Is Descartes a Temporal Atomist?

British Journal for the History of Philosophy 13 (4):627 – 674 (2005)
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Abstract

I argue that Descartes' Second Causal Proof of God in the Third Meditation evidences, and commits him to, the belief that time is "strongly discontinuous" -- that is, that there is actually a gap between each consecutive moment of time. Much of my article attempts to reconcile this interpretation, the "received view," with Descartes' statements about time, space, and matter in his other writings, including his correspondence with various philosophers.

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Ken M. Levy
Louisiana State University

Citations of this work

Exterminous Hypertime.Nikk Effingham - 2021 - Philosophies 6 (4):85.
Descartes on God and Duration, Revisited.Jean-Luc Solère & Nicholas Westberg - 2024 - Philosophica: International Journal for the History of Philosophy 32 (2):91-130.
Descartes on the Infinity of Space vs. Time.Geoffrey Gorham - 2018 - In Nachtomy Ohad & Winegar Reed, Infinity in Early Modern Philosophy. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer. pp. 45-61.
Cartesian temporal atomism: A new defence, a new refutation.Geoffrey Gorham - 2008 - British Journal for the History of Philosophy 16 (3):625 – 637.

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