**********************************
The Western Canon Mailing List
Moderator: Paul John Barnette Jr.
Activation Date: March 8, 1997
Current Date:  June 21, 1997
Current Membership: 72
**********************************


When you proposed Descartes' books I feared two analogical scenes:
1)The debate would be so sophisticated that only specialized people
would not get bored. 2)No one would comment because it's impossible
to talk about the method without getting into depths so deep one
doesn't know if he will ever get out alive.
 
I studied Thomist philosophy for three years and I have to say that
the Aristotelian explanation of the relationship between the mind
and the body seems to me more plausible that Descartes' view. I
agree that Descartes' system made possible the development of
science that was beginning in his time, but from the point of view 
of knowledge it is not a good place to start. In fact, the first 
thing a child knows are things despite the fact he has no 
consciousness of his own mind nor any evidence of its existence. So 
Descartes' method is good for the demonstration of science but not to 
clarify the manner in which we know reality. The other is the more 
natural way while Descartes' method is an elaborate system that leeds 
us to idealism.

Enrique Camacho


*********************************************************
The Western Canon Mailing List
pbarnett@geocities.com
The Western Canon WWW Site
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/6681/index.html
*********************************************************