HoP 472 Less Cheer, More Knowledge: Descartes’ Ethics

We finish our look at Elisabeth of Bohemia and Descartes by talking to Ariane Schneck about their correspondence, focusing on the mind-body problem and the passions.

What do emotions reveal about the connection between mind and body? We turn to Descartes’ correspondence with Elisabeth and his On the Passions to find out.

A royal scholar and philosopher sets aside the tribulations of her family to debate Descartes over the relation between mind and body and the nature of happiness.

Descartes’ “provisional” morality and his views on free will and virtue.

Descartes’ Meditations caused controversy as soon as it appeared. In this episode we look at criticisms including the “Cartesian Circle,” and how Descartes answered them.

We're joined in this episode by a leading expert on one of the most famous works of philosophy ever written: Descartes' Meditations.

The word “Cartesian” is synonymous with a radical contrast between mind and body. What led Descartes to his dualism, and how can he explain vital activities in humans and animals having rejected the Aristotelian theory of soul?

How Descartes fashioned a “method” to repel even the strongest and most radical forms of doubt, with the cogito argument as its foundation.

For Descartes body is purely geometrical. So how does he understand features we can perceive, like color, and causation between bodies?

How René Descartes’ understanding of his own intellectual project evolved across his lifetime.