Overview

In The Metaphysics of the Material World, Tad M. Schmaltz traces a particular development of the metaphysics of the material world in early modern thought. The route Schmaltz follows derives from a critique of Spinoza in the work of Pierre Bayle. Bayle charged in particular that Spinoza's monistic conception of the material world founders on the account of extension and its ""modes"" and parts that he inherited from Descartes, and that Descartes in turn inherited from late scholasticism, and ultimately from Aristotle. After an initial discussion of Bayle's critique of Spinoza and its relation to Aristotle's distinction between substance and accident, this study starts with the original re-conceptualization of Aristotle's metaphysics of the material world that we find in the work of the early modern scholastic Suárez. What receives particular attention is Suárez's introduction of the ""modal distinction"" and his distinctive account of the Aristotelian accident of ""continuous quantity."" This examination of Suárez is followed by a treatment of the connections of his particular version of the scholastic conception of the material world to the very different conception that Descartes offered. Especially important is Descartes's view of the relation of extended substance both to its modes and to the parts that compose it. Finally, there is a consideration of what these developments in Suárez and Descartes have to teach us about Spinoza's monistic conception of the material world. Of special concern here is to draw on this historical narrative to provide a re-assessment of Bayle's critique of Spinoza.

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9780190070229

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This is a very strong, important addition to the literature. The literature on Descartes is huge and the literature on Spinoza is expanding at breakneck speed. But Tad Schmaltz offers something very distinctive: a consideration of their views on the metaphysics of body in relation to Francisco Suarez. While recent scholarship has taken Suarez into account in analysis of Descartes, the depth of Schmaltz' analysis is unusual and unearths novel, very interesting material...Furthermore, Schmaltz takes the interesting approach of coming to this material from Pierre Bayle's objections to Spinoza. His book offers in-depth and thoughtful analysis of the material, and its interest goes well beyond its contribution to the literature on the three figures in question: its treatment of the metaphysics of body contains ideas and insights that will be very useful in approaching other early modern thinkers. -Marleen Rozemond, Department of Philosophy, University of Toronto This is an incredibly rich book, full of important ideas about how to understand Suarez, Descartes, and Spinoza. It will be influential on scholars working on all three figures, and it makes an important contribution to the ongoing project of trying to understand seventeenth century philosophy better in the light of prior scholastic material. -Robert Pasnau, Department of Philosophy, University of Colorado

Author Information

Tad M. Schmaltz is Professor of Philosophy and James B. and Grace J. Nelson Fellow at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He specializes in early modern philosophy, and is the author of Malebranche's Theory of the Soul (OUP 1996), Radical Cartesianism (2002), Descartes on Causation (OUP 2008), and Early Modern Cartesianisms (OUP 2017). In addition, he has edited or co-edited Receptions of Descartes (2005), Integrating History and Philosophy of Science (2012), Efficient Causation: A History (OUP 2014), The Historical Dictionary of Descartes and Cartesian Philosophy (2015), The Problem of Universals in Early Modern Philosophy (OUP 2017), and The Oxford Handbook of Descartes and Cartesianism (OUP 2019).

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