Descartes' Temporal Dualism

Descartes’ Temporal Dualism is a well-structured, tightly-argued and eminently readable account of an elusive issue within Cartesian scholarship, namely, Descartes’ own considered understanding of time. Lloyd-Waller’s discussion situates Descartes’ brief (and oftentimes isolated) remarks on time within their historical context, a context encompassing several traditional threads of thought on temporality ranging from the ancient period to Descartes’ own early modern contemporaries. She then offers a fascinating series of arguments and close textual readings for the conclusion that Descartes in fact identifies two central temporal attributes, successive duration and a mental analogue. Clear, forceful, and controversial, her account here will undoubtedly rattle the scholarly consensus on the topic. -- Alan Hillman, University of South Alabama
Rebecca Lloyd Waller applies considerable skill as an historian of philosophy to put forward a sympathetic and novel interpretation of Descartes’ (scant) discussions on time.  Her clear writing and extensive research support a compelling thesis: there are two kinds of time, intrinsic duration and time-in-thought. As promised, Descartes’ Temporal Dualism presents an elegant solution to a puzzling aspect of Cartesian scholarship. It is a valuable contribution to the literature on Descartes’ view of time in particular, as well as Cartesian scholarship and the metaphysics of time in general.  -- Kimberly A. Blessing, SUNY Buffalo State