Filozofski vestnik

Ratio Cognoscendi and Ratio Essendi

Gregor Kroupa — 2024-12-12

Descartes’ conception of the distinction between the analytic and synthetic method is one of the more enigmatic themes of his oeuvre. The problem in the secondary literature usually boils down to two questions: First, what exactly does Descartes mean by analysis and synthesis, or, to what extent does he owe his conception of analysis to the Greek geometers? And second, in which writings does he use one or the other? Descartes' own writings raise more questions than they answer. The paper first analyses some classic passages that address the question of method, problematising Gueroult’s symmetrical scheme in which analysis is supposed to belong to the order of knowledge and synthesis to the order of things. Although Descartes considered analysis to be the more appropriate method of metaphysics, he did not completely renounce synthetic explanations. In the paper we suggest that, in addition to the brief summary, more geometrico, of some proofs in the Second Replies, synthesis is to be sought in Descartes’ physics, although Descartes himself nowhere reflects on this methodologically.

The Problem of Material Falsity in Descartes' Meditations

Matija Jan — 2024-12-12

The purpose of this paper is to give a consistent interpretation of Descartes’ theory of materially false ideas, i.e. ideas of sensible qualities. It must define what the problem of materially false ideas is, which ideas it refers to, and then situate these in Descartes’ ontology of ideas. Either we understand materially false ideas as genuinely misleading representations that present bodies as bearers of sensible qualities, or we understand them as representations that present bodies in an obscure way. Materially false ideas are sensations, not ideas of sensations. Descartes consistently defends a theory according to which the attribution of sensible qualities to bodies is a consequence of judgment, whereas sensations represent bodies only in a very obscure way. Sensations, like all other ideas, represent with the objective reality, and their obscurity is due to the union of the mind with the body.

Where Does the Idea of a Triangle Come From

Kajetan Škraban — 2024-12-12

In the Fifth Meditation, Descartes argues that people have innate ideas of geometric figures, such as triangles. At the same time, he writes in a problematic passage that there are eternal essences that correspond to innate ideas. Although some scholars have tried to reduce the ontological status of these essences to exsistence in the human mind, in this article, I argue that such a reading is not justified and that innate ideas and eternal essences are two separate entities, with ideas referring to eternal essences.

Additionally, Descartes discusses ideas of geometric figures in the first part of the Principles of Philosophy, where he places them within the framework of the theory of universals. However, the tone here is quite different: universal ideas of figures in the Principles are formed, not innate. This contradiction can be resolved by considering that universals are not innate ideas: rather, the universals from the Principles are ideas (or names) in a broader sense, which we form in imagination and use to categorize sensory material. He was likely influenced in this conception by the discussion in the Third and Fifth Objections and Replies to the Meditations. However, Descartes’ theory of universals was not fully developed: in his later works, Descartes also experimented with other models, such as a new theory of intellectual memory. Therefore, we can conclude that Descartes’ theory of knowledge of geometric objects, such as figures, is complex and can only be fully understood from a diachronic perspective.

Henry More and René Descartes

Matjaž Vesel — 2024-12-12

In the article, the author presents the circumstances that stimulated the correspondence between the Cambridge Platonist Henry More and the corpuscular philosopher René Descartes. More’s questions concern many of the key issues in Descartes’ philosophy and can be seen as the last set of objections that Descartes received regarding his philosophy. More addresses the entire field of philosophy, i.e., metaphysics, physics and logic, and he also opens up many problems in the field of optics and meteorology. The author summarizes these issues and concludes the article by noting the influence that correspondence had on the young Isaac Newton and his manuscript De gravitatione.

Korespondenca med Henryjem Morom in Renéjem Descartesom (1648–1649)

Kajetan Škraban — 2024-12-12

Besedilo je prevedel in z opombami opremil Kajetan Škraban. Strokovno redakcijo prevoda je opravil Matjaž Vesel.

Robert Boyle, Experimental Philosopher

Jernej Meden — 2024-12-12

The author presenets Robert Boyle as an experimental philosopher and his contribution in establishing the role of experimental philosophy in the early modern scientific society. As a philosopher of nature, Boyle combined three modern identities: the scholar or philosopher, the Christian, and the gentleman. Boyle’s program of natural philosophy can be summarized in two programmatic points. First, to explain nature by reference to its basic building blocks, i.e., tiny bodies or corpuscles. Second, Boyle continues mechanistic explanations of nature, which explain natural phenomena based on the operation of machines that are a human product. Boyle’s contribution to 17th century natural philosophy was perhaps the greatest in the aria which concerns the research into what are the qualities or properties of bodies. With his findings, Boyle influenced both the development of Newton’s natural philosophy and Locke’s empiricist philosophy of mind and perception.

Uvod v razlago posameznih kvalitet

Jernej Meden — 2024-12-12

Besedilo je prevedel in z opombami opremil Jernej Meden. Strokovna redakcija prevoda Matjaž Vesel.

Newton’s Philosophical Theology and Natural Philosophy in Correspondence with Richard Bentley

Matjaž Vesel — 2024-12-12

In the article, the author presents the circumstances of the correspondence between the theologian and classicist Richard Bentley and the philosopher Isaac Newton. In his eight Boyle Lectures, entitled A Confutation of Atheism, Bentley used many thoughts and observations, or their derivations, from Newton’s The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, but as he was not entirely sure whether he understood them well enough, he turned to Newton with a request for further clarification. In his answers, Newton explains some fundamental elements of his philosophical theology or metaphysics and natural philosophy, especially about the role and action of God in the creation and arrangement of the world. Both Bentley and Newton are convinced that the world was created by an “intelligent agent.” Another important aspect of the correspondence is represented by Newton’s thoughts on gravity, or, to put it another way, the question of whether gravity is inherent in matter or not, and on the possibility of bodies acting at a distance.

Korespondenca med Richardom Bentleyem in Isaacom Newtonom

Arne Kušej — 2024-12-12

Besedila je prevedel Arne Kušej. Strokovno redakcijo prevoda je opravil Matjaž Vesel, ki je napisal tudi večino opomb.