The French jurist and courtier Géraud de Cordemoy (1622-1684) was one of the leading exponents of early Cartesianism. Although he felt closely connected to René Descartes' philosophy, he corrected it in some central points. Thus he advocates an atomistic phsics and a theory of causation known as Occasionalism, which Leibniz calls the System of Occasional Causes in the "New System". The volume contains selected central passages from Cordemoy's main philosophical writings, which are made accessible here for the first time in (...) a bilingual study edition. These are excerpts from the "Six Discussions on the Difference and Union of Body and Soul" from 1666, and a "Metaphysical Treatise" that appeared posthumously in 1691. (shrink)

The study pursues, in a historical as well as in a systematic-analytical way, the reading of Descartes' philosophy as a project of a fundamental critique of theology and transcendence. Besides the exclusion of everything 'theological' from the field of rational discourse and its relegation to the field of fideism, this also involves the reinterpretation of the concept of 'God' as Descartes uses it, in a sense that is to be purified of transcendental, but especially of theistic implications.

Nietzsches Wagner-Kritik äußert sich unter anderem darin, die Oper 'Carmen' als Gegenmodell zum überhitzen "Sirocco" des 'Tristan' übershwänglich zu loben. Die Miszelle schlägt vor, Nietzsches Begeisterung darauf zurückzuführen, dass er in der Personenkonstellation der 'Carmen' ein Metapher für seine eigene Beziehung zu Wagner und - vor allem - zu Wagners Werk erkennt. Indem die Person Carmen in diesm Bild die Rolle von so etwas wie Nietzsches 'Wagnerisimus' übernimmts, spiegelt sie dessen Ausgeliefertsein an die Verfügungsgewalt des Künstlers über sein Werk wider.Nietzsche's (...) critique of Wagner is especially apparent through his effusive praise of Carmen as the antithesis of the overheated "Scirocco" of Tristan. The author suggests that Nietzsche's excitement is rooted in his seeing the characters' relationships as a metaphor for his relationship to Wagner and Wagner's work. With the character of Carmen overtaking the role of Nietzche's "Wagnerianism," the opera plot mirrors Nietzsche's feeling of being at the mercy of the artist's control over his work. (shrink)

Die Studie untersucht die atomistische Abweichung Cordemoys von den Vorgaben der cartesischen Physik. Sie zeigt, dass sich Cordemoys Atomismus auf eine Metaphysik stutzt, die vorcartesischen Positionen ahnelt. Die im Rahmen dieser Metaphysik vertretene Theorie vom Wesen individueller Substanzen bildet ausserdem die Grundlage von Cordemoys occasionalistischer Kausallehre. Dabei wird der Occasionalismus als physikalisches Erklarungsmodell eingefuhrt und schliesslich auf den Bereich der leib-seelischen Interaktion angewandt. Die Studie verweist wiederholt auf Parallelen und Unterschiede in der Philosophie Cordemoys zu Descartes, Clauberg und Sorel. -/- (...) The study examines Cordemoy's atomistic deviation from the precepts of Cartesian physics. It shows that Cordemoy's atomism is based on a metaphysics that resembles pre-Cartesian positions. The theory of the essence of individual substances advocated within the framework of this metaphysics also forms the basis of Cordemoy's occasionalist theory of causation. Occasionalism is introduced as a physical model of explanation and finally applied to the field of body-soul interaction. The study repeatedly points to parallels and differences in Cordemoy's philosophy to Descartes, Clauberg and Sorel. (shrink)