Descartes and the rejection of madness as an argument in the first Meditation

Authors

  • Jonathan Alvarenga Universidade Estadual de Campinas

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.2447-9012.espinosa.2022.194585

Keywords:

Descartes, Modern philosophy, Madness argument, Cogito, First Meditation, Skepticism

Abstract

In this paper we will discuss the insertion, the nature and the problematic of the rejection of madness as an argument in the First Meditation. To do so, we analyze the place, textually speaking, in which this rejection is set. In a second step, we will move on to dialogue with other authors who have already made interpretations about madness in Descartes. With this, we will be able to have a vast panorama of already formulated theses on the theme at issue here, in addition to understanding from which point of view interpreters have analyzed this element in Descartes’ text. Finally, we will present our interpretation, in which we will defend the physiological origin of madness, which, besides being the reason why the French philosopher rejects it as an argument in his text, is also the main reason why even an individual said to be mad could not reject the truth of the Cogito and the whole chain of reasons that follows it.

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References

DESCARTES, R. (1988) Meditações. Tradução de J. Guinsburg e Bento Prado Júnior. São Paulo: Nova Cultural, 4. ed.

DESCARTES, R. (1996) Œuvres. Vol. 7. Publiées par Charles Adam et Paul Tannery. Paris: Vrin.

FORLIN, E. (2001). “O argumento cartesiano do sonho”, in Discurso, v. 32, pp. 235-248.

FORLIN, E. (2004) O papel da dúvida metafísica no processo de constituição do cogito. São Paulo: Associação Editorial Humanitas.

FOUCALT, M. (1978) História da loucura na Idade Clássica. Tradução de José Teixeira Coelho Netto. São Paulo: Perspectiva.

GUÉROULT, M. (2016). Descartes segundo a ordem das razões. Tradução de Érico Andrade. Discurso Editorial: São Paulo.

PORCHAT, O. P. (2007). Rumo ao ceticismo. São Paulo: Editora Unesp.

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Published

2022-06-30

Issue

No. 46 (2022)

Section

Artigos

License

Copyright (c) 2022 Jonathan Alvarenga

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How to Cite

Alvarenga, J. (2022). Descartes and the rejection of madness as an argument in the first Meditation. Cadernos Espinosanos, 46, 83-104. https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.2447-9012.espinosa.2022.194585

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