Géraud De Cordemoy
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Géraud de Cordemoy (6 October 1626 – 15 October 1684) was a French
philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
,
historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...
and
lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...
. He is mainly known for his works in
metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of ...
and for his
theory of language Theory of language is a topic in philosophy of language and theoretical linguistics. It has the goal of answering the questions "What is language?"; "Why do languages have the properties they do?"; or "What is the origin of language?". In addition ...
.


Biography

Géraud de Cordemoy was a member of a family of ancient nobility originating from Auvergne (from the town of Royat), but was born and died in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
. He was the third of four children. His father was a master in arts at the
University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...
named Géraud de Cordemoy who died when he was nine years old. His mother was named Nicole de Cordemoy. As for Géraud, he was a private tutor and a
linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...
and practised as a lawyer. Géraud de Cordemoy used to haunt the philosophical circles of the capital; he made acquaintance with Emmanuel Maignan and
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 ...
. A friend and a
protégé Mentorship is the patronage, influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the perso ...
of
Bossuet Bossuet is a French surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet Jacques-Bénigne Lignel Bossuet (; 27 September 1627 – 12 April 1704) was a French Bishop (Catholic Church), bishop and theology, theologian. Re ...
who admired Descartes too, Géraud de Cordemoy was appointed ''lecteur'' (tutor) to the Dauphin (son of
King Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the longest of any monar ...
), at the same time as Fléchier. He was elected a member of
Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...
in 1675.


Works

Cordemoy is known primarily for having rethought the Cartesian theory of causality, introducing the notion of "occasional cause" within a system of thought which remains essentially Cartesian. He was, alongside
Arnold Geulincx Arnold Geulincx (; 31 January 1624 – November 1669), also known by his pseudonym Philaretus, was a Flemish philosopher, metaphysician, and logician. He was one of the followers of René Descartes who tried to work out more detailed versions of ...
and
Louis de La Forge Louis de La Forge (1632–1666) was a French philosopher who in his ''Tractatus de mente humana'' (''Traité de l'esprit de l'homme'', 1664; in English, "Treatise on the Human Mind") expounded a doctrine of occasionalism. He was born in La Flèche ...
, the founder of what is called "
occasionalism Occasionalism is a philosophical doctrine about causation which says that created substances cannot be efficient causes of events. Instead, all events are taken to be caused directly by God. (A related concept, which has been called "occasional c ...
". Body and soul are distinct by essence, their combination is occasional, and it is God who allows that the will to move my arm, for example, is translated into a movement. My will is an occasional cause of the movement of my arm, God is the real cause of it. What is true for the body-an individual constituted by the distinct combination of body and soul- is true for every body in the universe. God is the real and universal cause of every movement. By body, Cordemoy means the ultimate components of matter. Using a judicial figure of speech, he shows that the body, in law a person, in physics an ultimate component of matter, is indivisible. Never mentioning atomism, with that theory he comes close to the followers of Gassendi and to the free thinkers, the so-called
Libertine A libertine is a person questioning and challenging most moral principles, such as responsibility or Human sexual activity, sexual restraints, and will often declare these traits as unnecessary, undesirable or evil. A libertine is especially som ...
s. In his work "Le discernement du corps et de l’âme" (Discrimination between body and soul) he develops such thoughts which were criticized at that time by the followers of Descartes. In his work ''Discours physique de la parole'' (Physical Discourse on Speech), he asks himself the following question: "How can I, as a thinking being, be certain that the human beings who surround me are also thinking beings, and not simple automatons? The problem is considered at the end of the sixth speech on discrimination between body and soul. It is the word as a vehicle of the thought which will enable me to know the existence of other individuals who are endowed with a soul like me." In a more original way, in his work "Traité physique de la parole"( physical treatise of the word)- a variation of the previous title - he develops the notion that no motivated relation between the material sign and the expressed idea exists, as much as no real relation exists between body and soul. The word represents the opportunity for sign and meaning to meet, so far as if the soul hadn’t the use of the articulated body to produce sign, it would communicate in a much more immediate way from soul to soul, without having to go through the institution of the sign. The language used by human beings is therefore too complex to be explained by purely mechanical causes; I can deduce from it that the bodies I can see are also endowed with a soul. Animals may utter sounds and parrots may reproduce words, only human beings are able to communicate ideas, and that shows the presence of a rational soul. This rational soul is able to communicate directly with angels without going through the physical articulation of the sign. ''Le Discours'', from which
Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, ; ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the great writers in the French language and world liter ...
drew the scene of the spelling lesson in '' Le Bourgeois gentilhomme'', remains the most successful work of Cordemoy. American linguists such as
George Boas George Boas (; 28 August 1891 – 17 March 1980) was an American professor of philosophy at Johns Hopkins University. Education Boas received his education at Brown University, obtaining both a B.A. and M.A. in philosophy there, after whi ...
and
Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American professor and public intellectual known for his work in linguistics, political activism, and social criticism. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is also a ...
rediscovered him during the sixties. Cordemoy is also known for his ''Histoire de France'' on which he worked for 18 years without ever seeing the end, so major were the contradictions he came up against while consulting the works of his predecessors. The work was finally finished by his elder son, Louis-Géraud de Cordemoy, and published after his death.
Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...
said of the work of Cordemoy as a historian : "He was the first to be able to disentangle the chaos of the two first races of the kings of
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
; thanks to the duke of Montausier who charged Cordemoy with the writing of the history of
Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...
in view of the education of ''Monseigneur'' he Dauphin that useful work was achieved. He found in ancient authors nothing but absurdities and contradictions. That very difficulty encouraged him, and enabled him to disentangle the two first races".


Publications

*Discours de l’action des corps (1664) *Traité de l'esprit de l'homme et de ses facultez et fonctions, et de son union avec le corps. Suivant les principes de René Descartes (1666) *Le discernement du corps et de l'âme, en six discours, pour servir à l'éclaircissement de la physique (1666)
Online text
*Discours physique de la parole (1668)
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*Copie d'une lettre écrite à un sçavant religieux de la Compagnie de Jésus, pour montrer : I, que le système de M. Descartes et son opinion touchant les bestes n'ont rien de dangereux; II, et que tout ce qu'il en a écrit semble estre tiré du premier chapitre de la Genèse (1668)
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*Lettre d'un philosophe à un cartesien de ses amis (1672) *Discours sur la pureté de l'esprit et du corps et par occasion de la vie innocente et juste des premiers Chrétiens (1677) *Histoire de France, depuis le temps des Gaulois et le commencement de la monarchie, jusqu'en 987 (2 volumes, 1687–89). Complétée et publiée par son fils, Louis-Géraud de Cordemoy. *Dissertations physiques sur le discernement du corps et de l'âme, sur la parole, et sur le système de M. Descartes (1689–90) *Divers traitez de métaphysique, d'histoire et de politique (1691)
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* Geraud de Cordemoy, ''A Philosophical Discourse Concerning Speech,'' London, 1668. Facsimile ed., with ''A Discourse Written to a Learned Frier'' (1670), introd. by Barbara Ross, 1972, Scholars' Facsimiles & Reprints, . *Les Œuvres de feu monsieur de Cordemoy (1704). Publiées par son fils, Louis-Géraud de Cordemoy. Contiennent

sur la distinction et l'union des corps

sur la Parole; Lettre sur la conformité du système de Descartes avec le premier chapitre de la Genèse; Deux petits traités de métaphysique

sur l'histoire et sur la métaphysique; Divers petits traités sur l'histoire et sur la politique. *Pierre Clair et François Girbal (eds.), ''Gérauld de Cordemoy (1626-1684). Œuvres philosophiques''. Avec une étude bio-bibliographique, Presses Universitaires de France, Paris, 1968


Bibliography

*Ablondi, (Fred.), Gerauld de Cordemoy: Atomist, Occasionalist, Cartesian, Milwaukee, Marquette University Press, 2005. *Balz (A. G. A.), Cartesian studies, chapitre Géraud de Cordemoy: pp. 3–27, New-York, 1951. *Battail (Jean-François), L’Avocat philosophe Géraud de Cordemoy, (1626-1684), Martinus Nijhoff, La Haye, 1973. *Boas (George), « Cordemoy and Malebranche » (in Dominant Themes of Modern Philosophy, A History) New York, 1957. *Brun (Jean), article « Cordemoy », in Dictionnaire du Grand Siècle ..., Paris, 1990, pp. 407–408. *Chomsky (Noam), Cartesian linguistics: a chapter in the history of rationalist thought. New York: Harper & Row, 1966, (La Linguistique cartésienne, Editions du Seuil, 1969). *Chomsky (Noam), « De quelques constantes en théorie linguistique » Revue Diogène, Paris, 1965. *Clavier (Paul-Henri), Géraud de Cordemoy: historien, politique et pédagogue, (Thèse de doctorat soutenue en juillet 2006, Université Marc Bloch, Strasbourg). *Cuche (François-Xavier), « Le Petit Concile et la Ville - essai sur la politique de la ville chez Bossuet et son entourage », in Pouvoirs, Ville, Société, Paris, 1983, pp. 279–289. *Deprun (Jean), « Cordemoy et la réforme de l’enseignement », in Le XVIle siècle et l'éducation, supplément au n°88 de la revue Marseille, 1972, 1er trimestre, pp. 41–43. *Guerrini (Luigi), Occasionalismo e teoria della communicazione in Gerauld de Cordemoy, Annali del Dipartimento di Filosofia, IX, 1993 (1994), 63-80. *Nadler (Steven), « Cordemoy and Occasionalism », Journal of the History of Philosophy 43: 37-54, 2005. *Nicolosi (Salvatore), Il Dualismo da Cartesio a Leibniz (Cartesio, Cordemoy, La Forge, Malebranche, Leibniz), Marsilio Editori S.P.A. in Venezia, 1987. *Scheib (Andreas), Zur Theorie individueller Substanzen bei Géraud de Cordemoy, P. Lang, Frankfurt am Main, New York, 1997. *Thuillier (Guy), « Une utopie au grand siècle: De la réformation d’un Etat de Géraud de Cordemoy, 1668 » in Revue administrative, pp. 257–262, vol.75, mai-juin 1960.


References


External links

*
Biographical leaflet of l'Académie française

Website devoted to Géraud de Cordemoy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cordemoy, Geraud de 1626 births 1684 deaths Writers from Paris 17th-century French philosophers 17th-century French lawyers 17th-century French historians Members of the Académie Française French male non-fiction writers