Celibacy 01
Philosophers' Celibacy (1) - René Descartes
Almost a decade ago, the word INCEL (INvoluntary CELibate) was buzzing. It was a fleeting sensation as a social phenomenon, but the exposed celibacy proper is still ongoing underway associated with some social unwholesome trends, such as sexism, #MeToo movement, LGBTQ+, diversity and inclusion, Domestic Violence (DV), pedophilia, adult children, aging developed societies, declining birthrates, sexless couples, etc., etc…
To be honest, I myself am a voluntary celibate, and advocate pessimistic anti-natalism as a nihilist and libertarian. I will, later on, introduce the philosophy of anti-natalism deeper in my future posts, but today, let's explore philosophers' celibacy!
Surprisingly, most of the respectable philosophers in history are voluntary celibates throughout their real lives, as I am. Voluntary celibate philosophers include…
Plato
Thomas Aquinas
René Descartes
Blaise Pascal
Baruch Spinoza
Isaac Newton
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
Thomas Hobbes
John Locke
David Hume
Immanuel Kant
Søren Kierkegaard
Arthur Schopenhauer
Friedrich Nietzsche
…
and the list is too long... These greatest lives through the history of philosophy are neither coincidences nor tragic love stories!
“Certainly the best works and of greatest merit for the public have proceeded from the unmarried or childless men; which both in affection and means have married and endowed the public.” (Essays, Francis Bacon)
René Descartes’ Personal Life and Relationships
René Descartes (1596–1650) is well known as “the father of modern philosophy” for shifting the focus to consciousness and rational inquiry. His methodology, called “Cartesian doubt,” aimed to find absolute certainty thorough skepticism. It led to his famous dictum, “cogito, ergo sum” (I think, therefore I am).
Descartes’ approach to prioritizing rational thought and his methodical approach laid the foundation for continental rationalism and modern science in the history of philosophy.
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| René Descartes (1596–1650) |
René Descartes NEVER married, and maintained a lifestyle that allowed him to focus entirely on his philosophical and scientific work. Descartes often lived in seclusion to avoid interruptions and distractions. Despite such a lifestyle, he was NOT altogether celibate throughout his entire life.
“Let me tell thee, he who hides well his life, lives well; each man ought to remain within his proper position.” (Book 3, Tristia. Ovid)
In 1635, René Descartes, at the age of 39, fathered a daughter named Francine with Helena Jans van der Strom, a Dutch woman who worked as his housekeeper. Since then, Descartes lived with Helena and their daughter, Francine, together for a time, and he once planned to have them join him permanently as family.
However, despite his dream of family Life, a tragedy suddenly came over Descartes. In 1640, his daughter, Francine, died of scarlet fever at the age of 5. It shocked him, and lasted as a great sorrow hung over him.
Descartes’ Lifestyle and Devotion
Nevertheless, Descartes was NOT going to marry Helena, since marriage did NOT fit with his nomadic lifestyle, and his dedication to solitary philosophical and scientific pursuits.
Descartes believed that profound philosophical and scientific work was BEST done alone. So for him, family Life was rather a hindrance. Descartes lived in the Netherlands for decades to avoid the distractions of social obligations, just to devote his whole Life to solitude and philosophy.
Descartes moved frequently in the Netherlands to pursue his philosophical thoughts and scientific studies, and to avoid having a permanent home. His nomadic lifestyle was absolutely dissonant with, rather opposite to, common 17th-century family life.
After their separation, Descartes' ex-partner Helena Jans married an innkeeper. In the face of Helena's marriage, Descartes even provided a dowry for her. This confirms his unhesitating choice NOT to formalize his own relationship with Helena.
Descartes' Lifetime Relationship with Princess Elisabeth
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| Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia (1618–1680) |
While he did NEVER marry, René Descartes did NOT altogether shun female companionship. Actually, Descartes maintained a remarkable intellectual correspondence with Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia (1618–1680).
The relationship between René Descartes and Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia was a profound intellectual partnership and friendship in the history of philosophy. Their relationship began in 1643, when Descartes was 47 years old, while Princess Elisabeth was 25 years old, and lasted until his death.
Their correspondence was initiated by their mutual admiration, centered on philosophical topics, comprising 58 letters. The topics covered include mind-body dualism, ethics, and passions. Through their correspondence, Princess Elisabeth challenged Descartes' philosophical theories, leading Descartes to refine his own philosophy. So their correspondence is very significant for the emergence of modern philosophy. Besides, Descartes dedicated his very last treatise, “The Passions of the Soul” (1649), to Princess Elisabeth. This proves How their correspondence was meaningful for Descartes and his thoughts.
Their correspondence, mostly written between 1643 and 1649, is a rare example of a close, productive, and intellectually challenging friendship between a major philosopher and a woman of high nobility in history, as it contributed to the development of early modern philosophy.
“So I ask you please to tell me how the soul of a human being (it being only a thinking substance) can determine the bodily spirits, in order to bring about voluntary actions. For it seems that all determination of movement happens through the impulsion of the thing moved, by the manner in which it is pushed by that which moves it, or else by the particular qualities and shape of the surface of the latter. Physical contact is required for the first two conditions, extension for the third. You entirely exclude the one [extension] from the notion you have of the soul, and the other [physical contact] appears to me incompatible with an immaterial thing. This is why I ask you for a more precise definition of the soul than the one you give in your Metaphysics, that is to say, of its substance separate from its action, that is, from thought.” (The Correspondence between Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia and René Descartes. Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia)
The Interaction Problem in the Correspondence
René Descartes and Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia met in 1643 for the first time, and were immediately impressed with one another. Descartes expressed high praise for Princess Elisabeth’s unique, unrivaled, and brilliant intellect.
Princess Elisabeth, as a keen student of philosophy, challenged Descartes’ assertion that the mind (an immaterial substance) and body (a material substance) could interact. But she acutely objected and questioned as we can see in the citation above. This critique is the most significant challenge to Cartesian dualism, referred to as the interaction problem in the history of philosophy.
Their correspondence was a genuine, rigorous, and respectful dialogue with a warm, sincere tone. It shows their unparalleled mutual respect where Descartes thoroughly acknowledged Princess Elisabeth’s keen intellect.
In the history of philosophy, René Descartes is a widely known major philosopher as “the father of modern philosophy.” On the other hand, Princess Elisabeth's marvelous contributions to modern philosophy, specifically, in identifying the flaws in Descartes’ developing dualist theory, are less known. Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia MUST be re-evaluated as a philosopher who founded modern philosophy together with her intellectual partner, René Descartes.
Descartes’ philosophy of Celibacy
While the mind-body problem is still an ongoing hot topic in contemporary philosophy, involving neuroscience, cognitive science, neuropsychology, artificial intelligence (AI), etc, it was a principal theme and also a starting point for René Descartes’ philosophical exploration.
Descartes’ legendary dictum, “Cogito, ergo sum” ("I think, therefore I am"), focuses acutely on mental existence as the foundation of objective certainty. This dualism allowed him to treat the mind as pure intellect, while the body was reduced to a mere ‘autonomous machine’ that follows physical laws, likely a wild animal. And this dualism between mind and body, so-called “Cartesian dualism,” rationally testifies to Descartes’ noble solitary Life throughout his lifetime.
“The Passions of the Soul”
“The Passions of the Soul and Other Late Philosophical Writings” (Oxford World's Classics) by René Descartes
(sponsored by Amazon)
In his final work, “The Passions of the Soul”(1649), which was dedicated to Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia with admiration, René Descartes examined passions, that is, emotions in today's sense, as the answer to Princess Elisabeth.
In “The Passions of the Soul,” Descartes portrays the body as an autonomous machine that functions through ‘animal spirits.’ As Descartes wrote, he explains the passions “only as a Physicist,” the ‘animal spirits’ are physical, subtle particles in the blood. Upon stimulation, they travel through nerves to cause bodily movements. Descartes suggests that passions are thus psychological experiences of these physical, mechanical bodily processes.
The soul suffers the influence of the body through the animal spirits and is entirely subject to the influence of the passions. Descartes explains that the animal spirits stimulate the pineal gland (the place where the soul is attached to the body) and cause many troubles or fierce emotions in the soul.
A central moral argument in “The Passions of the Soul” is about the control and regulation of the passions. While passions are unavoidable as a mechanism, the soul can cultivate disciplines over passions through training, conscious understanding, and the strengthening of the will.
For a moral discipline, Descartes highlights generosity as a key virtue. Generosity results in controlling the passions and ensuring an ethical Life. Descartes defined ‘generosity’ as follows:
“Thus I think that true generosity which causes a man to esteem himself as highly as he legitimately can, consists alone partly in the fact that he knows that there is nothing that truly pertains to him but this free disposition of his will, and that there is no reason why he should be praised or blamed unless it is because he uses it well or ill; and partly in the fact that he is sensible in himself of a firm and constant resolution to use it well, that is to say, never to fail of his own will to undertake and execute all the things which he judges to be the best — which is to follow perfectly after virtue.” (The Passions of the Soul. René Descartes)
As I myself have lived a nomadic Life for over a decade in Eastern Europe since having left my sweet home Japan far away, I’m really convinced and resonate with Descartes’ philosophy of Life from the bottom of my heart.
René Descartes, who was born in France and died in Sweden, moved to the Netherlands by a calculation for seclusion to search for solitude to focus on the pursuit of philosophy.
And eventually, Descartes’ solitary lifestyle, mainly in the Netherlands, was successful in developing his methodical doubt and scientific method, laying the foundation stone of continental rationalism without the annoying distractions of society.
René Descartes was devastated by the death of his first and ONLY child, Francine, nevertheless, Descartes' philosophical framework was designed for a solitary thinker. Moreover, after the death of Francine, Descartes contributed to a dowry for Helena's legitimate first marriage in 1644. This rather shows his unwavering determination to leave himself solitary.
While Descartes broke his celibacy and lived an illegitimate family Life once, he didn't hesitate to pursue a life of an independent thinker with an independent mind. Descartes frequently moved in the Netherlands to avoid social responsibilities and obligations and to live a hidden Life in joyful anonymity.
René Descartes' Life was, in many ways, a direct reflection of his philosophy, and in turn, his philosophy directly reflected his solitary Life. Descartes’ conscious movement away from the sensual world toward rational thought, methodical study, and liberty and independence from social fetters resonates with his philosophical thoughts and scientific studies.
Descartes was part of a thread of ‘celibate’ early modern philosophers, such as Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, David Hume, Baruch Spinoza, and Immanuel Kant. They ALL pursued their life devoted to philosophy, and their feats in philosophy are legendary heritages in human civilization. In my future posts, let’s take a look at other philosophers’ noble ‘celibate’ lives! Coming soon and stick around!
Further reading (sponsored by Amazon):
● Steven Nadler (2013). The Philosopher, the Priest, and the Painter: A Portrait of Descartes. 241 pages. Princeton University Press.
“The Philosopher, the Priest, and the Painter: A Portrait of Descartes”
(sponsored by Amazon)
A unique combination of philosophy, biography, and art history, “The Philosopher, the Priest, and the Painter: A Portrait of Descartes” investigates the remarkable individuals and circumstances behind a small portrait. Through this image, and the intersecting lives of a brilliant philosopher, a Catholic priest, and a gifted painter, in “The Philosopher, the Priest, and the Painter: A Portrait of Descartes,” Steven Nadler opens a fascinating portal into René Descartes' life and times, skillfully presenting an accessible introduction to Descartes' philosophical and scientific ideas, and an illuminating tour of the volatile political and religious environment of the Dutch Golden Age!
Table of Contents
Illustrations
Chapter 1: Prologue: A Tale of Two Paintings
Chapter 2: The Philosopher
Chapter 3: The Priest
Chapter 4: The Painter
Chapter 5: “Once in a Lifetime”
Chapter 6: A New Philosophy
Chapter 7: God in Haarlem
Chapter 8: The Portrait
Notes
Bibliography
Index
● Steven Nadler (2013). The Philosopher, the Priest, and the Painter: A Portrait of Descartes. 241 pages. Princeton University Press.
“The Philosopher, the Priest, and the Painter: A Portrait of Descartes”
(sponsored by Amazon)
A unique combination of philosophy, biography, and art history, “The Philosopher, the Priest, and the Painter: A Portrait of Descartes” investigates the remarkable individuals and circumstances behind a small portrait. Through this image, and the intersecting lives of a brilliant philosopher, a Catholic priest, and a gifted painter, in “The Philosopher, the Priest, and the Painter: A Portrait of Descartes,” Steven Nadler opens a fascinating portal into René Descartes' life and times, skillfully presenting an accessible introduction to Descartes' philosophical and scientific ideas, and an illuminating tour of the volatile political and religious environment of the Dutch Golden Age!
Table of Contents
Illustrations
Chapter 1: Prologue: A Tale of Two Paintings
Chapter 2: The Philosopher
Chapter 3: The Priest
Chapter 4: The Painter
Chapter 5: “Once in a Lifetime”
Chapter 6: A New Philosophy
Chapter 7: God in Haarlem
Chapter 8: The Portrait
Notes
Bibliography
