Early Science and Medicine 12 (1):28-54 (2007)
Authors |
|
Abstract |
Descartes' account of the material world relies heavily on time. Most importantly, time is a component of speed, which figures in his fundamental conservation principle and laws. However, in his most systematic discussion of the concept, time is treated as some-how reducible both to thought and to motion. Such reductionistic views, while common among Descartes' late scholastic contemporaries, are very ill-suited to Cartesian physics. I show that, in spite of the apparent identifications with thought and motion, Cartesian time retains—in the form of what I will call 'successive duration'—precisely the intrinsic structure necessary to serve as an independent parameter of quantitative physics. As is often the case with Descartes, he gives the impression of embracing traditional doctrines while in fact radically transforming the underlying concepts to serve his scientific agenda. His theory of time, though formulated in Aristotelian terms, anticipates Newton in important respects
|
Keywords | RENE DESCARTES (1596-1650) 17TH CENTURY SCIENCE: TIME AND SPACE |
Categories | (categorize this paper) |
DOI | 10.1163/157338207x166380 |
Options |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Download options
References found in this work BETA
Force and Inertia in the Seventeenth Century: Descartes and Newton.Alan Gabbey - 1980 - In Stephen Gaukroger (ed.), Descartes: Philosophy, Mathematics and Physics. Barnes & Noble. pp. 230--320.
Seventeenth-Century Scholastic Treatments of Time.Stephen H. Daniel - 1981 - Journal of the History of Ideas 42 (4):587-606.
The Scholastic Background.Roger Ariew & Alan Gabbey - 1998 - In Daniel Garber & Michael Ayers (eds.), The Cambridge History of Seventeenth-Century Philosophy. Cambridge University Press. pp. 1--425.
Citations of this work BETA
Cartesian Temporal Atomism: A New Defence, a New Refutation.Geoffrey Gorham - 2008 - British Journal for the History of Philosophy 16 (3):625 – 637.
Tiempo serial y experiencia del tiempo. Un debate en clave cartesiana.Diana María Acevedo-Zapata - 2017 - Dianoia 62 (79):103-122.
Leibniz on Time and Duration.Geoffrey Gorham - 2017 - In W. Li (ed.), Für unser Glück oder das Glück anderer: Vorträge des X. Internationalen Leibniz-Kongresses Hannover, 18.-23. Juli 2016,. Hildesheim, Germany:
Time and Narrative in Descartes’s Meditations.Michael Campbell - 2017 - Dissertation, University of Canberra
Thinking Descartes in Conjunction, with Merleau-Ponty: The Human Body, the Future, and Historicity.James Griffith - 2019 - Filozofia 2 (74):111-125.
View all 7 citations / Add more citations
Similar books and articles
Hyisen pohjolan viettelys: Rene Descartes (1596-1650).Markku Roinila - 2004 - In Timo Kaitaro & Markku Roinila (eds.), Filosofin kuolema. Summa.
Descartes, Rene (1596–1650).Daniel Garber - 2005 - In Edward Craig (ed.), The Shorter Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Routledge. pp. 174--190.
Faith and Reason in René Descartes (1596-1650): An Appreciation and Critique From Maurice Blondel.Michael A. Conway - 2002 - Gregorianum 83 (1):111-130.
The Rebirth of Descartes : The Nineteenth-Century Reinstatement of Cartesian Metaphysics in France and Germany. Zijlstra, Christiaan Peter - unknown
The Correspondence Between Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia and René Descartes. Elisabeth - 2007 - University of Chicago Press.
Crisis and Certainty of Knowledge in Al-Ghazali (1058-1111) and Descartes (1596-1650).Tamara Albertini - 2005 - Philosophy East and West 55 (1):1-14.
Le Temps Chez Descartes Et Chez Spinoza: De Descartes aux « Pensées Métaphysiques » de Spinoza Et, de la, a l' « Éthique ».Yannis Prélorentzos - forthcoming - Les Etudes Philosophiques.
René Descartes: Tutte le Lettere, 1619-1650.Margaret J. Osler - 2007 - Journal of the History of Philosophy 45 (2):332-333.
Analytics
Added to PP index
2013-11-23
Total views
66 ( #149,198 of 2,401,713 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
3 ( #257,496 of 2,401,713 )
2013-11-23
Total views
66 ( #149,198 of 2,401,713 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
3 ( #257,496 of 2,401,713 )
How can I increase my downloads?
Downloads