The soul in Elisabeth from Bohemia: a critique of Cartesian dualism

• Grant number: 21/14838-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: October 01, 2022
• End date: March 23, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Philosophy - History of Philosophy
• Principal Investigator: Tessa Moura Lacerda
• Grantee: Rafael Teruel Coelho
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 18/19880-4 - Power, conflict and freedom: Spinoza and the ways of Modern and Contemporary Political Philosophy about democracy, AP.TEM
• Associated scholarship(s): 23/00055-1 - Virtue, beatitude and diseases: Elisabeth of Bohemia's objections to Cartesian morality, BE.EP.DR

Abstract

The aim of this research is to investigate Elisabeth's conception of soul from Bohemia in light of her correspondence with Descartes. In her first letters to the philosopher, Elisabeth argues in the following way: contrary to what Descartes defended, the soul would need to have a kind of "non-essential extended function" that could enable its interaction with the body. She believed that, only in this way, the spirit could determine the voluntary actions, that is, alter the movements of the body in order to fulfill some purpose. This need to "materialize" the soul, although it does not seem to culminate in a strict materialism, can be characterized as a kind of "non-reductive materialism" (or "nuanced"). However, even if Elisabeth does not reduce the spirit to simple bodily movements, her view still seems to distance itself from the Cartesian ontological proposal, especially because Descartes never gave up his dualism in the face of the thesis of substantial union. Therefore, our central hypotheses point in the following directions: I) Elisabeth's "nuanced" materialism develops as a reaction to Cartesian dualism; II) it is based on Descartes' mechanistic perspective; III) it is based on the writings of the philosopher's main objectors, such as Antoine Arnauld and Pierre Gassendi.