Descartes Disposal of Formal Causality
Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy and Discourse on the Method ultimately desires to achieve deep understanding about the nature of everything including God, the physical world, and himself. Indeed, it is only with a clear and distinct knowledge of such things that he can then begin to understand his true reality. Through images such as a block of melting wax, Descartes proves the nature of any material thing is extended. Descartes denies the classical thought of the necessity of formal causality to substantiate his ultimate mathematical physics. In addition, he rejects the classical notion of formal causality being the structural focus by which all things are able to achieve fully their ends, and leads us to a new understanding of freedom as a thing that can choose its own end through the mastery of nature.To accomplish this, Descartes considers a physical piece of wax as it is brought close to a flame causing it to melt. At this point the piece of wax has a honey flavor, and it has the sent of flowers. It has a color, and a distinct shape and size. Descartes describes in detail the physical qualities that can be observed of this piece of wax. He then puts it next to a fire, which melts the wax and in turn, cha
In conclusion, Descartes proves that forms are not fundamental to the understanding of a thing, but rather that they are distinguished by their difference in arrangement of matter. By rejecting formal causality, Descartes gives a new view of freedom. Descartes' new understanding of freedom states that freedom is the condition of a thing that is able to choose its own end and to press nature into its service in attaining that end, thus leaving behind the classical idea of freedom as the condition of a thing which is able to achieve fully its end as determined by its form. After you remove everything that does not belong to the wax, it is precisely something extended, flexible, and mutable. If you ignore the senses, the wax is still wax; but if you focus on the accidental qualities, the two pieces of wax (i.e. melted and unmelted) have nothing in common. Descartes is trying to prove that what one knows about a material thing does not come through the senses, rather by some other means. In addition, things that we know apart from the senses can be known with greater certainty than the things we know by means of the senses. According to Descartes, happiness does not come from possessing wisdom or virtue, but rather by controlling the things that control us. This differs from the classical view of happiness, which is the attainment of eudaimonia, or flourishing according to one's telos. If nature is a constant force that controls us, we have the capability and freedom to gain
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Approximate Word count = 1006
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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