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Descartes and the Seven Senses of Indifference in Early Modern Philosophy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 February 2012

Thomas M. Lennon
Thomas M. Lennon*
Affiliation:
University of Western Ontario
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Abstract

ABSTRACT: Indifference is a term often used to describe the sort of freedom had by the will according to the libertarian, or Molinist account. It is thought to be a univocal term. In fact, however, it is used in at least seven different ways, in a variety of domains during the early modern period. All of them have plausible roots in Descartes, but he himself uses the term in only one sense, and failure to notice this consistent use by him has bedeviled interpretations of his account of the will.

RÉSUMÉ: Le terme indifférence est fréquemment utilisé au XVIIe siècle pour qualifier l’espèce de liberté proposée par l’explication moliniste de la volonté. Le mot est aujourd’hui compris comme étant univoque, mais il s’y attache au moins sept significations différentes à l’époque, ayant toutes leurs racines dans l’œuvre de Descartes qui, lui-même, ne l’utilise que dans un seul sens. Faute de remarquer que Descartes n’utilise que ce seul sens, nombre d’interprètes voient des problèmes majeurs dans son explication de la volonté.

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Articles
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Dialogue: Canadian Philosophical Review / Revue canadienne de philosophie , Volume 50 , Issue 3: Special Issue / Numéro spécial: Studies in Modern Philosophy: Études de philosophie moderne , September 2011 , pp. 577 - 602
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Philosophical Association 2012

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