Abstract
The presence of the concept of judgement in many parts of Descartes’ philosophy, methodology, metaphysics and morals has been widely remarked upon. But the reason why judgement is all-pervasive in Descartes’ work has not been elucidated. This is the issue at stake in the present study of the nature and the function of the concept of judgement in the Regulae ad directionem ingenii, a text Descartes is likely to have been working on from 1618 to 1628 and which was not published during his lifetime. The Regulae, which belong to the earliest strata of Descartes’ work, constitute the starting point not only of Descartes’ scientific thought but also of his philosophy in general.
In this chapter, the references to Descartes will be given to the following two editions : (a) The Philosophical Writings of Descartes, edited and translated by J. Cottingham, R. Stoothoof and D. Murdoch [= CSM],Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 3 volumes (vol. 3 including A. Kenny’s translation of selected philosophical letters, first published in 1970), 1985–1991; (b) Oeuvres de Descartes, edited by C. Adam and P. Tannery [=AT], Paris, CNRS/Vrin, 11 volumes, 1964–1974. In both cases, the references are by volume number and page.
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- 1.
Jean-Claude Pariente has considered the impact of Descartes’ approach to method as a key to judging well on the Logique de Port-Royal. See Pariente (1985). In La liberté chez Descartes et la théologie, Paris, Alcan, 1913, Etienne Gilson has contributed to the identification of the theological sources of the Meditationes de Prima Philosophia theory of judgement and in La philosophie première de Descartes, Paris, Flammarion, 1979; Jean-Marie Beyssade has shed light on the role of this theory of judgement in the framework of the metaphysical foundation of science. Descartes’ use of the concept of judgement in the field of morals has been studied by Geneviève Rodis-Lewis, La morale de Descartes, Paris, PUF, 1956, and by Denis Kambouchner, L’ homme des passions, Paris, Albin Michel, 1995.
- 2.
CSM I, 51; AT X, 429.
- 3.
Sicut dicit Philosophus in III De anima, duplex est operatio intellectus: una quidem, quae dicitur indivisibilium intelligentia, per quam scilicet intellectus apprehendit essentiam uniuscuisque rei in se ipsa; alia est operatio intellectus scilicet componentis et dividentis. Additur autem est tertia operatio, scilicet ratiocinandi, secundum quod ratio procedit a notis ad inquisitionem ignotorum. (Aquinas, In Libros Peri Hermeneias Expositio, 7).
- 4.
- 5.
- 6.
CSM I, 9; AT X, 359.
- 7.
CSM I, 57; AT X, 429.
- 8.
CSM I, 50; AT X, 428.
- 9.
CSM I, 20; AT X, 379.
- 10.
CSM I, 45–46; AT X, 421.
- 11.
CSM I, 46; AT X, 421.
- 12.
CSM I, 51; AT X, 429.
- 13.
CSM I, 51; AT X, 429.
- 14.
CSM I, 50; AT X, 428.
- 15.
CSM I, 9; AT X, 359.
Bibliography
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I wish to thank Matthew Moss for his help with the English.
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Cassan, E. (2013). Descartes’ Theory of Judgement: Warranted Assertions, the Key to Science. In: van der Schaar, M. (eds) Judgement and the Epistemic Foundation of Logic. Logic, Epistemology, and the Unity of Science, vol 31. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5137-8_4
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