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The Origins of Cartesian Dualism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 July 2020

TAREK R. DIKA
TAREK R. DIKA*
Affiliation:
UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAMEtdika@nd.edu
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Abstract

In the recently discovered Cambridge manuscript, widely regarded as an early draft of Rules for the Direction of the Mind, Descartes does not describe the mind as a ‘purely spiritual’ force ‘distinct from the whole body’. This has led some readers to speculate that Descartes did not embrace mind-body dualism in the Cambridge manuscript. In this article, I offer a detailed interpretation of Descartes's mind-body dualism in the established Charles Adam and Paul Tannery edition of Rules, and argue that, while differences between the Cambridge manuscript and the established version of Rules are significant, the relevant passages in the Cambridge manuscript preclude interpretation along both materialist and hylomorphic lines. I then offer an account of the development of Descartes's mind-body dualism between the Cambridge manuscript and the established version of Rules. What the Cambridge manuscript reveals is not Descartes before dualism, but rather Cartesian dualism in its barest form.

Keywords

Descartesmind-body dualismsubstance dualismmethodearly modern metaphysics
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of the American Philosophical Association , Volume 6 , Issue 3 , Fall 2020 , pp. 335 - 352
Copyright
Copyright © American Philosophical Association 2020

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Footnotes

I thank John Carriero, Stephen Fallon, Robert Goulding, Denis Kambouchner, Yitzhak Melamed, Tad Schmaltz, and Phillip Sloan for comments on a previous draft of this article. I also thank Stephen I. Wagner, Patrick Brissey, and Jack Stetter for comments on a previous draft of this article presented before the Descartes Society at the American Philosophical Association Central Division Meeting on February 21, 2018, in Chicago. I owe special thanks to Richard Serjeanston and Michael Edwards, who kindly shared a draft of their forthcoming translation of the Cambridge manuscript at an international seminar organized by Daniel Garber at the Institut d’études avancées de Paris on April 19, 2018 (many thanks to Dan for his invitation). During a visit to Cambridge University on October 17, 2017, Richard generously provided me with access to the Cambridge manuscript. All translations in this article are my own and are based on the original manuscript; respecting their request not to cite prior to publication, I have not cited the Edwards-Serjeanston translation. I also thank the University of Notre Dame's Institute for the Liberal Arts for a grant that enabled me to travel to Paris to participate in the seminar on the Cambridge manuscript. I thank the journal's two anonymous reviewers for their excellent comments. I dedicate this article to my loving wife, Constance de Font-Réaulx.

Unless otherwise indicated, all references to Descartes are to the Adam-Tannery (1996) edition, abbreviated ‘AT’, followed by volume number and page. All English translations are based on Descartes (1985–1991), abbreviated ‘CSM’ (vol. 1–2) or ‘CSMK’ (vol. 3), followed by volume number and page. Citations of the Cambridge manuscript are abbreviated ‘CM’. When distinguishing between the Cambridge manuscript and the edition of Rules found in the Adam-Tannery edition, I employ the following subscripts: RulesCM and RulesAT, respectively. Subscripts are also used for individual rules (e.g., Rule 12CM, Rule 12AT). Where the Cambridge manuscript agrees with the Adam-Tannery edition, I reproduce, with occasional modifications, the translation of Rules found in Cottingham et al. (based mostly on the Adam and Tannery edition). All other translations from the Cambridge manuscript are my own.

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