DESCARTES AND SPINOZA ON ’THE MOST TRUE’ OF ALL IDEAS

Main Article Content

UNA POPOVIĆ

Abstract

In this paper I will inspect the relation between the epistemologically privileged idea and the foundations of metaphysics in Descartes’s and Spinoza’s philosophy. I would like to show how the focus on the Cogito ergo sum in Descartes, that is, on the idea of the most perfect being in Spinoza, influenced the framework of their metaphysical projects. I will firstly analyze Descartes’s and Spinoza’s reasons for choosing exactly these ideas, and then I will try to reconstruct several objections and replies, that these two philosophers could have developed in reaction to each others position. The results will show that both thinkers are trying to enforce the meaning of the traditional definition of truth as adequatio rei et intellectus, with Descartes being more focused on the formal aspect of Cogito ergo sum as an idea, while Spinoza is more interested in the objective status of the content and meaning of the idea of the most perfect being.

Article Details

How to Cite
POPOVIĆ, U. (2024). DESCARTES AND SPINOZA ON ’THE MOST TRUE’ OF ALL IDEAS. Arhe, 19(38), 207–223. https://doi.org/10.19090/arhe.2022.38.207-223
Section
STUDIES AND INQUIRIES

References

Bruno, G., „O uzroku, počelu i jednom”, u: Optimizam slobodnog mišljenja, Naprijed, Zagreb, 1985.

Cottingham, J., The Rationalists, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1988.

Dekart, R., Osnovi filozofije, Matica hrvatska, Zagreb, 1951.

Декарт, Р., Практична и јасна правила руковођења духом у истраживању истине; СФД, Београд, 1952.

Descartes, R., Metafizičke meditacije, Demetra, Zagreb, 1993.

Kenny, A., The Rise of Modern Philosophy, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 2006.

Lok, Dž., Ogled o ljudskom razumu I, Kultura, Beograd, 1962.

Popović, U., „Spinozin geometrijski metod”, Arhe, god. X, br. 19, 2013.

Popović, U., „Lokov Novi put ideja”, Arhe, god. XIII, br. 25, 2016.

Spinoza, B., Rasprava o poboljšanju razuma, Kultura, Beograd, 1956.

Spinoza, B., Etika, Kultura, Beograd, 1970.

Williams, B., Descartes: The Project of Pure Enquiry, Routledge, Oxford & New York, 2005.