On Descartes' passive thought

the myth of Cartesian dualism

Jean-Luc Marion

University of Chicago Press

2018

Abstract

Descartes has long been associated with mind-body dualism, but Marion argues here that this is a historical misattribution, popularized by Malebranche and popular ever since both within the academy and with the general public. Actually, Marion shows, Descartes held a holistic conception of body and mind. He called it the meum corpus, a passive mode of thinking, which implies far more than just pure mind—rather, it signifies a mind directly connected to the body: the human being that I am. Understood in this new light, the Descartes Marion uncovers through close readings of works such as Passions of the Soul resists prominent criticisms leveled at him by twentieth-century figures like Husserl and Heidegger, and even anticipates the non-dualistic, phenomenological concepts of human being discussed today. This is a momentous book that no serious historian of philosophy will be able to ignore.

Reviews

• Elizabeth Drummond Young, "J.-L- Marion, On Descartes' Passive Thought: The Myth of Cartesian Dualism" Phenomenological Reviews 4, 2018, pp. 75-75
• Han van Ruler, "Descartes for philosophers" Graduate Faculty Philosophy Journal 40 (1), 2019, pp. 211-224

Cited authors

Husserl Edmund

Heidegger Martin

Descartes René