Descartes’ Rationalism: Socio-Historical Context & Features
ITEM 11: The Modern Continental Philosophy, Descartes’ Rationalism
1. Socio-Historical Context
René Descartes, the creator of Rationalism, lived in the seventeenth century, the Baroque era. This period was marked by events of great importance but also by crises, including ideological, social, economic, political, and religious upheaval.
2. Features of Rationalism
- Self-sufficiency of reason: Reason is considered the justified source that produces knowledge and the only valid way to understand and explain
Metaphysics: Key Concepts and Historical Evolution
Metaphysics: A Historical Overview
Revisiting Greek Authors:
Engaging with the Greeks is considered essential and definitive. Infinity, deemed incomprehensible, is viewed as impossible and indefinable. While existence is undeniable, the core metaphysical questions arise: What exists? What is the nature of these existing things? (Who is there? What is there?).
The Introduction of God
God’s Role in Medioplatonism and Christianity: God is introduced as the infinite Being, the source of life. Essences are
Read MoreDescartes’ Philosophy: Method, Metaphysics, and Context
Descartes’ Philosophical Thought
Thinking of Discards. Descartes, formed in scholastic philosophy, warns that this philosophy does not respond to the issues and concerns of his time. On the other hand, he thinks that mathematics, besides being a safe and rigorous science, serves to organize experience and to develop science. Therefore, he relies on the conduct of the mathematical structure and elements of his method. In experiment, the subject is passive, and the knowledge that experience provides
Read MoreDescartes’ Proof of God: Ordo Cognoscendi and the Cogito
Descartes justified his actions by the distinction between the ordo essendi (establishing what are the first things in reality) and ordo cognoscendi (establishing what things are the basis of our subjective knowledge).
However, my knowledge of God is still mediated by the knowledge I have of myself.
If I can only get to know the Creator through my own self, Descartes is forced to bring God from without, as when he speculated that God fooled him just before the hypothesis of the evil genius. The philosopher
Read MoreHume vs. Kant: Similarities and Differences
Hume vs. Kant: Similarities and Differences
Compare Hume and Kant: Similarities: 1. Both distance themselves from moral relativism and bet on the existence of a universal moral and social supra. 1.1 Hume argues that the moral feelings or humanity – at least the primary or fundamental – are common to all men and manifest the same way to the perception of those actions or qualities. 1.2. Kant, as the rationalist, believes it is inherent in human reason – practical reason – to distinguish between good
Read MoreEcce Homo: Nietzsche’s Autobiography & Philosophy
Ecce Homo: “Why I Am a Destiny”
This text is part of the work entitled Ecce Homo, specifically the chapter “Why I Am a Destiny.” This work belongs to the last period of Nietzsche’s life, sometimes called his “sunset philosophy.” It is a period of intense critique of philosophy, religion, and morality. Ecce Homo is an autobiographical account of self-defense and exaltation, in which Nietzsche discusses his works.
The other three periods prior to this are:
- The aesthetic or romantic period (philosophy