This is the first book-length study of Decartes' metaphysics to place it in its immediate historical context, the Late Scholastic philosophy of thinkers such as Suárez against which Descartes reacted. Jorge Secada views Cartesian philosophy as an "essentialist" reply to the "existentialism" of the School, and his discussion includes careful analyses and original interpretations of such central Cartesian themes as the role of skepticism, the theory of substance, and the dualism of mind and matter. His study offers a picture of Descartes' metaphysics that is both novel and philosophically illuminating. "Secada skillfully examines Cartesian metaphysics in the context of the dominant Scholastic views regarding essentialism, theology, and sense experience...it would be a useful source for scholars..." Seventeeth-Century News A novel and philosophically illuminating account of Descartes's metaphysics and its immediate historical context. Used Book in Good Condition