DESCARTES'S ARGUMENTS THAT THE BODY can be considered a selfpropelled machine rely on a misuse of the Aristotelian concept of "self-motion." They depend upon the premise that life is self-motion, the Aristotelian definition which Descartes learned from Latin handbooks at La F16che. By retaining this premise, Descartes believed he was defeating the Aristotelians on their own turf when he argued ...

Inserm, U983, Hôpital Necker-Enfants Malades, Paris, France, Service de Néphrologie Pédiatrique, CHU Sainte-Justine, Université de Montréal, Canada, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), Département de Génétique, Hôpital Necker-Enfants Malades, Paris, France, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), Service de Néphrologie Pédiatrique, Hôpital Necker-Enfants Malades, Paris, France...

DESCARTES'S ARGUMENTS THAT THE BODY can be considered a selfpropelled machine rely on a misuse of the Aristotelian concept of "self-motion." They depend upon the premise that life is self-motion, the Aristotelian definition which Descartes learned from Latin handbooks at La F16che. By retaining this premise, Descartes believed he was defeating the Aristotelians on their own turf when he argued ...

Consider this picture of the skeptical dilemma: Descartes sits in his armchair, wondering what the world is like, and worried whether it is as it seems to be. He realizes that there are many ways the world could be — many possible ways for the world to be — that he lacks the resources to choose between. Since all the possibilities he’s considering include his having experiences like the ones he...