Two kinds of necessity in Descartes: Conditional and absolute

Filosofia Unisinos 18 (2) (2017)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

This paper attempts to resolve the apparent conflict between Descartes’ commitments to the creation doctrine and the necessity of eternal truths by elaborating different conceptions of necessity in Descartes’ framework. More specifically, I argue that the fact that Descartes concedes the necessity of eternal truths does not compel him to assert the impossibility of their negation. Necessity, for Descartes, rather means immutability. Descartes distinguishes two kinds of immutable truths. While truths about God’s essence are absolutely immutable, truths about the essences of God’s creation are conditionally immutable, i.e., they can change if God’s will changes. Since there are different kinds of eternal truths, they express different kinds of necessity as well, namely conditional and absolute necessity. After I clarify these two kinds of necessity, I explain how Descartes coherently maintains both that eternal truths are necessary and that God could have created eternal truths otherwise without undermining their necessity.

Other Versions

No versions found

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 103,388

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Analytics

Added to PP
2017-12-22

Downloads
68 (#322,097)

6 months
8 (#390,329)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Saniye Vatansever
Bilkent University

Citations of this work

No citations found.

Add more citations

References found in this work

Summa Theologiae (1265-1273).Thomas Aquinas - 1911 - Edited by Fathers of the English Dominican Province.
Descartes on the creation of the eternal truths.Harry Frankfurt - 1977 - Philosophical Review 86 (1):36-57.
Omnipotence.Peter Geach - 1973 - Philosophy 48 (183):7-20.
Descartes on the creation of the eternal truths.E. M. Curley - 1984 - Philosophical Review 93 (4):569-597.
Descartes.M. D. Wilson - 1980 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 31 (3):307-310.

View all 12 references / Add more references