Rene Descartes’ skepticism in Thomas Reid’s reading

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Capa do número 48 da revista O que nos faz pensar
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Published: Jun 30, 2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.32334/oqnfp.2021n48a756
Keywords:
History of Philosophy, Skepticism, Doubt, Thomas Reid, Rene Descartes

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Vinícius França Freitas
Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais e Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8304-4732

Abstract

The paper advances the hypothesis that René Descartes presents a skeptical system of philosophy in Thomas Reid’s reading. There is a sort of ‘involuntary’ or ‘accidental’ skepticism that results from the adoption by Descartes of both a skeptical method and a skeptical principle. The first section shows to what extent the Cartesian method of doubt – which focuses on the reliability of the faculties of the mind - is a skeptical demand that cannot be satisfied. The second section shows how the principle of the Cartesian system – which establishes that ideas are the immediate objects of the operations of the mind – is not only skeptic but leads exactly and naturally to the most radical form of skepticism, namely, solipsism. The third section discusses the Cartesian sources of the doubt on the existence of external world according to Reid.

Article Details

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Vol. 29 No. 48 (2021): No. 48: June 2021
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Articles

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Author Biography

Vinícius França Freitas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais e Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne

Possui graduação em Filosofia (Bacharelado e Licenciatura) pela Universidade Federal de Uberlândia (2010), mestrado em Filosofia pela Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (2012) e doutorado em Filosofia pela Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais e pela Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (2017). Atualmente, é residente pós-doutoral (PNPD / CAPES) na Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais e editor da Revista Estudos Hum(e)anos (ISSN 2177-1006). Coordena as reuniões do Grupo Ceticismo Moderno / CPNq no Departamento de Filosofia da UFMG e participa como pesquisador associado do Grupo Hume UFMG / CNPq e do PHARE / Universisté Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. Possui pesquisa voltada para a área de História da Filosofia Moderna, com ênfase em empirismo britânico e filosofia do senso comum, trabalhando principalmente sobre os pensamentos de John Locke, George Berkeley, David Hume e Thomas Reid.

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