Publication Details

Abstract

The creators of Marxism considered Descartes and Spinoza as dialectical philosophers, even if not consistent ones. Even the non-Marxist historiography recognizes a certain filial connection of Spinozism and Descartism. As far as the conception of substantial monism is concerned, Descartes’ position is underestimated. It had been found out long ago that Descartes’ view of the natural nonscholastic unity of relative substances had fallen into „strange oblivion” and was replaced by a presumably logical account. Descartes defended himself against pseudoexplanations and declared in his The Treatise that the defining principles of his philosophy were to be found in original investigation and he himself would have them published after his death. The publication was not materialized, because Descartes’ manuscript inheritance got lost after his death. In compensation of this a part of his correspondence with Elizabeth of Bohemia has been preserved, the content of which contrasts to the traditional accounts. The author analyzes the texts with the intention of defining the logic of Descartes’ categorial creation of notions.