A mediaevalist trying to be a philosopher and a philosopher trying to be a mediaevalist write about theology, philosophy, scholarship, books, the middle ages, and especially the life, times, and thought of the Doctor Subtilis, the Blessed John Duns Scotus.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Uh-oh
"...a nation's civilization and refinement depends on the superiority of the philosophy which is practised there."
-Descartes, Preface to the French edition of the Principia philosophiae
3 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Ha! No doubt he was being an egoist first and a French chauvinist second. And how typical of a post-medieval philosopher to make philosophy the first indicator, rather than religious culture, observance of religion, piety, etc.
that's Descartes. in the same preface he was also claiming that the scholastics didn't know the true philosophy, that it was easier to learn real philosophy if one had never studied with them.
3 comments:
Ha! No doubt he was being an egoist first and a French chauvinist second. And how typical of a post-medieval philosopher to make philosophy the first indicator, rather than religious culture, observance of religion, piety, etc.
that's Descartes. in the same preface he was also claiming that the scholastics didn't know the true philosophy, that it was easier to learn real philosophy if one had never studied with them.
The problem with applying this dictum to our own democratic age is that every philosophy under the sun can be found, including ours.
Post a Comment