Teleology in Descartes’ Philosophy: Knowledge or Superstition?

In my talk I will explore Descartes’ views on teleology: a branch of philosophical inquiry concerned with ascriptions and explanations of purposes. The case of divine teleology is especially interesting in this context. On one hand, Descartes frequently claims that we are unable to know the purposes of God’s acts. This means that any such belief is a superstitious belief. On the other hand, Descartes’ crucial thesis that explains the mind-body interaction invokes the notion of purpose. I believe that this thesis implicitly contains the ascription of a purpose to God’s creative act and I will present an argument for this. Two important consequences follow from my reading: 1) at least one kind of belief about divine purposes must be considered knowledge instead of superstition; 2) there is a contradiction at the heart of Descartes’ system — the explanation of mind-body interaction.

Rastko Jevtić is a PhD student at the Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Philosophy. His doctoral thesis explores the metaphysics of human being in Descartes' philosophy. His research interest is early modern philosophy. Consequently, he is mainly devoted to the investigation of the Late Middle Ages and the Early modern period, but he cannot stop himself from delving into whatever tickles his curiosity.