Connect
Sponsors
Currently Reading
-
Terms
The Book Lady's Blog is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Reviews and articles posted here are property of The Book Lady's Blog and are not to be posted elsewhere without permission. Please contact me if you wish to post any of my work, or any excerpt thereof, in any other location or format.
Miscellaneous
Meet Bookrageous!
Technical Stuff
Design Credits
Oct
13
Book Review: Descartes' Bones by Russell Shorto
2008 at 6pm Posted by Rebecca Joines Schinsky
Set for publication October 14, 2008
In Descartes’ Bones: A Skeletal History of the Conflict Between Faith and Reason, author Russell Shorto uses the long and tumultuous journey of the remains of a great philosopher to explore the consequences of the philosopher’s work and the complex controversies begun by the introduction of what would become known as the Cartesian “method.”
Shorto begins by giving us a brief background on philosophy and Descartes, stating that his “method,” which is best characterized by his famous statement “I think, therefore I am,” caused people to “employ a new, sweeping kind of doubt, to question some of their most basic beliefs,” and in so doing, became the foundation for modern science, democracy, psychology, and much else. Descartes’ influence on his followers (who, in fact, referred to themselves as disciples), was so profound that, following his death in 1650, his remains were buried, disinterred, and relocated three times by individuals wanting to support their own agendas with a little piece of the famous philosopher.
Somewhere along the way, Descartes’ head was separated from the rest of his remains, “impostor” skulls popped up, and the philosophical and scientific community began a longrunning investigation in their real-life version of a detective story. In Descartes’ Bones, Shorto traces the history of the philosopher’s remains and uses it to illustrate Descartes’ impact on modern thought and society.
As passionately as Descartes’ disciples embraced his method, his detractors feared its implications for the future of society and the Church, as the supposed dualism of mind and body that is central to the method served to “drastically limit religion’s scope” and led to the “advent of secular politics.”
Before Descartes, religions was the language in which most basic ideas about life and the world were discussed. Philosophical debates were religious debates.
Cartesianism “threatened certain centers of worldy power,” particularly within the Church, and it introduced the modern conflict between faith and reason that we continue to explore and muddle through today. Descartes’ Bones is an interesting meditation on and study of the history of philosophy and the development of modern thought. Shorto takes what could be a dry subject and brings it to life by providing vivid characterizations of Descartes and his followers and explaining the social, religious, and political contexts of their times. He makes history relevant by reminding us that the conflict between modernity and traditionalism (and between reason and religion) is at the heart of many of the wars being fought as I write this.
Today, the very idea of modern society—which, at least in theory, relies on the tool of reason and notions such as equality to solve problems and lumber forward—seems to be under assault from several directions. Islamic terrorism—which is not just anti-western but anti-modern—is of course a dominant concern in the West, but other forms of religious intolerance—Christian, Jewish, Hindu—seem to be flourishing as well.
After he has followed the path of Descartes’ bones to its end, Shorto concludes that as modernity matured, three distinct schools of thought emerged—the theological camp, which held onto a worldview grounded in religious ideas; the “radical Enlightenment” camp that wanted to overthrow the old order—the church and monarchy—and replace them with democracy and science; and the moderate Enlightenment camp, which argued that science and religion—faith and reason—aren’t necessarily inconsistent. And while he supports rationalism and modernity, he cautions us against radicalism.
I agree with the radical secularists that enormous ugliness has been done and is being done in the name of religion, and I think that we have to find an intelligent way not to tolerate religious intolerance, but I believe history shows that there is lethal error in radical secularism…it thinks too highly of reason, or of the ability of humans to employ it….trying to follow reason is not the same thing as being right.
Descartes’ Bones is an interesting look at an important historical figure and his impact on the modern world. It is less of a detective story than it is a kind of literary profile of an icon of modern thought, and it is both informative and entertaining. I learned a lot from Shorto’s exploration, though I did find his narrative a bit rambling and herky-jerky at points, as he moved forward and backward in time without much warning, when a linear story would have made more sense. Shorto’s writing is engaging and felt a lot like reading a lecture from a college-level history or philosophy class, and I found it plenty enjoyable.
Though I appreciate the value of exploring the history, I found Shorto’s comments on modern society and its connections to Descartes and his “method” to be more interesting than his reports of historical events. Luckily, these musings on modern life and the ways in which we owe much of our science and political thought to Descartes were pretty fascinating. Near the end of the book, Shorto states that
Descartes’ bones—or rather, the attachments that people have given them—are really about who we were and are, including the convictions and confusions and confrontations that divide us.
If you ask me, he’s right about that. And that’s why this book is important—it provides us with an opportunity to look at history and trace the roots of our society, to understand who we are and how we became this way, and in so doing, to (hopefully) understand other societies and our interactions with them.
Though I had a hard time getting into the beginning of the book, I ultimately found Descartes’ Bones to be a pleasant and informative read. It earns a solid 4 out of 5.
Related posts:
Poor guy. There is a good reason why RIP is placed on grave stones. Great review!
Great review! I have this to review and it just may be one that I ask a friend to guest review. This sounds like a deep book!
I reviewed this and enjoyed it too.
I about on page 150 right now, and although it is definitely getting better, I’m still not totally convinced that I really desire to finish this…
Thanks for a fine review; the book sounds very interesting and I’m going to add it to the tbr pile.
This wasn’t a book I loved and I found the blurbs a little misleading – I was hoping for a little more excitement. Still, if you are interested in philosphy and its impact on the way societies develop, this is an excellent choice. Thanks for the review!
[...] this week, I reviewed Descartes’ Bones by Russell Shorto, shared a Book Lady misadventure and a not-so-fun story [...]