This volume presents essays on Descartes by the pre-eminent Italian historian of philosophy Emanuela Scribano, here translated into English for the first time. Thematically cohesive in their focus on what Scribano calls the nerve centers of Cartesian philosophy, they examine Cartesian ideas in context, not only of Descartes' philosophical contemporaries. These include Scholastic thinkers such as Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotus, and Suárez; Classical writers such as Galen; authors contemporary to Descartes, such as Campanella and Silhon; and philosophers (...) who referred to Cartesian philosophy, such as La Forge and Malebranche. By considering their influence and contributions, it is possible to clarify some basic theses of Cartesian philosophy and to answer some long-debated questions in Descartes scholarship, pertaining to issues such as the proof of God's existence, the free creation of eternal truths, the hypothesis of divine deception, the limits of divine power, the theory of animals as machines, the theory of error, and the possible Cartesian origin of some central theses in Occasionalism. The essays reflect Scribano's methodological approach: that to understand the intent, scope, and meaning of a philosophical theory, one must examine it with the eyes of those who share the author's philosophical culture. Scribano provides a newly written introduction, and the volume includes a foreword by Steven Nadler. (shrink)

Descartes, Divine deception, First Meditation, Suarez.

Descartes deems wonder the first among the passions. Pride and generosity originate from it. To maintain that generosity originates from wonder, Descartes has to deal with serious and hard theoretical issues. Descartes, I shall argue, tackles these issues to endow generosity with a role in the monitoring passions. I back this conjecture examining Hobbes’ and Spinoza’s theories of passions.

Descartes deems wonder the first among the passions. Pride and generosity originate from it. To maintain that generosity originates from wonder, Descartes has to deal with serious and hard theoretical issues. Descartes, I shall argue, tackles these issues to endow generosity with a role in the monitoring passions. I back this conjecture examining Hobbes’ and Spinoza’s theories of passions.

Post-Cartesian Occasionalism argues that the power of causing an effect depends on knowledge of the means by which the effect is produced. The argument is used to deny finite beings the power to act. Arnold Geulincx expresses this thesis in the principle Quod nescis quomodo fiat id non facis. Here, my purpose is to show that: 1. The philosophical problem that is at the origin of the principle Quod nescis quomodo fiat id non facis originates in Galen’s De foetuum formatione, (...) a work translated into Latin only in 1535. 2. Important works of early modern philosophy, such as Campanella’s Del senso delle cose e della magia, discuss Galen’s text. 3. Due to their rejection of teleology, Descartes’ physics and metaphysics are completely foreign to the Quod nescis principle. Comparing the Cartesian theory of animal-machines with the theory of animal behavior of Pierre Chanet, a philosopher who adopts the principle, confirms this claim. (shrink)

The physician Louis de La Forge built his entire work upon the promotion, defensce, and completion of Descartes’ thought. In the course of this endeavor, he sought to refute the notion that knowledge of the mechanisms of the living body is the necessary condition for producing such mechanisms. Around the same time, Arnold Geulincx formulated the principle Quod nescis quomodo fiat id non facis, according to which an effect can only be produced only by someone who knows how it is (...) produced. Geulincx developed this principle within a Cartesian framework, and it soon became a cornerstone of arguments supporting oOccasionalism from a Cartesian perspective. La Forge instead upheld the opposite thesis, yet still on the basis of ideas drawn from Cartesian philosophy. In doing so, La Forge intended to defend Descartes’ physiology against a form of vitalism which was fueling the opposition to Cartesian science in Parisian philosophical and scientific circles, and which found a prominent champion in the physician Cureau de La Chambre. (shrink)

In his remarks on L’Homme, La Forge aims at a rigid separation of the functions of the body from the activity of the soul. This project looks authentically Cartesian, but some critical issues reveal how difficult it is taking away any activity of the soul in sensitive experience. In the Traité de l’esprit de l’homme, La Forge explicitly limits the cognitive capability of the memory without the active presence of the mind.

A partire dalle ricerche storico-filosofiche di Emanuela Scribano, studiose e studiosi di fama internazionale si confrontano con i grandi temi metafisici, teologici, epistemologici, etico-politici ed estetici delpensiero moderno e contemporaneo: la teoria del soggetto, il problema mente-corpo, il punto di vista delle neuroscienze, la follia, la memoria, l'amore, il desiderio, l'inquietudine, il controllo delle passioni, il fatalismo, l'inganno divino, la creazione delle verità eterne, la profezia, gli angeli, l'ateismo virtuoso, la tolleranza, la verità rivelata, la critica dell'irrazionalismo, la (...) musica, l'impegno civile e lumanesimo cosmopolitico. Tra gli autori discussi: Leone Ebreo, Montaigne, Charron, Descartes, Clerselier, La Forge, Pascal, Spinoza, Bayle, Sturm, Locke, Penn, Smith, Mandeville, La Mettrie, Kant, Swedenborg, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Luporini e Damasio. (shrink)

The Aristotelian origin of Fausto Sozzini's philosophy is proposed.

Descartes présente la doctrine de la ‘fausseté matérielle’des idées dans sa Troisième Méditation (TM). Dans ses quatrièmes objections Arnauld critiquera cette doctrine, qui va disparaître dans les ouvrages de Descartes. Les interprétations récentes se sont concentrées sur le problème de la cohérence de la théorie et de la compatibilité entre la formulation de la TM et celle des réponses aux objections. Cet article reprend ce sujet à la lumière de la discussion scolastique de la vérité et de la fausseté. La (...) doctrine de Descartes, telle qu’elle est présentée dans la TM, manifeste, sous plusieurs aspects, son incompatibilité avec la formulation des réponses à Arnauld. Ce qui amène à conclure dans le sens d’une incompatibilité des deux formulations de la ‘fausseté matérielle’. Et pourtant, il paraît insoutenable qu’il faille rechercher la raison du changement de Descartes dans la force des objections elles-mêmes, étant donné que le cadre conceptuel de la doctrine scolastique de la représentation, dont les objections d’Arnauld s’inspirent, fournissait à Descartes les moyens de défendre sa propre doctrine sans la modifier. D’où l’hypothèse qu’il faut rechercher les raisons de ce changement ailleurs, et notamment dans la volonté de Descartes d’éviter les dangereuses conséquences pour la fondation de la science impliquées dans la formulation de la doctrine de la fausseté matérielle telle qu’elle paraissait dans le texte de la TM. (shrink)

Descartes présente la doctrine de la ‘fausseté matérielle’des idées dans sa Troisième Méditation (TM). Dans ses quatrièmes objections Arnauld critiquera cette doctrine, qui va disparaître dans les ouvrages de Descartes. Les interprétations récentes se sont concentrées sur le problème de la cohérence de la théorie et de la compatibilité entre la formulation de la TM et celle des réponses aux objections. Cet article reprend ce sujet à la lumière de la discussion scolastique de la vérité et de la fausseté. La (...) doctrine de Descartes, telle qu’elle est présentée dans la TM, manifeste, sous plusieurs aspects, son incompatibilité avec la formulation des réponses à Arnauld. Ce qui amène à conclure dans le sens d’une incompatibilité des deux formulations de la ‘fausseté matérielle’. Et pourtant, il paraît insoutenable qu’il faille rechercher la raison du changement de Descartes dans la force des objections elles-mêmes, étant donné que le cadre conceptuel de la doctrine scolastique de la représentation, dont les objections d’Arnauld s’inspirent, fournissait à Descartes les moyens de défendre sa propre doctrine sans la modifier. D’où l’hypothèse qu’il faut rechercher les raisons de ce changement ailleurs, et notamment dans la volonté de Descartes d’éviter les dangereuses conséquences pour la fondation de la science impliquées dans la formulation de la doctrine de la fausseté matérielle telle qu’elle paraissait dans le texte de la TM. (shrink)

As definições do bem e do mal que abrem a Parte iv da Ética parecem posicionar decididamente Espinosa entre os filósofos que consideraram poder defini-los por meio de proposições suscetíveis de verdade e falsidade, reconduzindo, portanto, à razão a origem destas noções. Por outro lado, a proposição 8 da mesma parte afirma de modo inequívoco que o conhecimento dos valores morais é inteiramente redutível a um estado emocional. Dado este aparente paradoxo, trata-se, então, de analisar se e como podem ser (...) conciliadas as definições de bem e de mal e a proposição 8 da Parte IV. O artigo mostra que a filosofia de Espinosa busca produzir uma mutação dos conhecimentos e, portanto, dos desejos; em última instância, uma mutação da natureza do agente, da qual irá derivar, necessariamente, uma mutação na especificação dos bens e nas ações, porque, mudando a natureza da mente, serão diferentes as coisas que provocam alegria e que serão, desse modo, desejadas. Não por acaso, o supremo bem, o conhecimento de Deus, comporta um componente afetivo: a alegria. Trata-se de mostrar que o componente afetivo é intrínseco ao juízo de valor e, ao mesmo tempo, exprime a natureza do sujeito e motiva a sua ação. Por isso, o homem que usa a razão não poderá senão desejar o que lhe é verdadeiramente útil. (shrink)

Leibniz's controversial target in the best-of-all-possible-worlds theory is not Malebranche, as is commonly claimed, but Suarez.

Leibniz's polemical aim against those who claim that God could have created a better world is not Malebranche but Suarez. In fact, Leibniz and Malebranche are united in traveling the road of the commensurability of the finite world with God, in opposition to the Thomist theology.

Hobbes refers to a state of "mere nature" to describe the condition of man without political organisation. The origin of this notion is identified in the theory of pure nature discussed by Suarez and its implications are shown.

Mersenne presented Descartes with a series of objections to the Meditations. A careful analysis of these objections can throw light on the theological context in which those criticisms were grounded. Mersenne’s objections reproduce theses already advanced in the Quaestiones celeberrimae in Genesim. In this work, in which he intended to refute Vanini, Mersenne used some proofs of the existence of God derived from the Jesuit Lessius, and already used by Vanini himself. These same proofs, together with others developed by Mersenne, (...) were then taken up by the free thinker Pierre Petit. A reconstruction of the origin of the arguments used by Mersenne can provide important elements to evaluate the interweaving of apologetic and heterodox literature in the first half of the 17seventeenth century and to discuss Leo Strauss’s proposal to “read between the lines.”. (shrink)

The Cartesian dualism requires a type of knowledge appropriate to a mind separate from the body. This type of knowledge is present in angelic knowledge as opposed to beatific knowledge in the works of Thomas Aquinas and Duns Scotus. The beatific knowledge is the type of knowledge chosed by Malebranche and Spinoza.

Malebranche's proof of the existence of God "by mere sight" is opposed to Descartes' a priori proof. Its origin as the origin of vision in God is in the theory of beatific vision developed by Aquinas.

In the Sixth Meditation, Descartes intends to prove that material things exist. His proof, which centers on the origin of the ideas of material things, has frequently been judged weak. But there is...

In the essay Spinoza Dies, the Author imagines Spinoza's reflections in the hours preceding his death and uses them to present the philosopher's theories on life, death, suicide and eternity of the mind. These theories require a concept of identity able to answer questions on the essence of life and death, the identity of the dying and of the surviving individual. While some interpreters deny that the eternal mind can be a personal one, the Author argues in complete contrast that (...) the mind truly achieves a personal identity only in the dimension of eternity. (shrink)

This volume consists of papers originally presented at the international conference "Occasionalism: History and Problems," held in Venice in 2015; it contains twelve chapters, nine of which are in English, three in French. In their introduction, the editors describe occasionalism as a theory that was viewed by Medieval Christian philosophers as a "dangerous and treacherous" threat, only later to be "proudly asserted" in the post-Descartes era. This raises the question of to what degree this transition should be seen as a (...) result of interpretations of the commitments of Cartesian metaphysics, particularly with regard to questions concerning mind-body interaction. Many scholars have pointed out that to view... (shrink)

This collection of essays provides English-speaking readers with a welcome introduction to the scholarship of Emanuela Scribano, undoubtedly one of the most important historians of early modern phi...

The radical changes deriving from the COVID-19 emergency have heavily upset some of the most familiar routines of daily work life. Abruptly, many workers have been forced to face the difficulties that come with switching to remote working. Basing on the theoretical framework proposed by the Job Demands-Resources model, the purpose of this paper was to explore the effect of work overload, on behavioral stress, meant as an outcome linked to the health impairment process. Furthermore, the aim of the study (...) was to explore the mediating role of job crafting, considered as a second-order construct consisting of two dimensions in the abovementioned relation. Participants were 530 workers experiencing remote working or work-from-home during the first COVID-19 lockdown in Italy. Hypotheses were explored by using three different latent variables, measured reflexively through indicators on a 5-point scale, extracted from validated questionnaires. Data analysis was performed through Structural Equation Modeling; to test the mediation, bootstrap validation was computed. Results showed that the mediation of job crafting was partial. More specifically, the direct effect between work overload and behavioral stress was positive; moreover, the indirect, negative effect through the mediation of job crafting was also significant. Therefore, results showed that job crafting can play a crucial role as a protective factor supporting the activation and adjustment of suitable resources; these resources can be useful to deal with the negative effects of work overload, particularly under the condition of heavy remote working and use of technologies, on individual outcomes. Starting from the current global scenario of the pandemic that has not yet ceased its effects, the study suggested decisive theoretical and practical implications. Accordingly, findings extended the current trends in occupational health psychology research, with special reference to the mainstream topic “work and COVID-19” in the Italian context. Finally, results can give suggestions to companies engaged in managing change, recommending that they build a collaborative workplace at the individual and collective level to implement job crafting interventions and enrich the personal and organizational resources of workers, which is useful cope with the current demands. (shrink)

_Sunto_ __L’obiettivo di questo studio è di riflettere su alcune questioni che ruotano intorno alla rappresentazione dell’Intelligenza artificiale, e che riguardano l’impatto della tecnologia sulla sfera esistenziale e sulla condizione umana. In questo quadro mi soffermerò, attraverso un close reading, sul film Her di Spike Jonze, analizzandone in particolare i dialoghi, con l’intento di evidenziare anche la presenza di quei fili che tracciano una continuità con le questioni poste da Alan Turing nel celebre articolo “Computing Machinery and Intelligence” pubblicato sulla (...) rivista Mind nel 1950. Se la domanda al centro dello studio di Turing è Can Machines Think?, e viene ripresa in seguito da Asimov e Dick con la variante Can Machines Lie?, nel film di Spike Jonze la declinazione più stringente dell’interrogativo è Can Machines Feel? Parole chiave: Intelligenza artificiale; solitudine; emozioni; reale/virtuale; modi di amare; trascendenza. _Abstract_ The purpose of this study is to tackle some of the issues that revolve around the representation of Artificial Intelligence and that concern the impact of technology on the existential sphere and the human condition. Within this framework, I will focus on Spike Jonze’s film Her, in particular through a close reading of its dialogues. The aim is also to highlight the presence of threads tracing a continuity with the issues raised by Alan Turing in the famous article “Computing Machinery and Intelligence” published in the journal Mind in 1950. If the question at the heart of Turing’s study is ‘Can Machines Think?’ – later turned into ‘Can Machines Lie?’ in Asimov and Dick’s variant – in Spike Jonze’s film the point at issue becomes ‘Can Machines Feel?’. (shrink)