23, 2011
Kerrie
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Not really knowing anything about Descartes, this was an excellent introduction to him and his philosophy with the added awesome factor of how his bones and skull trotted across Europe over the course of centuries due to admirers wanting a relic of his remains. Ironic, since Descartes, despite being religious, gave rise to the philosophy of materialism and atheism during the Enlightenment.
The narrative flowed smoothly as Shorto laid out the journey of Descartes' bones. It was not linea More...
The narrative flowed smoothly as Shorto laid out the journey of Descartes' bones. It was not linea More...
May 21, 2011
Penny
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"It was as though staring into what is surely the blackest of all holes-the grave of one's child-pulled him out of the body, led him to the conclude that it would not give up its secrets so easily, and compelled him to look to the universe for answers."
The rest of the book is just as beautifully written, although he does indulge in some meandering. But overall great look into the Age of Enlightenment and the father of the Modern Age. The story of his skull is infamous. I r More...
The rest of the book is just as beautifully written, although he does indulge in some meandering. But overall great look into the Age of Enlightenment and the father of the Modern Age. The story of his skull is infamous. I r More...
May 15, 2011
Peter
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When my mother gave me this book for Christmas, it appealed to me on many levels. I tend to enjoy reading about important historical figures in the sciences, and associated Descartes' name with the cartesian coordinate system and philosophy. I've also really enjoyed the books I've read about human evolution and how anthropologists use bones to decifer our history, so the reference to his bones didn't hurt. But the subtitle, "A Skeletal History of the Conflict Between Faith and Reason,"
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Mar 10, 2009
Holly
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The premise was an interesting one, the history surrounding the remains of Descartes. Descartes didn't himself feature in the book but, again, the remains or consequences of what he started did. Finding out a tad more about Descartes, such as hurling an insult at Pascal, (really??!), having a love affair, a child, and a rather substantial arrogance regarding his own intelligence-was interesting.
But the world of science after Descartes is the true subject of this book, and the culminatio More...
But the world of science after Descartes is the true subject of this book, and the culminatio More...
Dec 11, 2009
Helen
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A long, but interesting treatise about the life and philosophy of Rene' Descartes. Focusing on the mystery of his bones which seemed to have been lost and refound from his death in the 1600’s to today, the author traces the evolution of Cartesian/Modernistic thinking with the changing philosophy of each major period in history. His discussions of the conflicts between Descarte’s philosophy and the religious and political climate of the times helps to clarify the impact of his ideas. Especiall
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Jan 09, 2009
Liz
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This book is hard to classify. It's sort of a history of science, or a history of modernism, or even more specifically a history of the philosophy of science. I would liken it to books such as The Measure of All Things in that the author relates the specific (the migration of Descartes' body after his death in Sweden) to a more general idea (the evolution of Descartes' ideas about the mind/body problem) over a specific period of time. He draws his stories and examples from a wide range of discip
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Jul 10, 2010
Jeffrey
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I find this a book very difficult to evaluate. Well written, organized and research yet it leaves me feeling unsatisfied. It is a sweeping view of history, philosophy, culture. We get some background into Descartes, life and his conflict with the Church. We learn of his followers and opponents. We get a overview of the conflict of faith and reason, the mind body problem and locate him in relation to the history of science and philosophy. But after chewing over his bones, the feast left me
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Feb 08, 2010
Dan
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A discursive look at the history of scientific inquiry since the Middle Ages. Using the search for and disputes over Descartes's skull and bones as a metaphor, Shorto describes the conflict between science and religion through a series of vignettes. Some of his side trips are pretty arbitrary (I imagined him mentioning that Descartes wrote at a desk, then giving a brief history of office furniture), but most are interesting, and Shorto writes well. The best parts of the book come first: the d
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Sep 29, 2011
Chad
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A very interesting romp through the intellectual history of Europe since the 17th century, with the remains of Descartes as the tour guide. The writing is good, but there is not much of a critical analysis as promised in the sub-title "a Skeletal History of the Conflict Between Faith and Reason". His conclusions are stated at the beginning and very end of the book, and although he poo-poos "religious fundamentalists" he sides with a Catholic apologist to counteract "Enli
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Oct 24, 2009
Patrick
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The earthly remains of René Descartes have been disinterred several times since his death in 1650, and with each disturbance, some of his bones vanished into the hands of venerators. The irony of the material legacy of the philosopher of reason being regarded similarly to the relics of saints is not lost on Shorto, who pairs a detective narrative with his thoughts about what the story reveals about skepticism versus belief as features of modernity. As Shorto relates, uncertainty about the authen
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Sep 16, 2009
Franco
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Viviamo in un operiodo storico in cui scienza e ragione sono sotto attacco su piu' fronti. Questo libro, seguendo la storia delle ossa di Cartesio ci riporta indietro di alcuni secoli aiutandoci a riscoprire il valore della ragione. La lenta e sofferta accettazione delle idee di Cartesio ci ricorda che molte delle posizioni che diamo per scontate e siamo disponibili a barattare in nome di un presunto rispetto della diversita' o della tolleranza sono state difficili conquiste che hanno richiesto
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Aug 20, 2009
Pat
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This book was recommended by Veralene and I agree with her that this is a good book to read. It's an interesting book because Descartes started a more modern way of thinking - he sort of bridged the thinking of the Middle Ages into the modern era. But the story that Shorto tells, while about his philosophy, is also about the fact that his bones after his death went on something of a pilgrimage. He did in Sweden, far from France, not because of exile but because Christina, the Queen of Sweden,
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Aug 11, 2011
Vanessa
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I love history of science books and this one is a good mix of just that - history and science and philosophy too. So all in all I was not disappointed. I had originally thought it would focus more on stories involving his bones' travels in time (i.e., who held them, why they took/stole/kept them, etc.) and in the end it was much more than that. But it was still, I thought, a bit more skeletal than it could have been, a bit less indepth in its discussion of the philosophical and scientific a
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Mar 04, 2010
Pat
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An amazingly rich and fulfilling story of the faith/reason debate that has been going on since the dawn of the Age of Enlightenment. What Shorto does is identify several episodes in the story of Descarte's bones, and he outlines the historical and political and religious background necessary to appreciate these episodes. It turns out that to tell the story of Descartes' bones it really is necessary to tell the story of how we "moderns" came to be what we are -- and to outline many of t
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Jan 13, 2010
Becky
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First, this is far more of a biography and history book than it is a philosophy text - thank goodness. And as such it's an extremely entertaining look at the history of the philosophy and bones (more than the philosophy itself) of René Descartes ("I think therefore I am."). The ideas of Descartes changed the world and today we all think we are independent thinkers. In his own time the church was outraged, although Descartes was a religious man; today he’s almost revered - alth
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Mar 23, 2010
BJ Rose
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Descartes died in Stockholm in 1650. Three burials, 3 centuries, and 6 countries later, we have this philosophical book. In it, the author traces the journey of Descartes' remains, which began with "a ceremony of repackaging" when the bones were disinterred and placed in a 2' copper casket because 16 years in a wooden casket had left nothing but bones. And then there was The Mystery of the Misplaced Head!
So this book was part forensic mystery as the author tried to trace e More...
So this book was part forensic mystery as the author tried to trace e More...
