Desmond M. Clarke (17 January 1942 – 4 September 2016) was an Irish author and professor of philosophy at

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one ...

(UCC). His research interests include history of philosophy and theories of science, with a specific interest in the writings of

René Descartes René Descartes ( or ; ; Latinized: Renatus Cartesius; 31 March 1596 – 11 February 1650) was a French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician, widely considered a seminal figure in the emergence of modern philosophy and science. Ma ...

, as well as contemporary church/state relations, human rights, and nationalism.

Early life and education

Clarke was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

and earned his leaving certificate from

Synge Street CBS Synge Street CBS (colloquially Synger) is a boys' non-fee-paying state school, under the auspices of the Edmund Rice Schools Trust, located in the Dublin 8 area of Dublin, Ireland. The school was founded in 1864 by Can ...

. Clarke earned a Bachelor of Science from the

, Bachelor of Philosophy from

KU Leuven KU Leuven (or Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) is a Catholic research university in the city of Leuven, Belgium. It conducts teaching, research, and services in computer science, engineering, natural sciences, theology, humanities, medicine, ...

, and PhD in the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...

, where he met his future wife.

Career

Clark was co-editor of the ''Cambridge Texts in the History of Philosophy'' series. He translated and wrote an introduction for the Penguin edition of Descartes' ''

Meditations on First Philosophy ''Meditations on First Philosophy, in which the existence of God and the immortality of the soul are demonstrated'' ( la, Meditationes de Prima Philosophia, in qua Dei existentia et animæ immortalitas demonstratur) is a philosophical treatise ...

''. Clark retired from his position as professor of philosophy in 2007. Clarke was the founder and a general editor of ''Cambridge Texts in the History of Philosophy.'' 76 volumes have been published with new translations of non-English texts from ancient Greek, Latin, Arabic, Hebrew, French, Italian and German.

Personal life

Clark died on 4 September 2016 at

Our Lady's Hospice Our Lady's Hospice & Care Services is a hospice and health care provider with two locations: one at Harold's Cross, Dublin and a satellite facility at Blackrock, County Dublin in Ireland. It provides specialist care for people with a range of n ...

in the

Harold's Cross Harold's Cross () is an affluent urban village and inner suburb on the south side of Dublin, Ireland in the postal district D6W. The River Poddle runs through it, though largely in an underground culvert, and it holds a major cemetery, Mou ...

suburb of Dublin.

Publications

*''Descartes' Concept of Scientific Explanation,'' in J. Cottingham, ed. ''Descartes'' (Oxford Readings in Philosophy; Oxford University Press, 1998), pp. 259–80. *'Nation, State and Nationality in the Irish Constitution', ''Ir. Law Times'', 16 (1998), 252-6. *''Education, the State, and Sectarian Schools,'' in T. Murphy and P. Twomey, eds. ''Ireland's Evolving Constitution'' (Oxford: Hart, 1998), pp. 65–77. *''Faith and Reason in the Thought of Moise Amyraut,'' in A. P. Coudert, et al. eds. Judaeo-Christian Intellectual Culture in the Seventeenth Century (Dordrecht: Kluwer, 1999), pp. 145–59. *(with C. Jones), eds. ''The Rights of Nations: Nations and Nationalism in a Changing World'' (New York: St. Martin's Press, and Cork University Press, 1999). *René Descartes, ''Meditations and Other Metaphysical Writings'', trans. Clarke (Penguin, 1998); René Descartes, ''Discourse on Method and Related Writings'', trans. Clarke (Penguin, 1999). *''Causal powers and occasionalism from Descartes to Malebranche,'' in

Stephen Gaukroger Stephen Gaukroger, (born 9 July 1950) is a British/Australian historian of philosophy and science. He is Emeritus Professor of History of Philosophy and History of Science at the University of Sydney. Life Stephen Gaukroger was born in Oldh ...

, ed. ''Descartes' Natural Philosophy'' (Routledge, 2000), 131 -48. *''Cartesianism,'' in W. Applebaum, ed. ''Encyclopedia of the Scientific Revolution'' (Garland, 2000), 122-24. *'Constitutional Bootstrapping: the Irish Nation', ''Ir. Law Times'', 18 (2000), 74-77 *'Nationalism, the Irish Constitution, and Multicultural Citizenship', ''Northern Ireland Legal Quart.'' 51 (2000), 100-19. *'Exorcising Ryle's Ghost from Cartesian Metaphysics', ''Philosophical Inquiry'', 23 (2001), 27-36. *''Explanation, Consciousness and Cartesian Dualism'', in R.E. Auxier and L.E. Hahn, eds., ''The Philosophy of Marjorie Grene'' (Library of Living Philosophers, vol. xxix). Chicago and La Salle, III.; Open Court, 2002, pp. 471–85. *''Descartes's Theory of Mind'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2003) *'Pascal's Philosophy of Science' in N. Hammond, ed., ''The Cambridge Companion to Pascal'' (Cambridge University Press, 2003), 102-121.
''Descartes : A Biography''
(Cambridge University Press, 2005). *''French Philosophy, 1572–1675'' (Oxford University Press, 2016).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Desmond 1942 births 2016 deaths Academics of University College Cork Irish philosophers 20th-century Irish philosophers 20th-century Irish educators 21st-century Irish philosophers 21st-century Irish educators Descartes scholars People educated at Synge Street CBS Alumni of University College Cork KU Leuven alumni University of Notre Dame alumni