Cartesianism is the
philosophical
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
and
scientific
Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...
system 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. Mathem ...
and its subsequent development by other seventeenth century thinkers, most notably
François Poullain de la Barre
François Poullain de la Barre (; July 1647 – 4 May 1723) was an author, Catholic priest, and a Cartesian philosopher.
Life
François Poullain de la Barre was born on July 1647 in Paris, France, to a family with judicial nobility. He added "de ...
,
Nicolas Malebranche
Nicolas Malebranche ( , ; 6 August 1638 – 13 October 1715) was a French Oratorian Catholic priest and rationalist philosopher. In his works, he sought to synthesize the thought of St. Augustine and Descartes, in order to demonstrate the ...
and
Baruch Spinoza
Baruch (de) Spinoza (born Bento de Espinosa; later as an author and a correspondent ''Benedictus de Spinoza'', anglicized to ''Benedict de Spinoza''; 24 November 1632 – 21 February 1677) was a Dutch philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin, b ...
. Descartes is often regarded as the first thinker to emphasize the use of reason to develop the
natural sciences
Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...
. For him, philosophy was a thinking system that embodied all knowledge.
Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...
and
St. Augustine’s work influenced Descartes's cogito argument. Additionally, there is similarity between Descartes’s work and that of the Scottish philosopher, George Campbell’s 1776 publication, titled ''Philosophy of Rhetoric.'' In his ''Meditations on First Philosophy'' he writes, "
t what then am I? A thing which thinks. What is a thing which thinks? It is a thing which doubts, understands,
onceives affirms, denies, wills, refuses, which also imagines and feels."
Cartesians view the mind as being wholly separate from the corporeal body. Sensation and the perception of reality are thought to be the source of untruth and illusions, with the only reliable truths to be had in the existence of a metaphysical mind. Such a mind can perhaps interact with a physical body, but it does not exist in the body, nor even in the same physical plane as the body. The question of how mind and body interact would be a persistent difficulty for Descartes and his followers, with different Cartesians providing different answers.
To this point Descartes wrote, "we should conclude from all this, that those things which we conceive clearly and distinctly as being diverse substances, as we regard mind and body to be, are really substances essentially distinct one from the other; and this is the conclusion of the Sixth Meditation."
Therefore, we can see that, while mind and body are indeed separate, because they can be separated from each other, but, Descartes postulates, the mind is a whole, inseparable from itself, while the body can become separated from itself to some extent, as in when one loses an arm or a leg.
Ontology
Descartes held that all existence consists in three distinct substances, each with its own essence:
* matter, possessing extension in three dimensions
* mind, possessing self-conscious thought
* God, possessing necessary existence
Epistemology
Descartes brought the question of how reliable knowledge may be obtained (
epistemology
Epistemology (; ), or the theory of knowledge, is the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. Epistemology is considered a major subfield of philosophy, along with other major subfields such as ethics, logic, and metaphysics.
Episte ...
) to the fore of philosophical enquiry. Many consider this to be Descartes' most lasting influence on the history of philosophy.
Cartesianism is a form of
rationalism
In philosophy, rationalism is the epistemological view that "regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge" or "any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification".Lacey, A.R. (1996), ''A Dictionary of Philosophy' ...
because it holds that scientific knowledge can be derived ''
a priori
("from the earlier") and ("from the later") are Latin phrases used in philosophy to distinguish types of knowledge, justification, or argument by their reliance on empirical evidence or experience. knowledge is independent from current ...
'' from '
innate ideas
Innatism is a philosophical and epistemological doctrine that the mind is born with ideas, knowledge, and beliefs. Therefore, the mind is not a ''tabula rasa'' (blank slate) at birth, which contrasts with the views of early empiricists such as J ...
' through
deductive reasoning
Deductive reasoning is the mental process of drawing deductive inferences. An inference is deductively valid if its conclusion follows logically from its premises, i.e. if it is impossible for the premises to be true and the conclusion to be fals ...
. Thus Cartesianism is opposed to both Aristotelianism and
empiricism
In philosophy, empiricism is an epistemological theory that holds that knowledge or justification comes only or primarily from sensory experience. It is one of several views within epistemology, along with rationalism and skepticism. Empir ...
, with their emphasis on sensory experience as the source of all knowledge of the world.
For Descartes, the faculty of deductive reason is supplied by God and may therefore be trusted because God would not deceive us.
Geographical dispersal
In the
Netherlands
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, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, where Descartes had lived for a long time, Cartesianism was a doctrine popular mainly among university professors and lecturers. In
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
the influence of this doctrine was not relevant and followers of Cartesianism in the German-speaking border regions between these countries (e.g., the
iatromathematician Yvo Gaukes
Yvo Gaukes (Latin: Yvonis; also Yves, Ivo) (c. 1660–1738) was a prominent physician who practised at Emden and can be counted among the iatromathematicians of his time. In his best-known theoretical publication, ''Dissertatio de medicina ad certi ...
from East Frisia) frequently chose to publish their works in the Netherlands. In
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, it was very popular, and gained influence also among
Jansenists
Jansenism was an Early modern period, early modern Christian theology, theological movement within Catholicism, primarily active in the Kingdom of France, that emphasized original sin, human Total depravity, depravity, the necessity of divine g ...
such as
Antoine Arnauld
Antoine Arnauld (6 February 16128 August 1694) was a French Catholic theologian, philosopher and mathematician. He was one of the leading intellectuals of the Jansenist group of Port-Royal and had a very thorough knowledge of patristics. Contem ...
, though there also, as in Italy, it became opposed by the Church. In
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, the doctrine failed to make inroads, probably since Descartes' works were placed on the ''
Index Librorum Prohibitorum
The ''Index Librorum Prohibitorum'' ("List of Prohibited Books") was a list of publications deemed heretical or contrary to morality by the Sacred Congregation of the Index (a former Dicastery of the Roman Curia), and Catholics were forbidden ...
'' in 1663.
In
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, because of religious and other reasons, Cartesianism was not widely accepted.
Though
Henry More
Henry More (; 12 October 1614 – 1 September 1687) was an English philosopher of the Cambridge Platonist school.
Biography
Henry was born in Grantham, Lincolnshire on 12 October 1614. He was the seventh son of Alexander More, mayor of Gran ...
was initially attracted to the doctrine, his own changing attitudes toward Descartes mirrored those of the country: "quick acceptance, serious examination with accumulating ambivalence, final rejection."
Notable Cartesians
*
Antoine Arnauld
Antoine Arnauld (6 February 16128 August 1694) was a French Catholic theologian, philosopher and mathematician. He was one of the leading intellectuals of the Jansenist group of Port-Royal and had a very thorough knowledge of patristics. Contem ...
*
Balthasar Bekker
Balthasar Bekker (20 March 1634 – 11 June 1698) was a Dutch minister and author of philosophical and theological works. Opposing superstition, he was a key figure in the end of the witchcraft persecutions in early modern Europe. His best k ...
*
Tommaso Campailla
Tommaso Campailla (7 April 1668 – 7 February 1740) was an Italian philosopher, doctor, politician, poet and teacher.
Life
Campailla was born in Modica in 1668 to the aristocratic family of Antonio and Adriana Giardina. When sixteen years o ...
[Cristofolini, Paul;]
Campailla, Thomas
in ''Biographical Dictionary of Italians'' - Volume 17 (1974)
Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
Retrieved 30 September 2015
*
Johannes Clauberg
Johannes Clauberg (24 February 1622 – 31 January 1665) was a German theologian and philosopher. Clauberg was the founding Rector of the first University of Duisburg, where he taught from 1655 to 1665. He is known as a "scholastic cartesian".
...
*
Michelangelo Fardella
*
Antoine Le Grand
* Adriaan Hereboord
*
Nicolas Malebranche
Nicolas Malebranche ( , ; 6 August 1638 – 13 October 1715) was a French Oratorian Catholic priest and rationalist philosopher. In his works, he sought to synthesize the thought of St. Augustine and Descartes, in order to demonstrate the ...
*
François Poullain de la Barre
François Poullain de la Barre (; July 1647 – 4 May 1723) was an author, Catholic priest, and a Cartesian philosopher.
Life
François Poullain de la Barre was born on July 1647 in Paris, France, to a family with judicial nobility. He added "de ...
*
Edmond Pourchot
*
Pierre-Sylvain Régis
Pierre Sylvain Régis (1632–1707) was a French Cartesianism, Cartesian philosopher and a prominent critic of Spinoza. Known as a philosopher, he was nominated to the French Academy of Sciences in 1699.''Science and social status: the members of ...
*
Henricus Regius
Henricus Regius (; July 29, 1598 – February 19, 1679) was a Dutch philosopher, physician, and professor of medicine at the University of Utrecht from 1638.
Biography
Regius was born in Utrecht (city), Utrecht, and was also known by his birth na ...
*
Jacques Rohault
Jacques Rohault (; 1618 – 27 December 1672) was a French philosopher, physicist and mathematician, and a follower of Cartesianism.
Life
Rohault was born in Amiens, the son of a wealthy wine merchant, and educated in Paris. Having grown up with ...
*
Christopher Wittich Christoph Wittich or Christophorus Wittichius (1625, in Brieg – 1687, in Leiden) was a Dutch theologian. He is known for attempting to reconcile Descartes' philosophy with the Scriptures.
Life
He studied theology in Bremen, Groningen and Le ...
See also
*
Cartesian coordinate system
A Cartesian coordinate system (, ) in a plane is a coordinate system that specifies each point uniquely by a pair of numerical coordinates, which are the signed distances to the point from two fixed perpendicular oriented lines, measured in t ...
*
Mind–body dualism
In the philosophy of mind, mind–body dualism denotes either the view that mental phenomena are non-physical, Hart, W. D. 1996. "Dualism." pp. 265–267 in ''A Companion to the Philosophy of Mind'', edited by S. Guttenplan. Oxford: Blackwell. ...
* ''
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 ...
''
*
Mentalism (psychology)
In psychology, mentalism refers to those branches of study that concentrate on perception and thought processes, for example: mental imagery, consciousness and cognition, as in cognitive psychology. The term ''mentalism'' has been used primarily ...
*
Simulism
References
Bibliography
* Francisque Bouillier, ''Histoire de la philosophie cartésienne'' (2 volumes) Paris: Durand 1854 (reprint: BiblioBazaar 2010).
* This contains along review of the principles of Cartesian philosophy.
* Eduard Jan Dijksterhuis, ''Descartes et le cartésianisme hollandais. Études et documents'' Paris: PUF 1951.
*
* Tad M. Schmaltz (ed.), ''Receptions of Descartes. Cartesianism and Anti-Cartesianism in Early Modern Europe'' New York: Routledge 2005.
* Richard A. Watson, ''The Downfall of Cartesianism 1673–1712. A Study of Epistemological Issues in Late 17th Century Cartesianism'' The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff 1966.
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René Descartes
Dualism (philosophy of mind)
Foundationalism
Metatheory of science
Philosophy and thought in the Dutch Republic
Rationalism