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Before, Above, Beneath, Below: Metaphysics and Science in Descartes
- Philosophical Topics
- University of Arkansas Press
- Volume 43, Numbers 1-2, Spring/Fall 2015
- pp. 1-12
- Article
- Additional Information
ABSTRACT:
In this paper I discuss the largely obsolete notion of ‘metaphysical foundations for science’ and the problems of representation, truth, and embodiment in Descartes identified by Adrian Moore. I explain why rather than enaging in a project of pure inquiry Descartes needed to fit the pursuit and findings of the physical and life sciences into a theological framework. His much misunderstood scientifc image of the human being as a psychosomatic unity is defended as coherent and influential, as is his rejection of the correspondence theory of veridical perception.