The Rationalists

This book traces the attempts of the three great rationalist philosophers - Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz - to come to terms with man's new role in nature and to devise new systems of philosophy that would provide a unified understanding of reality. It aims to show how closely their ideas are related, and analyses the means of tackling such central issues as the relation between mind and body, the nature of substance, and the way to achieve a free and fulfilled human life.