An Interactionist Analysis of Cartesian Indebtedness and Footprints in Philosophy

This paper argues that Descartes is indebted to the common philosophical patrimony and also made some imprints on philosophy. On the dualistic nature of substance, Descartes is indebted to Pythagoras, Plato, and Augustine, and on the pineal gland theory, he is indebted to Galen, a member of the Jesuit movement. On the proof of God’s existence, Descartes is indebted to Aristotle (principle of causality) and Anselm (ontological argument). On the choice of the mathematics (deductive method), Descartes is indebted to Thales, Pythagoras, Plato, Galileo, Beckman (A Dutch mathematician) and Michel de Montaigne, a member of the Jesuit movement. Descartes is indebted to Bacon for his methodic doubt. For the choice of meditation as a book title, Descartes is indebted to Epictetus and St. Ignatius (the founder of the Jesuit movement). The paper further argues that post-Cartesian philosophers are indebted to Descartes. A good example is Edmund Husserl whose philosophy is often referred to as 20th century Cartesianism. Further critical review of the philosophical questions reveals that reality is monistic although, mind and body represent different aspects of reality. In essence, mind-body interactionism is disapproved; instead, Descartes is considered the point of interaction of between different philosophers and philosophies. Descartes’s proof of God’s existence, though rational, is an attempt by Descartes to protect his life against the attack of the church. Finally, the paper argues that Descartes’ rational method is as valid as the empirical method, only that the rational should apply to spiritual phenomena and the empirical method to material phenomena. The paper adopts the Content-Analytic method of study for the purpose of clear understanding.