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Descartes' Causal Principle and the Case of Body-to-Mind Causation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2020

Raffaella De Rosa
Raffaella De Rosa*
Affiliation:
Rutgers University, NewarkNJ
*
*Email: gabri@andromeda.rutgers.edu
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Abstract

It is a common view that Descartes' causal principle is to be understood in light of a similarity condition that accounts for how finite causes (as opposed, or in addition, to God) contribute to an explanation of their effects. This paper challenges this common view and offers a sui generis reading of Descartes' views on causation that has also the advantage of solving the two exegetical issues of whether Descartes thought of the body-to-mind relation in occasionalist or causal terms and of whether Descartes regarded sensory ideas innate or caused by bodies.

Keywords

DescartesCausationBody-to-Mind CausationSimilarity ConditionCausal PrincipleSensory Ideas
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal of Philosophy , Volume 43 , Issue 4 , August 2013 , pp. 438 - 459
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2013

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