History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps

Episode 476: "What He Should Have Said: The Early Cartesians"

Host: Peter Adamson | Date: September 21, 2025

Overview: The Early Cartesians and the Legacy of Descartes

Peter Adamson takes listeners on a deep dive into the immediate intellectual aftermath of René Descartes, focusing on how his early followers—particularly Louis de La Forge and Géraud de Cordemoy—wrestled with questions left open by Descartes, especially concerning causation, mind-body interaction, atomism, and religious orthodoxy. The episode explores how these debates paralleled contemporary theological disputes and shaped the broader landscape of 17th-century philosophy.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Problem of Causation in Cartesianism

• Descartes’ Dilemma: How does the immaterial mind cause bodily movement, and what, ultimately, causes motion in the world?
  • Modern Interpretations: Dan Garber suggests that for Descartes, God is ultimately responsible for all motion, even when we think body causes body (e.g., a soccer strike).
  • Quote:

    "When the Arsenal forward Bukayo Saka scores a goal, it's not the impact of the ball that makes the back of the net ripple, but God." (Peter Adamson, 01:05)

  • Concurrentism vs. Occasionalism: Descartes sometimes hints at one body moving another under God's general laws (concurrentism), while others took this further toward full occasionalism—God as the only real cause.

Theological Parallels and Controversies

• The Context of Grace: Religious controversies about grace and free will informed the philosophical debate about causation.
  • Catholicism: Human will and divine grace cooperate (concurrentism).
  • Calvinism: God is the sole cause (parallel to occasionalism).
  • Quote:

    "It's not a coincidence that this more general inquiry into the extent of divine participation in worldly events emerged at this place and time." (Adamson, 04:55)

• The Problem of Sin:
  • Objection: If God causes everything, He causes sin.
    • La Forge’s dodging reply: "He couldn't comment on that because he was not a theologian." (Adamson paraphrasing, 06:00)

The Rise of Occasionalism

• Definition: What seem like causes in the created world are merely occasions for God to act.
  • Analogy: Saka's foot hitting the ball is just the cue for God’s action.
  • Quote:

    "Thus, when Bukayo Saka strikes the ball, his foot hitting its surface is just a kind of cue or signal for God to create motion in the ball..." (Adamson, 07:05)

• Key Figures: Louis de La Forge and Géraud de Cordemoy were early champions, predating Malebranche.

Early Cartesian Networks and Defense Efforts

• Salon Culture: Cordemoy, originally a lawyer, was drawn into Descartes’ circles via Parisian salons.
• Defending Orthodoxy: Cordemoy sought to show Cartesian physics was Biblically compatible, even exaggerating Descartes' debts to Moses.
• Religious Backlash:
  • Descartes’ views on transubstantiation drew censure from church authorities (Archbishop of Paris ban in 1671; earlier Vatican prohibition in 1663).
  • Multiple efforts to rehabilitate Descartes’ reputation, including official testimonies and public events.

Extending Occasionalism: Beyond Mind-Body

• Four Types of Causation:
  1. Body → Body (e.g., Saka’s foot moves the ball)
  2. Body → Mind (the feeling of impact)
  3. Mind → Body (decision to kick)
  4. Mind → Mind (one thought causes another)
• Unexpected Extension:
  • La Forge and Cordemoy argued that even body-to-body causation requires God’s intervention, due to the Cartesian concept of body as mere extension.
  • Quote:

    "Explaining the effect of one body on another is just as hard as explaining the mind's influence on the body." (Adamson, 20:00)

• Conservation of Motion:
  • Human minds do not generate new motion, but merely redirect existing motion—the real cause is always God.

Radicalism and Internal Dissent Among Cartesians

• Self-Causation of the Mind: Cordemoy vacillates—sometimes allows, sometimes denies. La Forge allows mind-to-mind causation in his writings, but was less clear in conversation.
• Loyalty and Corrective Spirit:
  • Early Cartesians claimed to be “correcting Descartes’ inconsistencies.”
  • Quote:

    "It is almost, he says, through Descartes' own doctrine, that one corrects his faults." (Adamson on La Forge, 37:30)

Cartesian Atomism: Cordemoy’s Heresy

• The Question of Atoms and Void:
  • Cordemoy defends atomism and the existence of vacuum, openly contradicting Descartes and giving ammunition to rivals like Pierre Gassendi.
  • Metaphysical Argument:
    • Bodies as individually substantial and indivisible entities, which Descartes denied.
• Backlash:
  • Figures like Pierre-Sylvain Régis and Robert de Gabbé saw this as a betrayal reinforcing the opposition atomist camp.

Continental Spread and Adaptations

• Netherlands: Cartesianism thrives at Leiden, marked by fierce debates (the 1647 public dispute ended in fistfights).
• Britain & Germany:
  • Antoine Le Grand in England, Johann Clauberg in Germany tailor Descartes’ ideas to local philosophical and religious sensibilities, smoothing doctrinal edges (e.g., Clauberg allows “prime matter”).
  • Quote:

    “Clauberg encouraged the method of radical doubt, he made the significant exception that religious beliefs should not be suspended.” (Adamson, 57:45)

The Role of Women and Vernacular Philosophy

• Female Participants:
  • Princess Elizabeth, Queen Christina, and Madame de Bonneville hosted/participated in philosophical salons, sometimes understanding Descartes better than contemporary male scholars.
  • Quote:

    "No one ever understood Descartes with more facility than this illustrious woman." (on Madame de Bonneville, 64:10)

• Vernacular Transmission:
  • The availability of Cartesian texts in vernacular languages helped broaden the movement’s appeal—empowering women thinkers and challenging gender restrictions.

Defining the Core of Cartesianism

• Stephen Nadler’s Three Pillars of Cartesianism:
  1. Two kinds of substance (mind and body), each with essential attributes and modes.
  2. Body understood as extension (mechanistic physics).
  3. Mind as intellect and will, able to access clear and distinct ideas.
• Quote:

  "If you accept all these things, then you just might be a Cartesian too." (Adamson quoting Nadler, 66:50)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "So next time your sports team wins, you can say thank God and really mean it. But according to the Occasionalist, it's not only really important and gratifying things that God brings about, like Arsenal beating Tottenham, it's literally everything we see happening in the world around us."
  — Peter Adamson, 08:15

• "I bet the daughter had some pretty clear and distinct ideas about that."
  — Adamson (on a philosopher's arranged marriage for Cartesian philosophy's sake), 12:30

• "His atomism is based fundamentally on Cartesian definitions of body and substance, not on the impossibility of explaining scientific phenomena but without postulating atoms and void."
  — Adamson, 45:00

• "Perhaps the closest to an English disciple would be Antoine Le Grand, who wrote summaries of Descartes' ideas. But more original thinkers like Kenelm Digby, Henry More, and Isaac Newton all engaged with Cartesian philosophy too."
  — Adamson, 56:15

• "Wouldn't that be a profound, indeed potentially fatal, blow to sexist assumptions about gender? Especially when you add that the Arsenal women's team won the Champions League this year and the men didn't."
  — Adamson, 70:00

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 01:05 — Garber’s interpretation: God causes all bodily motion.
• 06:00 — La Forge dodges the theological challenge of sin.
• 07:05 — The principle of Occasionalism in action.
• 12:30 — Cordemoy’s personal life dedicated to Cartesian philosophy.
• 20:00 — The problem with body-body causation in Cartesian terms.
• 37:30 — Faithful Cartesians “correcting” Descartes.
• 45:00 — Atomism and void: Cordemoy’s metaphysical argument.
• 56:15 — English and German engagement with Cartesianism.
• 64:10 — Role of women in early Cartesian philosophy.
• 66:50 — Nadler’s three defining Cartesian doctrines.
• 70:00 — Cartesian mind-body theory and challenges to gender hierarchy.

Conclusion & Forward Look

Adamson demonstrates the remarkable variety within early Cartesianism, showing that Descartes' followers were not mere echo-chambers but creative thinkers grappling with novel philosophical and theological questions. The movement’s openness—across nations, languages, and gender—helped seed new debates in modern philosophy, many of which will be explored in upcoming episodes, notably the intersection of Cartesianism and early modern gender debates.