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Full Idea
It is Descartes who ratifies the idea that nature is devoid of thought.
Gist of Idea
Nature is devoid of thought
Source
report of René Descartes (works [1643]) by Quentin Meillassoux - After Finitude; the necessity of contingency 5
Book Ref
Meillassoux: 'After Finitude: the necessity of contingency', ed/tr. Brassier,R [Bloomsbury 2008], p.124
A Reaction
His dualism is crucial, along with his ontological argument, because they make all mentality supernatural. Remember, for Descartes animals are mindless machines.
| 13445 | Descartes showed a one-one order-preserving match between points on a line and the real numbers [Descartes, by Hart,WD] |
| 16774 | Descartes thinks distinguishing substances from aggregates is pointless [Descartes, by Pasnau] |
| 4310 | We have inner awareness of our freedom [Descartes] |
| 7400 | Descartes said images can refer to objects without resembling them (as words do) [Descartes, by Tuck] |
| 6553 | Descartes discussed the interaction problem, and compared it with gravity [Descartes, by Lycan] |
| 19676 | Nature is devoid of thought [Descartes, by Meillassoux] |
| 6518 | Matter can't just be Descartes's geometry, because a filler of the spaces is needed [Robinson,H on Descartes] |