Understanding Terminology That Describes Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Nonfiction and Philosophy - CLEP Humanities

The notion of "Cartesian Dualism" is named after the thinker René Descartes(1596-1650)—a man who is often seen to be one of the fathers of modern philosophy. In his Discourse on Method and his Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes makes a number of famous arguments. One of the most well known ideas is that the soul is completely distinct from the body. He concludes this from the idea that thought is clearly distinct from the notion of "body." The latter is really more of a geometrical "stuff" than anything else. He claims that even if we didn't have a body, we could still have self-consciousness.

His arguments are more complicated than this, of course, and they are open to many critiques. Be that as it may, one of the hallmarks of his philosophy is this kind of "dualism." In general a "dualism" occurs when we explain something through two different, unique principles that are not reducible to each other. Thus, for him, the human person is reduced to these two principles: soul and body. It's up to the philosopher to try to puzzle out how they are related.

Immanuel Kant was the inheritor of the great pedagogical program of German scholasticism, drawing on a number of thinkers such as Wilhelm Gottfried Leibniz (especially through the works of Christian Wolff) and many, many others. At a certain point in his career, however, Kant came to the conviction that the excesses of these so-called "rationalistic" philosophers could not provide an adequate grounding for the sciences and for the moral life.

Therefore, Kant undertook a change of perspective that led to the publication of his three best known works: The Critique of Pure Reason, The Critique of Practical Reason, and The Critique of Judgment. These three texts sought to explain just what could be known within the bounds of finite human reason—thus providing a critical perspective regarding what he took to be the excesses and emptiness of the philosophy that he had taught for many years.

The notion of "Cartesian Dualism" is named after the thinker René Descartes(1596-1650)—a man who is often seen to be one of the fathers of modern philosophy. In his Discourse on Method and his Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes makes a number of famous arguments. One of the most well known ideas is that the soul is completely distinct from the body. He concludes this from the idea that thought is clearly distinct from the notion of "body." The latter is really more of a geometrical "stuff" than anything else. He claims that even if we didn't have a body, we could still have self-consciousness.

His arguments are more complicated than this, of course, and they are open to many critiques. Be that as it may, one of the hallmarks of his philosophy is this kind of "dualism." In general a "dualism" occurs when we explain something through two different, unique principles that are not reducible to each other. Thus, for him, the human person is reduced to these two principles: soul and body. It's up to the philosopher to try to puzzle out how they are related.

Immanuel Kant was the inheritor of the great pedagogical program of German scholasticism, drawing on a number of thinkers such as Wilhelm Gottfried Leibniz (especially through the works of Christian Wolff) and many, many others. At a certain point in his career, however, Kant came to the conviction that the excesses of these so-called "rationalistic" philosophers could not provide an adequate grounding for the sciences and for the moral life.

Therefore, Kant undertook a change of perspective that led to the publication of his three best known works: The Critique of Pure Reason, The Critique of Practical Reason, and The Critique of Judgment. These three texts sought to explain just what could be known within the bounds of finite human reason—thus providing a critical perspective regarding what he took to be the excesses and emptiness of the philosophy that he had taught for many years.

The notion of "Cartesian Dualism" is named after the thinker René Descartes(1596-1650)—a man who is often seen to be one of the fathers of modern philosophy. In his Discourse on Method and his Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes makes a number of famous arguments. One of the most well known ideas is that the soul is completely distinct from the body. He concludes this from the idea that thought is clearly distinct from the notion of "body." The latter is really more of a geometrical "stuff" than anything else. He claims that even if we didn't have a body, we could still have self-consciousness.

His arguments are more complicated than this, of course, and they are open to many critiques. Be that as it may, one of the hallmarks of his philosophy is this kind of "dualism." In general a "dualism" occurs when we explain something through two different, unique principles that are not reducible to each other. Thus, for him, the human person is reduced to these two principles: soul and body. It's up to the philosopher to try to puzzle out how they are related.

Immanuel Kant was the inheritor of the great pedagogical program of German scholasticism, drawing on a number of thinkers such as Wilhelm Gottfried Leibniz (especially through the works of Christian Wolff) and many, many others. At a certain point in his career, however, Kant came to the conviction that the excesses of these so-called "rationalistic" philosophers could not provide an adequate grounding for the sciences and for the moral life.

Therefore, Kant undertook a change of perspective that led to the publication of his three best known works: The Critique of Pure Reason, The Critique of Practical Reason, and The Critique of Judgment. These three texts sought to explain just what could be known within the bounds of finite human reason—thus providing a critical perspective regarding what he took to be the excesses and emptiness of the philosophy that he had taught for many years.

The notion of "Cartesian Dualism" is named after the thinker René Descartes(1596-1650)—a man who is often seen to be one of the fathers of modern philosophy. In his Discourse on Method and his Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes makes a number of famous arguments. One of the most well known ideas is that the soul is completely distinct from the body. He concludes this from the idea that thought is clearly distinct from the notion of "body." The latter is really more of a geometrical "stuff" than anything else. He claims that even if we didn't have a body, we could still have self-consciousness.

His arguments are more complicated than this, of course, and they are open to many critiques. Be that as it may, one of the hallmarks of his philosophy is this kind of "dualism." In general a "dualism" occurs when we explain something through two different, unique principles that are not reducible to each other. Thus, for him, the human person is reduced to these two principles: soul and body. It's up to the philosopher to try to puzzle out how they are related.