Cartesian Theodicy

Descartes' Quest for Certitude
Erscheinungsjahr 2001
ISBN: 978-1-4020-0257-1
Verlag: Springer

Buch, Englisch, 192 Seiten, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 306 g

Reihe: International Archives of the History of Ideas Archives internationales d'histoire des idées

Almost all interpreters of Cartesian philosophy have hitherto focused on the epistemological aspect of Descartes' thought. In his , Janowski demonstrates that Descartes' epistemological problems are merely rearticulations of theological questions. For example, Descartes' attempt to define the role of God in man's cognitive fallibility is a reiteration of an old argument that points out the incongruity between the existence of God and evil, and his pivotal question `whence error?' is shown here to be a rephrasing of the question `whence evil?' The answer Descartes gives in the is actually a reformulation of the answer found in St. Augustine's and the . The influence of St. Augustine on Descartes can also be detected in the doctrine of eternal truths which, within the context of the 17th-century debates over the question of the nature of divine freedom, caused Descartes to ally himself with the Augustinian Oratorians against the Jesuits. Both in his as well as his Janowski shows that the entire Cartesian metaphysics can - and should - be read within the context of Augustinian thought.

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

Janowski, Z.

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Erkenntnistheorie
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Geschichte der Westlichen Philosophie Westliche Philosophie: 20./21. Jahrhundert
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Metaphysik, Ontologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. The Meditations as Theodicy.- 2. Can God Deceive Us?.- 3. Divine Freedom: The Doctrine of the Eternal Truths.- 4. Human Freedom.- 5. Descartes — Reader of St. Augustine.- 6. How Rational is Descartes’ Rationalism?.