Descartes aux limites du naturalisme

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DC Field	Value
dc.identifier	ECF_chapter_2605
dc.contributor.author	Kambouchner Denis
dc.title	Descartes aux limites du naturalisme. « La force qu’a l’âme de mouvoir le corps »
dc.type	Chapter
dc.language.iso	fr
dc.description.abstract	In order to appreciate the distance between the Cartesian theory of man and a naturalistic programme, it is necessary to ask what exactly Descartes means by “the soul’s power to move the body”. A precise examination of the Cartesian texts, especially the Treatise on Man and The Passions of the Soul, will lead to the exclusion of any direct action of the soul on the body. All the action of the soul goes through the formation of certain images in the brain, which determine certain flows of animal spirits, and as for the passions, the effectiveness of this action is mainly a matter of habit. The spontaneity of thought does not preclude considering the ‘force of the soul’ as associated with the ‘disposition of the brain’. Conversely, nothing in the Cartesian texts allows us to eliminate this spontaneity where we experience it.
dc.relation.ispartof	Philosophica
dc.publisher	Edizioni Ca’ Foscari - Digital Publishing
dc.issued	2019-07-27
dc.dateAccepted	2019-02-25
dc.dateSubmitted	2019-02-05
dc.identifier.uri	http://edizionicafoscari.it/en/edizioni4/libri/978-88-6969-325-0/descartes-aux-limites-du-naturalisme/
dc.identifier.doi	10.30687/978-88-6969-325-0/007
dc.identifier.issn	2610-8933
dc.identifier.eissn	2610-8925
dc.identifier.isbn	978-88-6969-326-7
dc.identifier.eisbn	978-88-6969-325-0
dc.rights	Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License
dc.rights.uri	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
item.fulltext	with fulltext
item.grantfulltext	open
dc.peer-review	yes
dc.subject	Cartesianism
dc.subject	Cartesianism
dc.subject	Dualism
dc.subject	Dualism
dc.subject	Soul and body unity
dc.subject	Soul and body unity
dc.subject	Will
dc.subject	Will

Chapter
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Descartes aux limites du naturalisme

« La force qu’a l’âme de mouvoir le corps »

Denis Kambouchner Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia, Italia; Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, France

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abstract

In order to appreciate the distance between the Cartesian theory of man and a naturalistic programme, it is necessary to ask what exactly Descartes means by “the soul’s power to move the body”. A precise examination of the Cartesian texts, especially the Treatise on Man and The Passions of the Soul, will lead to the exclusion of any direct action of the soul on the body. All the action of the soul goes through the formation of certain images in the brain, which determine certain flows of animal spirits, and as for the passions, the effectiveness of this action is mainly a matter of habit. The spontaneity of thought does not preclude considering the ‘force of the soul’ as associated with the ‘disposition of the brain’. Conversely, nothing in the Cartesian texts allows us to eliminate this spontaneity where we experience it.

Published

July 27, 2019

Accepted

Feb. 25, 2019

Submitted

Feb. 5, 2019

Language

ISBN (PRINT)

978-88-6969-326-7

ISBN (EBOOK)

978-88-6969-325-0

Keywords: Will • Soul and body unity • Dualism • Cartesianism

permalink: http://doi.org/10.30687/978-88-6969-325-0/007

Copyright: © 2019 Denis Kambouchner. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

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