Essay on Garber on Descartes - 860 Words

Alex Burke 2/13/13 Modern Phil. MW 2pm Garber on Descartes: Rejection and Retention In Daniel Garber’s article, â€Å"Descartes against his teachers: The Refutation of Hylomorphism†, the metaphysics of the early scholastics is presented to show the similarities and differences between what Descartes was taught through scholasticism and what he came to refute. Through analysis of the article I will present what Descartes considered to be the central ideas of scholastic metaphysics, as well as show what he chose reject from that doctrine, why he chose to reject it, and what he chose to retain, in the development of Cartesian metaphysics. The central ideas of the scholastic metaphysics stemmed from Aristotle’s Hylomorphic doctrine,†¦show more content†¦Together these arguments, for the most part, reject the scholastic doctrine. Descartes stands firm in his believe of a mechanistic world, in light of the scientific revolution, deeming the scholastic doctrine, in short, lacking in explanation , obscure, and essentially useless. The first, â€Å"the argument from parsimony†, is a rejection of the scholastics idea of both form and quality under the premise that â€Å"such entities are not needed for explanation†. Descartes felt that he was â€Å"content to conceive here [only] the motion of parts† (107). With the concept of substantial form, it was as if they were imposing â€Å"mind-like forms, tiny souls onto the physical world† (107). The second, â€Å"the argument from obscurity†, rejects the particular scholastic idea of â€Å"real qualities†, finding the idea to be obscure and lacking in explanation. The term â€Å"real quality† is one Descartes would consider a â€Å"common sense attribute†, meaning that they have no other bearing other than being an idea pulled from the senses. As Descartes put it, â€Å"these qualities appear to be in need of explanation† (107). Lastly, in what Garber refers to a s â€Å"the argument from sterility†, Descartes deems the scholastic doctrine to be â€Å"useless†, claiming that â€Å"no one has ever made any good use of primary matter, substantial forms, occult qualities and the like† (108). Garber continues to show that Descartes viewed the scholastic doctrine as nothing more thanShow MoreRelatedThe Life of Rene’ Descartes: His Works and His Beliefs in God1578 Words   |  7 PagesWas Rene’ Descartes just a visionary of truth, mathematical equations or was he truly a man that knew he was born to tell the world about life, knowledge, and how it all came together metaphorically? Please see the research on Rene’ Descartes cited accomplishments. Descartes was known as the first modern philosopher. 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