First Philosophy and Natural Philosophy in Descartes

Abstract

Descartes was both metaphysician and natural philosopher. He used his metaphysics (among other things) to ground portions of his physics (or natural philosophy, or science of nature). However, as should be a commonplace but is not, he did not think he could spin all of his physics out of his metaphysics a priori, and in fact he both emphasized the need for appeals to experience in his methodological remarks on philosophizing about nature and constantly appealed to experience in describing his own philosophy of nature.¹ It remains unclear exactly what he took to be amenable to empirical support, and how his appeal to experience was squared with his notorious demand for absolute certainty in matters philosophical.

An earlier version of this paper was presented before a joint session at the meetings of the History of Science Society and Philosophy of Science Association in Philadelphia, October, 1982. The current version has been revised as the result of further work, still in progress. I wish to thank Owen Hannaway for helpful discussion of the earlier version of this paper, and Wilda Anderson for detailed comments and criticism of recent drafts.