LE CONCEPT DE „CORRUPTION DE LA NATURE” DANS LA SIXIEME MEDITATION DE DESCARTES. UN PROBLEME THEOLOGIQUE ET UN REMEDE PHILOSOPHIQUE

Abstract

This text will examine Descartes' solution to the problem of the relationship between soul and body, i.e. the third primitive notion, advanced in a letter to Elizabeth. The concept of the union of res cogitans and res extensa can be conceived only through the senses, which inform the soul about the adequate or the harmful things (persequienda atque fugienda). However, in the Sixth Meditation, Descartes himself raised the problem of the man who is mistaken by his senses and who drinks water, even if he knows that water is harmful. In this case, the senses fail to correctly inform the soul. The remedy that Descartes offers is surprising, since it requires the understanding and the memory. This remedy addresses the problem of the erroneous relationship between the soul and the body only through a transformation of the theological concept of „natura corrupta“ into the philosophical concept of „error“. In addition, Descartes is forced to transform also the figure of Christ into an image of perfect intellectual knowledge. This article will examine the limits of the third primitive notion and the way the philosophical thinking subverts the theology in the Sixth Meditation.