PHIL41840

The aim of this MA module is to explain why Descartes is considered the "father of modern philosophy". However, numerous scholars insisted in the past decades on the medieval heritage of Descartes and on his training in the Jesuit schools. Building upon this scholarship, the purpose of the module is to examine the conceptual difference of Descartes's philosophy with respect to the medieval understanding of one of the major topics in Western Philosophy: the mind/body problem. We will study how Descartes is forced to sharpen and clarify his own views on the topic and insist on the concept of "unity" (of mind and body) in contrast to previous philosophers who discussed the "union" (between mind and body) and "conjunction" (of one intellect to each individual body), in order to define the thinking subject, the famous "ego cogito". The explanation of the "union" was clarified by Thomas Aquinas, and endorsed by most theologians and philosophers, whereas more radical authors developed the concept of "conjunction" following Averroes.
We will begin by studying an interesting episode of Descartes' self-proclaimed "disciple" Regius. Misunderstanding Descartes' views, Regius endorsed a problematic view that was attributed to Descartes by the theologians from the University of Utrecht who accused him of being an atheist and endorsing the positions of Averroes and Latin Averroists. The important quarrel that followed ended with the condemnation of Descartes's teaching. But this debate allowed Descartes to explain further his thoughts and revise some of the themes presented in the Meditations. In order to understand the accusation and Descartes' replies, we will study the most relevant doctrines on the soul that were known to and accepted or rejected before the Utrech dispute.

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You must not use generative AI in this assignment for any purpose.