ANALYSIS OF FREEDOM AND THOUGHT IN DESCARTES’ PHILOSOPHY AND ITS INFLUENCE

Authors

  • Zhiwu Zhang
  • Mohammad Manzoor Malik

Keywords:

Freedom; Existence; First Philosophy

Abstract

The search for truth and certainty is a major preoccupation
with all Western philosophy. This has its most famous
attempt in the philosophy of Descartes. This paper
studies Descartes’ pure philosophy considered as a pure
first philosophy. Descartes regards thinking as his core
existence, and thinking is a freedom that I can truly grasp.
Descartes is sometimes criticized for offering only a defense
of the primacy of the freedom of thought in opposition to the
freedom of action. This paper will show that Descartes does
not oppose practical philosophy but intends to seek a metaphilosophy
which supports practical philosophy, using the
freedom of thinking as the foundation. In short, Descartes
just wants to find a way of verifying truth prior to any
political, cultural, traditional, moral, or religious factors.
His influence is visible in the subsequent philosophies and
philosophers who place the human beings at the center of
philosophy.

References

Descartes, R. Meditations on First Philosophy, 33-64. Translated by Pang

Jingren. Beijing, CHN: The Commercial Press, 1986.

Descartes, R, Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting the Reason

and Seeking the Truth in the Sciences, 84. Translated by Wang

Taiqing. 1902. Beijing, CHN: The Commercial Press, 2000.

Zhang, Z. W. (2002). History of Western Philosophy. Beijing, CHN:

Renmin University of China Press.

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Published

2023-01-06

Issue

Vol. 23 No. 2 (2022): July to December 2022

Section

Articles

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