David Cunning is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Iowa.

"One might have thought it nearly impossible at this late date to write a new book containing a well argued, fresh perspective on fundamental features of Descartes's philosophy. With this book, David Cunning has achieved that nearly impossible feat. The accomplishment is especially remarkable given his focus on the Meditations, which is one of the most thoroughly studied works of philosophy in existence."--Mind

"A rich, rewarding, and provocative study. Cunning starts with the idea that Descartes, in authoring the Meditations, is a teacher as well as a systematic philosopher. Cunning has a sophisticated (and textually well-grounded) account of the relationship between Descartes the teacher and the confused first-person meditator of the text. Cunning engages the secondary literature carefully, and shows a clear command of, and sensitivity to, the whole range of Descartes' writings. Careful, systematic and challenging.... I enthusiastically recommend this volume not only to scholars of Descartes and early modern philosophy, but also to anyone interested in the intersection of epistemology and philosophical pedagogy."--British Journal for the History of Philosophy

"Many aspects of the Meditations are discussed in novel and interesting ways. This interpretation makes an important and original contribution to the literature. It closely observes important features of Descartes' reasoning in the Discourse, the Meditations, and the Principles."--Journal of the History of Philosophy

"David Cunning's Arguments and Persuasion in Descartes' Meditations is an ambitious book, offering interpretations of and solutions to a wide range of interpretive issues in the Meditations. Meticulously argued... This is a fascinating book."--Philosophy in Review

"Those who construe Descartes' philosophy as resting on iconoclastic notions of intellectual autonomy, mastery of natures and a sense of independence bordering on solipsism will need to rethink as a result of this book. The passive acceptance of God/Nature is of course very different from the acceptance of authority, dogma, textual traditions, precedents and history, and the great virtue of the book is that it brings out this distinction so clearly. I much recommend this worthwhile and original book."--Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

"Scholars and graduate students of Descartes will find the exercise of working through this book challenging and illuminating. Recommended."--CHOICE