StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

The Impact of Descartes on the Development of Philosophy - Research Paper Example

Cite this document
Summary
The writer of this paper analyzes the impact of Descartes on the development of philosophy. Descartes obsessively considered the “realness” of the natural world and came away with the conclusion that his status as a thinking being assured his existence…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER98.2% of users find it useful
The Impact of Descartes on the Development of Philosophy
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "The Impact of Descartes on the Development of Philosophy"

It’s difficult to overestimate the impact of Descartes’’ cogito argument. Though it seems simple to modern philosophers, when Descartes obsessively considered the “realness” of natural world and came away with the conclusion that his status as a thinking being assured his existence, he set a cornerstone for the future of Western philosophical thought. His logistic methodology paved the way structural theorists, such as Levi-Strauss and Saussure, as well as for political philosophers, such as Hobbes and Locke. Max Weber’s use of Descartes’ argument — often called the cogito argument in reference to Descartes’ most-quoted catchphrase the Latin cogito; ergo sum, or “I think; therefore I am” — to explain the rise of capitalism in Protestant society is perhaps one of the more interesting takes on Cartesian theory. Weber argues that instead of using Descartes’ notion of self simply as a philosophical proof of individual being, Protestants transformed the concept into “an ethical reinterpretation” (Weber 80), using it as the basis for a life of contemplation: Only a life governed by constant reflection, however, could be regarded as overcoming the status naturalis … This rationalization now gave Reformed piety its specifically ascetic character and was also the basis for its inner affinity ( as well as its specific antithesis) to Catholicism. (Weber 80-81) In other words, Weber argues that Protestants seized on the idea of self-knowledge as a sort of manifesto, not a proof existence but a responsibility of existence. So far, so good, but where does the connection to capitalism come in? How does it relate to the notion of an inner life? What does it have to do with the notion of intellectual responsibility? “The name of Weber makes it clear that we cannot begin to sense the real ideological function of religious aestheticism unless we place it within that larger intellectual and ideological preoccupation which is the study and interrogation of value,” wrote Frederic Jameson (124). Or, more simply put, the religious contemplation of the Protestants was both a factor in and a result of their historio-economic status. For Weber, this status follows a predictable trajectory, journeying from the traditional to the rational with a brief, joyous moment of transformation Weber calls “charisma.” (Weber 96) The Protestant Reformation is an example of a charismatic period in the evolution of Western society, a time in which society was moving from traditional values and ethics toward restructured, rationalized ethics. And economic success was an important part of these metamorphosing ethics. Part of this emerges from what Weber sees as the Protestant notion of “craft,” or pride in workmanship. The idea of a “calling” for a career path was no longer restricted to men and women of the cloth; any person passionate about and committed to his work could say that he had a vocation. A more significant source, perhaps, though, is the Protestant emphasis on work as an important element in a spiritual life: … However useless good works might be as a means of attaining salvation … they are indispensable as a sign of election. They are at the technical means, not of purchasing salvation, but of getting rid of the fear of damnation. In this sense they are occasionally referred to as directly necessary for salvation … In practice, this means that God helps those who help themselves. Thus the Calvinist … creates his own salvation, or, as would be more correct, the conviction of it. (Weber 69) In other words, there was now a rational reason for man to pursue economic gain: Doing so was the cornerstone for spiritual salvation. For the first time, perhaps, in the history of Western civilization, the religious inspiration included a mandate for economic success. And so we return to Descartes’ notion of man as a rational being. “It is now manifest to me that bodies themselves are not properly perceived by the senses nor by the faculty of imagination, but by the intellect alone; and since they are not perceived because they are seen and touched, but only because they are understood (or rightly comprehended by thought), I readily discover that there is nothing more easily or clearly apprehended than my own mind,” wrote Derrida in his Second Meditation (126), laying the foundation for the life of the mind. Much like the Platonic notion of duality (as in the “Allegory of the Cave”) served as an inspiration for early Christians who needed a way to explain the dichotomy between body and spirit, Descartes intellectual justification for being became a rationalist justification for the Protestant mindset, including its pursuit of economic goals. This worked because Protestantism had robbed believers of naïve certainty about their eternal fate: It was no longer enough to buy absolution from one’s priest or visit the confessional to ensure admittance into Heaven. The new religious order was fraught with potential peril and individual responsibilities. Like Descartes, modern man was faced with the challenge of determining his status in the world. Like Descartes, he struggled to find a rational way to cope with the chaos of uncertainty. And thanks to a plethora of socioeconomic changes occurring at the same time as the Protestant revolution, capitalism was a natural fit. Hard work was one way to guarantee admittance to Heaven, and economic success was a sure indicator that one was working hard. What’s interesting about this is how it played out in the emerging capitalist landscape. The new Protestant mindset demanded that each person pursue his work with religious zeal, since his success at work was an indicator of his future salvation. At the same time, Protestant morals insisted that the pursuit of money for its own end or the use of money for luxury goods or lifestyle upgrades was morally questionable. (The early Protestant church also strictly limited the amount of money each family could contribute to the church.) Philanthropy was discouraged, as churches feared that this kind of generosity would only increase the number of beggars. So for Protestants who were busy raking in money to show that they had been chosen by God as one of the elect, there was no practical outlet for spending their hard-earned money. Investments were the only church-approved expenditure, and these Protestant investments really triggered the markets of Protestant countries, boosting the emerging capitalist structure. A specifically bourgeois economic ethic had grown up. With the consciousness of standing in the fullness of Gods grace and being visibly blessed by Him, the bourgeois business man, as long as he remained within the bounds of formal correctness, as long as his moral conduct was spotless and the use to which he put his wealth was not objectionable, could follow his pecuniary interests as he would and feel that he was fulfilling a duty in doing so. The power of religious asceticism provided him in addition with sober, conscientious, and unusually industrious workmen, who clung to their work as to a life purpose willed by God. (Weber 149) Descartes’ notion that man could only know himself was expanded by the Protestants to include the idea that man must rationalize his economic existence and his spiritual existence, keeping both, so to speak, in the black, so that material success was seen to parallel spiritual success and vice versa. Weber’s argument is fascinating, if problematic, but his insistence that religion shaped the economic conditions rather than being shaped by them (as Marxist critics would argue) is compelling reading, and his treatment of Protestantism as the foundation for modern capitalism is fascinating. I’m not entirely convinced that it’s possible to create what Jameson calls “an intellectual space from which one can study inner worldly values as such,” (124) but I can certainly appreciate the validity of his claim that Protestants took a rational approach to ethics, resulting in a cogito of capitalism. Works Cited Ariew, Roger. Rene Descartes: Philosophical Essays and Correspondence. Hacket: Indianapolis, 2000. Chalcraft, David J. The Protestant Ethic Debate: Max Webers Replies to his Critics, 1907-1910. Liverpool, England: Liverpool University Press, 2001. Jameson, Frederic. The Political Unconscious: Narrative as a Socially Symbolic Act. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1981. Robertson, H.M. Aspects of the Rise of Economic Individualism: A Criticism of Max Weber and his School Contributors. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1933. Weber, Max. The Protestant Ethic and the “Spirit” of Capitalism. Penguin Classics: New York, 2002. Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“The Impact of Descartes on the Development of Philosophy Research Paper”, n.d.)
The Impact of Descartes on the Development of Philosophy Research Paper. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/philosophy/1550091-philosophy-3330-interpretive-essay-final
(The Impact of Descartes on the Development of Philosophy Research Paper)
The Impact of Descartes on the Development of Philosophy Research Paper. https://studentshare.org/philosophy/1550091-philosophy-3330-interpretive-essay-final.
“The Impact of Descartes on the Development of Philosophy Research Paper”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/philosophy/1550091-philosophy-3330-interpretive-essay-final.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF The Impact of Descartes on the Development of Philosophy

Cartesian Revolution and Revolutionary Science

With the ideas presented by Thomas Kuhn, the concept of revolutionary science gain importance as a part of the philosophy of science and other fields of inquiry (Percival, 1976).... For instance the approach taken by descartes to the world around him was unique to the extent that he wanted to see everything as seeing it for the first time.... The ideas presented by descartes can be summed as being in doubt about everything which is not already known to him in a perfect sense....
9 Pages (2250 words) Essay

Enlightenment And Religion

Though the church could stop Galileo, they couldn't stop the development of scientific ideas.... rdquo; (Heroic Leadership, PP 231) The main leaders who took this movement forward were descartes, Pascal, Bayle, Montesquieu, Voltaire, Diderot, and Rousseau.... Before the Enlightenment, religion was an all shadowing institution influencing the life of the majority of the people....
3 Pages (750 words) Essay

Universal Truth and Psychology Issues

The developments that happened in this area have been significant in the development of later theories of the self and the unconscious, especially as they were articulated by the psychoanalysts like Sigmund Freud.... To understand this philosophy better, it is important that one traces the history of this idea.... This research may be a very Eurocentric one; however, much of the psychology today is more or less centered on the… discourse that has as their foundation the thought and theories of the mind as put forward by Plato, Aristotle and others in later ages such as Rene descartes....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

New Philosophy Development - Heliocentrism, Galileos Role

The paper "New philosophy Development - Heliocentrism, Galileo's Role" highlights that the emergence of new philosophy was inevitable because of its links to the flourishing of new science.... His theories further contributed to the speed by which new philosophy gained attention and recognition.... As the scramble for the new truth set in, the new philosophy was introduced.... This paper explores this new philosophy development and determines its causes and impact, especially its inevitable link with new science....
6 Pages (1500 words) Research Paper

Rene Descartes and the scientific revolution

The Scientific Revolution was a foundation stone upon which Rene descartes developed the scientific method approach.... According to Hellyer, (2003) descartes' findings disapproved the belief that the planets orbited in circular motions.... The philosophers of the time did not challenge the views of the select ancient scholars....
7 Pages (1750 words) Research Paper

The Father of Modern Philosophy

The author of the essay "The Father of Modern philosophy" states that Rene Descartes was a French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist who lived between 1596 and 1650.... nbsp;… Regardless of whether they agree or disagree with Descartes' original thoughts, processes and premises, though, the fact remains that it is Descartes and the realm of ideas he brought forward that they are basing their arguments upon, thereby underscoring and reinforcing the concept that Descartes is the father of modern philosophy....
9 Pages (2250 words) Essay

Rene Descartes: A French Philosopher, Mathematician, and Scientist

Such new directions of philosophy made Descartes into a revolutionary figure” (Baillet 1693).... “His philosophy refused to accept the Aristotelian and Scholastic traditions that had dominated philosophical thought throughout the Medieval period; it attempted to fully integrate philosophy with the 'new sciences', and Descartes changed the relationship between philosophy and theology.... For this, he is now known as the father of modern philosophy....
13 Pages (3250 words) Essay

The Logic of Rene Descartes

From the paper "The Logic of Rene Descartes" it is clear that "before Descartes time, philosophy had been dominated by the method of Scholasticism, which was entirely based on comparing and contrasting the views of recognized authorities” (Vincent 2003).... hellip; Generally speaking, through the meditations included in “Meditations on First philosophy,” Descartes presents his logical sequence leading to the idea that since God exists, all knowledge must come from him and therefore, whether we are dreaming or awake, our perceptions of our reality must be real....
10 Pages (2500 words) Coursework
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us