Principles of philosophy

the principles of philosophy is the title of a philosophical work writes by Rene Descartes in 1644. He is written in Latin; the original title is Principia philosophiae .

The aim in view by Descartes was, according to its point of view, “to give rigorous bases to philosophy”.

Historical context

Descartes followed its studies to the college Jésuite of the Arrow, according to the teaching methods into force at that time, i.e. those of the Scolastique.

Descartes initially had a career of scientist: its contributions in this field are important.

See also: Descartes

At the time of Descartes, at the 17th century, one checked thanks to Galileo that the movement of the Planet S around the Sun answered the observations that had made Copernic at the previous century of it: the Théorie of the Héliocentrisme started to be essential in certain scientists. The new tools of astronomical observation (Telescope) and the contributions Concept uels of the Science of the 17th century, in Analysis and Geometry (see History of mathematics, allowed Déduire, by the Expérience and by the scientific Raisonnement, the rules which governed the movement of the Planet S. It was the combined work of Copernic, Galileo, Kepler, and Descartes which allowed this projection of science.

However, all the scientific authorities of the time were not agreement on the Héliocentrisme: the University S, at the time under the authority of the Church, remained in majority favorable to the thesis of the Géocentrisme resulting from Ptolémée, or leant for a conciliation. The religious authorities, after having tergiversated, finally sliced: Galileo was condemned in June 1633.

See also: Revolution copernician

This controversy on the Cosmologie deeply marked Descartes and its contemporaries of the scientific circles. Descartes thus wished to leave with the posterity a renewal Philosophie of sciences.

Descartes learned the judgment from Galileo in November 1633. It accepted in 1634 of his friend Beeckman the Système of the world , the book which was worth with Galileo his judgment. Descartes thus decided not to publish the Traité world and light, and preferred to direct its career towards philosophy. He wrote in particular the Discourse on Method in 1637, then the Méditations metaphysics in 1641.

There was indeed a change of Représentation of the world which had very important repercussions Métaphysique S. In particular, in certain books of Aristote, one reprsentait the world centered on the ground (world sub-luniare, supra-lunar, one did not iaminait mountains on the moon,… Concept of movement, that Aristote put in connection with the driving force (or causes efficient in philosophy) seemed little specifies compared to the distinction that science made from now on between the Speed and the Accélération. More serious still, in fact only the authorities of the time were mistaken. Plusieus passages " cosmological of the Bible seemed to lend to confusion. (The old drafting of the Psalm 92 (93): “You fixed the dry land and motionless”). Descartes thus posed like base of its philosophy the famous Cogito ergo sum. The fact of thinking is a principle first, which replaces the Main cause Aristote and Pensée Scolastique.

The Cartesian project is a project of universal science resting on new philosophical principles, on the Raison.

Less than 45 years later, in 1687, Newton, decided well “to avoid the baffles of those which do not want to change”, takes up the challenge and carries it: the general Mécanique was born.

Research of the truth by the reason without the light of the faith

As of the letter prefaces, Descartes indicates that the natural Raison, regarded as the base first of the Connaissance, in other words wisdom, can make it possible to seek the Vérité. The mode of privileged Raisonnement is the Déduction here. It is the means, for Descartes, to found a Morale, considered as the fruit of philosophy. The Esprit must be detached from the direction to arrive at the reasoning.

In this step, Descartes claims to do without the Lumière of the Foi. No doubt the recent debate around Galileo (1633) there is for something, when one remembers that research on the celestial mechanics, still with the state of scientific assumptions (see Héliocentrisme), was considered at that time with a certain incredulity by the religious authorities. In the context of the War Thirty Year old, modern science still pains to continue compared to relatively sclerosed structures (the Scolastique of the 17th century).

“is properly to have the closed eyes, without never trying to open them, that of living without philosophizing; and the pleasure of seeing all the things which our sight discovers is not comparable with the satisfaction which the knowledge of those gives that one finds by philosophy; and, finally, this study is more necessary to regulate our manners and to lead us in this life, that is not the use of our eyes to guide our steps. The rough animals, which have only their body to preserve, continuously occupy themselves to seek what to nourish it; but the men, of which the principal part is the Esprit, should employ their principal care with the research of the wisdom, which is true food; and I also make sure that there is several who would not miss there, if they had hope to succeed there, and that they knew how much they of it are able. There is heart so much is not very noble which remains so extremely attached to the objects of the directions that it is not diverted any sometimes to wish some other more large good, notwithstanding that it is unaware of often of what it consists. Those which fortune supports more, which has abundance of health, honors, of richnesses, are not free from this desire than the others; on the contrary, I convince myself that it is them which sigh with the most heat after another good, sovereign than all those which they have. However, this sovereign considered well by the natural reason without the light of the faith, is other thing only the knowledge of the truth by his first causes, i.e. the wisdom, whose philosophy is the study. And, because all these things are entirely true, they would not be difficult to persuade if they were well deduced. ” (Principles of philosophy, letter-foreword of the French edition of the principles)

Classification of knowledge

Here a significant extract of the work, which gives a lighting on the classification of knowledge such as Descartes conceived it:

“Thus all philosophy is like a tree, of which the roots are the Métaphysique, the trunk is the Physique and them branches which leave this trunk are all other sciences which are reduced to three principal, namely the Médecine, the Mécanique and the Morale, I hear highest and the most perfect morals, which, presupposing a whole knowledge of other sciences, is the last degree of wisdom. However as they are not roots, nor trunk of the trees, than one picking the fruits, but only on the ends of their branches, thus the principal utility of philosophy depends on those of its parts which one can learn only the last. ”

The ambition of Descartes is large: to provide a rigorous base, a new metaphysics resting on the Cogito, which generates a new classification of the Connaissance S. In the ancient Greece, the Présocratiques (Thalès, Pythagore, Euclide) were above all the scientists. Philosophy developed thereafter, with Socrate, Plato, and Aristote. One finds in the life of Descartes this progression of science towards philosophy.

What is surprising, however, it is the mixture of the kinds: Since XIIe XIIIe centuries, one regarded philosophy as an autonomous discipline, with three large branches: the Metaphysical , the Logical , and the ethical . These branches resulted from the work of classification carried out by Thomas d' Aquin, starting from works of the largest Greek philosophers, Plato (redécouvert as of the Carolingian period), and especially Aristote, reintroduced in occident as from the 10th century, and especially of XIIe century.

Heidegger affirmed that science and philosophy have objects and methods different and are heterogeneous: “Science”, wrote Heidegger in rightly That does one invite does not think to think? , “it calculates”. There are undoubtedly great difficulties for a scientist of understanding that in philosophy there is no truth, nor of progress and that the last which spoke is not right necessarily.

Descartes gave a very personal interpretation of the Métaphysique, very subjective could one say.

One sees in this classification neither logic, neither mathematics, nor astronomy. The philosophical design of Descartes is very mechanist: the cogito of Descartes is opposed to the Main cause Aristote.

One does not find at Descartes the concepts metaphysics, logics, ethics of Aristote. The logic of Descartes is deductive.

Posterity: lights

This idea of the research of the truth by the natural Raison without the light of the faith is undoubtedly at the origin of the Rationalisme of the Age of Enlightenment, to indicate the well-known philosophical current of the 18th century.

One also thinks of the Traité world and light, that Descartes renonça to be published just after the lawsuit of Galileo. The philosophy of Descartes which develops thereafter through the Cartésianisme and the movements Rationaliste S claim to seek the truth by the " lights naturelles".

Philosophers Jansenist S of Port-Royal, were based on the principles of the philosophy of Descartes, to build a Logique Rationaliste, which had an impact on the syntax and the grammar of the French language, and which was used to translate the Bible into French. This edition was elaborate between 1657 and 1696.

See also: Logical of Port-Royal

On the 18th century century, the philosophers of the Lumières will be based partly on these principles Cartésien S, especially in France, to define a new vision of the world and the man, freed from the old constraints, and more individualist.

The influence of Descartes was less significant in the Anglo-Saxon world, of which modes of reasoning Empiriste S (Francis Bacon, Robert Boyle, Thomas Hobbes, David Hume,…) agreed less to the rigor of the pure Cartesian deduction. A toughening occurred as from the 19th century (see Saint-simonisme).

Auguste Count was claimed the successor of Descartes and based the scientific knowledge on a design Positiviste of the Sociologie.

See also: Positivism

Various currents Idéologique S dérivérent more or less of these forms of materialism.

See too

On the historical context

On Descartes and its works

On the History and the classification of philosophy

On the philosophical concepts

  • List of the concepts of philosophy

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