Descartes' Bones

July 28, 2008
At the center of this philosophical tale by the acclaimed author of The Island at the Center of the World
is a simple mystery: Where in the world is Descartes's skull, and how did it get separated from the rest of his remains? Following the journey of the great 17th-century French thinker's bones—“over six countries, across three centuries, through three burials”—after his death in Stockholm in 1650, Shorto also follows the philosophical journey into “modernity” launched by Descartes's articulation of the mind-body problem. Shorto relates the life of the “self-centered, vainglorious, vindictive” Descartes and the bizarre story of his remains with infectious relish and stylistic grace, and his exploration of philosophical issues is probing. But the bones are too slender to bear the metaphorical weight of modernity that he gives them. Their sporadic appearance in the tale also makes them a shaky narrative frame for the sprawling events Shorto presents as the result of Descartes's work: the Enlightenment, the French Revolution, the 19th century's scientific explosion, 21st-century battles between faith and reason. Given Shorto's splendid storytelling gifts, this is a pleasure to read, but ultimately unsatisfying.

June 15, 2008
One might think that there is nothing new to be said about René Descartes, whose radical critique of scholastic thought underpins modern philosophy and opened the door to scientific skepticism. But Shorto ("The Island at the Center of the World") has found an intriguing, albeit minor, new story to tell: the journey taken by Descartes's bones, from resting place to resting place and country to country, across three and a half centuries of modern (post-Cartesian) history. Are the shards and dust we know today as Descartes's indeed truly his? How does one explain the four separate skulls at one point ascribed to him? Descartes "believed he was building a wall around the fortress of faith," says Shorto, but his radical skepticism drastically limited the scope of faith and put it on the defensive. Shorto attempts to place the modern dialog between faith and reason in context, arguing that it is a dialog that neither side has won decisively. Though Shorto's musings on faith aren't as convincing as his unraveling of the unexpectedly complicated story of the successive reinterments of the French thinker, this is still a delightful book, and it plays fair by the rules of historical evidence. Warmly recommended for large public libraries and academic collections. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 6/1/08.]David Keymer. Univ. of California, Merced

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2008
The earthly remains of Ren' 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 narrativewith his thoughts about what the storyreveals about skepticism versus belief as features of modernity. As Shorto relates, uncertainty about the authenticity of the contents of Descartes coffin accompanied its travels from Stockholm to Paris in 1666, culminatingwhen a skull purportedly that of Descartes surfaced in 1821in an inquest conducted by the French Academy of Sciences. After describing subsequent attempts to fix the provenance of Descartes remains, Shorto tenders his speculation that they were lost in the turmoil of the French Revolution. Giving rein to his curiosity about the postmortem Descartes, Shorto will pull in readers who enjoy a good history mystery seasoned with philosophical thoughts.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)