THE STATUTE OF PHYSICS IN DESCARTES’ METASCIENCE: BETWEEN IDEALISM AND PRAGMATIC REALISM

Abstract

In this article, we pose the question about the status of physics in the thought of René Descartes amidst two divergent readings. On the one hand, we present and criticize the idealist interpretation of Martial Gueroult around the problem and, on another perspective, we present and defend the realistic-pragmatic interpretation, by Zeljko Loparic and Érico Andrade, as being the most adequate to understand the nature of physics in Cartesian thought. The central goal is to know how Descartes conceives his own hypothetical science in the face of the methodological demands that he draws from mathematics. After understanding how the relationship between metaphysics, mathematics, and physics does not occur peacefully within the Cartesian system, we turn to the specific treatment of the two interpretations, highlighting their respective philosophical commitments and their different textual choices. Despite the vast literature on Descartes’ work in Brazil, the debate about Cartesian science is still incipient when compared to the number of articles and books that prioritize the classical themes of his metaphysics. In order to reduce this gap, we return to this specific theme of Descartes’ thinking, explaining the mediations and problematizations that are inherent to it.