Rationalism and moral certainty in Descartes
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.48160/18532330me2.74Keywords:
Descartes, moral certainty, rationalism, metascience, philosophyAbstract
It has been a habit to classify different schools of thought in a binary scheme, reducing the complexity of the ideas to two ends and also reducing the philosopher’s thought to one of the poles. This practice has classified René Descartes as the father of rationalism. Nevertheless, a more careful review of his work shows another face, less rigid, more prudent and a special interest for interdisciplinary work. Descartes’ prudential attitude is shown in his Treatise of the Light. Other philosophers shared with him this attitude and special concern for prudence and tolerance at that time. The aim of this work is to demystify the dogmatic rationalism that has frequently been attributed to Descartes.
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