Spirits and Clocks: Machine and Organism in Descartes

Description

Although the basis of modern biology is Cartesian, in the Anglophone biological literature Descartes's theories of biology have been more often ridiculed than studied (not so in the Iberoamerican, French and Italian literatures, of course, but the former nowadays pervade the media worldwide). Yet, Dennis Des Chene demonstrates, the themes, arguments, and vocabulary of his mechanistic biology pervade the writings of many seventeenth-century authors. In his illuminating account of Cartesian physiology in its historical context, Des Chene focuses on the philosopher's innovative reworking of that field, including the nature of life, the problem of generation, and the concepts of health and illness. Des Chene begins by surveying works that Descartes would likely have encountered, from late Aristotelian theories of the soul to medical literature and treatises on machines. The Cartesian theory of vital operations is examined with particular attention to the generation of animals. Des Chene also considers the role of the machine-model in furnishing a method in physiology, the ambiguities of the notion of machine, and of Descartes's problem of simulation. Finally, he looks at the various kinds of unity of the body, both in itself and in its union with the soul. Spirits and Clocks continues Des Chene's highly regarded exploration--begun in his previous book, Life's Form--of the scholastic and Cartesian sciences as well as the dialogue between these two worldviews. List of Figures ....................................... ix Preface ............................................ xi Introduction ........................................ I I TALES OF THE BETE-MACHINE 7 Self-Movers ........................................ 13 I.1 Cycles 15 1.2 The feu sans lumiere 25 2 Where Do Machines Come From? ....................... 32 2.I The First Circle 35 2.2 The Nervous System 37 2.3 Flows and Resistances, Fluids and Solids 38 2.4 Descartes' Tasks 40 3 The Uses of Usus . ................................... 53 3.I Naming ofParts 54 3.2 The Assumption of Normality 6I II MACHINES, MECHANISMS, BODIES, ORGANS 65 4 Tools ofKnowledge .................................. 7I 4· I Exhibits 72 4.2 The Analysis of Capacities 78 4-3 Instrument and Organ 89 4-4 Artifacts 95 5 Jeux d'artifice . ...................................... 103 5.1 Simulation, Illusion, and Questions of Method 104 5.2 The Double Twist 106 5. 3 The Scope of lntention 111 6 Unity of the Body .................................. 1I6 6.I Against Ends 117 6.2 Physical Unity 122 6.3 Dispositional Unity 125 6.4 Functional and Intentional Unity 132 6.5 Substantial Unity 140 Conclusion ....................................... 153 Bibliography ...................................... 159 Primary Sources .................................. 159 Secondary Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 Index ............................................ 177