Spirituality – René Descartes – Cartesianism

Cartesianism is the name given to the philosophical doctrine (or school) of René Descartes. Descartes is often regarded as the first thinker to emphasize the use of reason to develop the natural sciences. For him, the philosophy was a thinking system that embodied all knowledge, and expressed it in this way:

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.

In general, Cartesian thought divides the world into three areas of existence:

• That inhabited by the physical body (matter),
• That inhabited by the mind, and
• That inhabited by God.

Geographical Dispersal

In The Netherlands, where Descartes had lived for a long time, Cartesianism was a doctrine popular mainly among university professors and lecturers. In Germany 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 from East Frisia) frequently chose to publish their works in The Netherlands. In France, it was very popular, and gained influence also among Jansenists such as Antoine Arnauld, though there also, as in Italy, it became opposed by the Church. In Italy, the doctrine failed to make inroads, probably since Descartes’ works were placed on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum in 1663.

In England, because of religious and other reasons, Cartesianism was not widely accepted. Though Henry More 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
• Balthasar Bekker
• Johannes Clauberg
• Michelangelo Fardella
• Antoine Le Grand
• Adriaan Hereboord
• Nicolas Malebranche
• François Poullain de la Barre
• Edmond Pourchot
• Pierre-Sylvain Régis
• Henricus Regius
• Jacques Rohault
• Christopher Wittich

Luc Paquin