Leonardo, Descartes, Max Weber: Three Essays

287 Pages·1965·3.702 MB·English

by  Karl Jaspers, Ralph Mannheim (trans.)

Routledge Revivals
Leonardo, Descartes, Max Weber
First published in 1965, this collection ofthree essays by influential
German philosopher KarlJaspers deals with the response ofthe philo
sophical mind to the world ofreality, with the search for truth.
In Leonardo, this search is shown in the thinking and the works ofa
supreme artist whose means ofapperception are the senses. The essay
on Max Weber commemorates a man Jaspers knew personally and
ardently admired. The main essay in the collection is an exhaustive,
three part study of Descartes: analysing Descartes' new philosophical
operation, Descartes' Method, and the position of his philosophy
within the wider historical context ofphilosophical thought.
This page intentionally left blank
Leonardo, Descartes,
Max Weber
Three Essays
Karl Jaspers
Translated by Ralph Mannheim
R
Routledqe
Taylor & Francis Group
f^v
FirstpublishedinEnglandin1965
byRoutledge&KeganPaulLtd
Thiseditionfirstpublishedin2009byRoutledge
2ParkSquare,MiltonPark,Abingdon,Oxon,OX144RN
SimultaneouslypublishedintheUSAandCanada
byRoutledge
270MadisonAvenue,NewYork,NY10016
RoutledgeisanimprintoftheTaylor& FrancisGroup, aninformabusiness
© 1953byA.FranckeAG.Verlag,Bern
© 1937byWalterdeGruyter& Co.,Berlin
© 1958byR. Piper& Co.Verlag,Mlinchen
Englishtranslation © 1964byHarcourt,BraceandWorld,Inc
Allrightsreserved. Nopartofthisbookmaybereprintedorreproducedor
utilisedinanyformorbyanyelectronic, mechanical,orothermeans,now
knownorhereafterinvented,includingphotocopyingandrecording,orinany
informationstorageorretrievalsystem,withoutpermissioninwritingfromthe
publishers.
Publisher'sNote
Thepublisherhasgonetogreatlengthstoensurethequalityofthisreprintbut
pointsoutthatsomeimperfectionsintheoriginalcopiesmaybeapparent.
Disclaimer
Thepublisherhasmadeeveryefforttotracecopyrightholdersandwelcomes
correspondencefromthosetheyhavebeenunabletocontact.
ISBN13:978-0-415-55735-1(hbk)
ISBN13:978-0-415-55789-4(pbk)
ISBN10:0-415-55735-6(hbk)
ISBN10:0-415-55789-5(pbk)
LEONARDO, DESCARTES, MAX WEBER
THREE ESSAYS
Other works available in English translation
THE GREAT PHILOSOPHERS
GENERAL PSYCHOPATHOLOGY
PHILOSOPHY AND THE WORLD
NIETZSCHE AND CHRISTIANITY
THE FUTURE uF MANKIND
TRUTH AND SYMBOL
MAN IN THE MODERN AGE
REASON AND EXISTENZ
THE ORIGIN AND GOAL OF HISTORY
THE WAY TO WISDOM
THE QUESTION OF GERMAN GUILT
LEONARDO, DESCARTES,
MAX WEBER
Three Essays
by
Karl Jaspers
TRANSLATED BY RALPH MANHEIM
ROUTLEDGE & KEGAN PAUL
LONDON
First published in England 1965byRoutledge &Kegan Paul Ltd
Broadway House, 68-74 Carter Lane, London, E.C.4
Printed in Great Britain by The Compton Printing Works Ltd
London, N.I
Copyright 1953 by A. Francke AG. Verlag, Bern
Copyright 1937 by Walter de Gruyter & Co., Berlin
Copyright 1958 by R. Piper & Co. Verlag, Munchen
English translation © 1964 by Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc
No part ofthis book may be reproduced in
any form without permission from
the publisher, except for the quotation
ofbriefpassages in criticism
Acknowledgement is made for permission to use the quotations
from The Philosophical Works of Descartes, translated by Elizabeth
S. Haldane and G. R. T. Ross. Reprinted with the permission of
Cambridge University Press.
Contents
Leonardo as Philosopher
1
INTRODUCTION, 3
I. THE CHARACTER. OF HIS TIlINltING, 5
II. THE CONTENT OF HIS THINKING (METAPHYSICS), 22
III. THE LIFE OF THE PAINTER AS A COGNmVE FORM OF
BEING, 36
IV. CHARACTERIZATION OF LEONARDO, 44
Descartes and Philosophy
59
INTRODUcnON,61
I. THE FUNDAMENTAL OPERATION, 64
1. How It Was Effected, 64
2. Critique of This Certainty, 67
3· The Encompassing, 79
II. TIlE METHOD, 93
1. Method as a Theme, 94
2. The Application of the Method, 115
v