<<

Ann Blair, CB20 Lecture 13: René Descartes (1596-1650) and

I. The context of early 17th-ct Paris: • A spate of anti-Aris'n works (outside the university), including • Fears of rising skepticism, “atheism,” libertinism; calls for a new, properly Christian philosophy (which Descartes thinks he is offering)

II. Descartes’ Discourse on Method (1637): • Arrogant confidence in the new (contrast with Copernicus’ tone) • a Catholic, worried about the condemnation of Galileo • A new method: doubt to sweep away received opinion + Rationalism= clear and distinct ideas convince us of our existence, of the existence of God, the immutability of divine will; but also some empirical observation

III. Descartes’ mechanical philosophy • mechanical philosophy explains everything physical as in ; the soul is not the purview of but of theology (Cartesian dualism) • matter is defined by its extension only; no secondary qualities (e.g. color, curative virtues, antipathies or sympathies); no substantial forms that give each item its "personality" according to Aristotelian philosophy • matter is differentiated only by its size: small, medium and large particles • Laws of motion: conservation, , and impact--reached a priori (and often erroneous in their particulars) • nature a self-regulating system--God's creation of matter and motion would have sufficed to make the whole world; no need for special creation or special providence • Copernican cosmology: Le Monde, left in mss, published in 1664, vortices to explain circular planetary motion

IV. Reception of Cartesianism • exciting alternative to Aristotle in the eyes of some (esp. the young) • Objections: potential for (but DC always leaves the soul out of physics; soul and body interact in the mysterious pineal gland) • Condemned in universities, by Sorbonne (i.e. Paris theology faculty) • Adopted, with adjustments, in 1690s (by then DC seems less radical)

Terms to retain: Skepticism (pyrrhonism), libertinism; Rationalism, a priori truths; Mechanical philosophy; matter in motion; conservation of matter, of motion; vortices