On Descartes’ Passive Thought
The Myth of Cartesian Dualism
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On Descartes’ Passive Thought
The Myth of Cartesian Dualism
On Descartes’ Passive Thought is the culmination of a life-long reflection on the philosophy of Descartes by one of the most important living French philosophers. In it, Jean-Luc Marion examines anew some of the questions left unresolved in his previous books about Descartes, with a particular focus on Descartes’s theory of morals and the passions.
Descartes has long been associated with mind-body dualism, but Marion argues here that this is a historical misattribution, popularized by Malebranche and popular ever since both within the academy and with the general public. Actually, Marion shows, Descartes held a holistic conception of body and mind. He called it the meum corpus, a passive mode of thinking, which implies far more than just pure mind—rather, it signifies a mind directly connected to the body: the human being that I am. Understood in this new light, the Descartes Marion uncovers through close readings of works such as Passions of the Soul resists prominent criticisms leveled at him by twentieth-century figures like Husserl and Heidegger, and even anticipates the non-dualistic, phenomenological concepts of human being discussed today. This is a momentous book that no serious historian of philosophy will be able to ignore.
Descartes has long been associated with mind-body dualism, but Marion argues here that this is a historical misattribution, popularized by Malebranche and popular ever since both within the academy and with the general public. Actually, Marion shows, Descartes held a holistic conception of body and mind. He called it the meum corpus, a passive mode of thinking, which implies far more than just pure mind—rather, it signifies a mind directly connected to the body: the human being that I am. Understood in this new light, the Descartes Marion uncovers through close readings of works such as Passions of the Soul resists prominent criticisms leveled at him by twentieth-century figures like Husserl and Heidegger, and even anticipates the non-dualistic, phenomenological concepts of human being discussed today. This is a momentous book that no serious historian of philosophy will be able to ignore.
304 pages | 6 x 9 | © 2018
Philosophy: General Philosophy, History and Classic Works, Philosophy of Mind
Reviews
Table of Contents
Translator’s Introduction
Preface
Bibliographic Note
Introduction
§1. The Delay of Interpretations
1 The Existence of Material Things or the “Scandal of Philosophy”
§2. The Sixth Meditation as Aporia
§3. Kant’s Critique
§4. Three Weaknesses in the Demonstration of the Existence of Material Things
§5. The Historical Confirmation of the “Scandal” by Descartes’ Successors
§6. A Critique of Kant’s Critique
2 Bodies and My Flesh
§7. A New Distinction
§8. Arcte, “very closely”
§9. Meum corpus: The Husserlian Moment
§10. In/commoda: The Heideggerian Moment
§11. A Revision of the Existence of Material Things
3 The Indubitable and the Unnoticed
§12. Indecisiveness (1632) and Confusion (1637)
§13. The Finally Indubitable Flesh (1641)
§14. A Doubtful Doubting (1641)
§15. Recapitulation and Confirmations of the Flesh
§16. The Modalities of the Cogito and the Privilege of Passivity
4 The Third Primitive Notion
§17. From Simple Natures to Primitive Notions
§18. The Third Is the First
§19. The Ontic Paradoxes
§20. The Epistemological Paradox
§21. Meum corpus and the Exception
5 Union and Unity
§22. The Question of Exception in the Replies
§23. Regius and the ens per accidens
§24. The ens per se, Suárez, and Descartes
§25. The Sole Substantial Form
§26. The Substantial Union without Third Substance
6 Passion and Passivity
§27. From Action and Passion to Cause
§28. To Think Passively, or Thought as Passion
§29. All That the Soul Senses
§30. Generosity, or the Will as Passion
§31. Virtue and Passion
Conclusion
§32. Descartes’ Advance
Index of Names
Preface
Bibliographic Note
Introduction
§1. The Delay of Interpretations
1 The Existence of Material Things or the “Scandal of Philosophy”
§2. The Sixth Meditation as Aporia
§3. Kant’s Critique
§4. Three Weaknesses in the Demonstration of the Existence of Material Things
§5. The Historical Confirmation of the “Scandal” by Descartes’ Successors
§6. A Critique of Kant’s Critique
2 Bodies and My Flesh
§7. A New Distinction
§8. Arcte, “very closely”
§9. Meum corpus: The Husserlian Moment
§10. In/commoda: The Heideggerian Moment
§11. A Revision of the Existence of Material Things
3 The Indubitable and the Unnoticed
§12. Indecisiveness (1632) and Confusion (1637)
§13. The Finally Indubitable Flesh (1641)
§14. A Doubtful Doubting (1641)
§15. Recapitulation and Confirmations of the Flesh
§16. The Modalities of the Cogito and the Privilege of Passivity
4 The Third Primitive Notion
§17. From Simple Natures to Primitive Notions
§18. The Third Is the First
§19. The Ontic Paradoxes
§20. The Epistemological Paradox
§21. Meum corpus and the Exception
5 Union and Unity
§22. The Question of Exception in the Replies
§23. Regius and the ens per accidens
§24. The ens per se, Suárez, and Descartes
§25. The Sole Substantial Form
§26. The Substantial Union without Third Substance
6 Passion and Passivity
§27. From Action and Passion to Cause
§28. To Think Passively, or Thought as Passion
§29. All That the Soul Senses
§30. Generosity, or the Will as Passion
§31. Virtue and Passion
Conclusion
§32. Descartes’ Advance
Index of Names
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