The notion of "some truth" in the second part of Meditation Six.

• Grant number: 24/07034-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 16, 2024
• End date: December 15, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Philosophy - History of Philosophy
• Principal Investigator: Luís César Guimarães Oliva
• Grantee: João Victor Rezende Dias
• Supervisor: Paul Rateau
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, France
• Associated to the scholarship: 23/12356-6 - The theme of human body in Descartes' philosophy, BP.IC

Abstract

An investigation into the articulation between what Descartes calls "some truth" and the lengthy exposition on the nature of substantial union in the final pages of the Sixth Meditation is an absolutely necessary development for understanding the notion of the human body in cartesianism. In the Sixth Meditation, the notion of "some truth", present in feelings that lead the soul to the knowledge of its body and the necessity of its preservation, plays a fundamental role in proving the substantial union of the soul and body. However, shortly thereafter, Descartes tells us that this kind of feeling can deceive the soul regarding the needs of its body, harming it instead of leading it to its benefit. How then to understand the notion of "some truth" in the senses if, through experience itself, it proves deceptive? How to assert and construct knowledge about the body if even the feeling presented to me with the greatest veracity also proves deceptive? Can we still speak of Cartesian medicine? Or rather, of the possibility of human freedom as substantial union? The BEPE-FAPESP research stage seeks to answer these questions by emphasizing the nature of the notion of some truth linked to the understanding of human nature through the continuous experience of the relationship between body and soul, which not only allows us to answer these questions but also provides a unique understanding of the notion of the human body within Cartesian thought. Thus, the aim is to deepen the research of scientific initiation, entitled "The theme of the human body in Descartes' philosophy" (FAPESP 2023/12356-6).