Joshua Stika
Comparison Essay
PHI 222
Descartes and Hobbes on Philosophy
Modernity brought to philosophy an emphasis on the scientific practicality of
philosophy for human advancement. By examining two major modern philosophers’
views of the nature of philosophy, both unity and disagreement can be found on the
nature of modern philosophy. A comparison of the writings of René Descartes and
Thomas Hobbes reveals profound unity in the scientific and practical aspects of
philosophy and important differences in the prominence of the corporeal and the role of
experience in philosophy.
In his conception of philosophy, Thomas Hobbes “concerned himself chiefly with
the practical aspect of philosophy” (Turner 443). He wrote that philosophy has the end
of being “able to produce…such effects as human life requires” (Hobbes 132). He
compares philosophy to other sciences in their ability to discover principles and put
them to practical use. For example, geometry finds the properties of figures and uses
them in measuring and other endeavors (132). Thus it is with philosophy as well. In
this comparison, Hobbes attributes a scientific practicality to philosophy. By doing this,
Hobbes classifies philosophy as a science or at least related to the sciences.
Philosophy seeks to fulfill an “appetite for knowledge” (Funk 955). It does so by
producing “general, eternal, and immutable truth” (Hobbes 132). Additionally, Hobbes
expounded a materialist philosophy. By asserting that “every part of the universe is
body,” he ascribes a corporeal practicality to philosophy (133). For him, philosophy is
concerned with the material world, not anything existing in spirit or mind.
Stika 2
Hobbes also explains what does and does not constitute philosophy. He
understands philosophy as “the knowledge acquired by reasoning” through either
deduction or induction (Hobbes 132). He does not include knowledge gained from
personal memory experience, “false conclusions,” “supernatural revelation,” and “the
authority of books” (132). These sources of knowledge do not promote reasoning and
so cannot truly be considered philosophy. Hobbes also notes the origins and conditions
of philosophy. Philosophy can only come when peace and leisure are present, for no
one will consider philosophical questions when survival and protection are urgent
priorities. Thus philosophy can only be studied in the “Commonwealth, the mother of
peace and leisure” (132). To illustrate, Hobbes notes that the most ancient
philosophers came from the most ancient kingdoms, where peace and leisure were had
for the first time (132).
Hobbes’ understanding of philosophy is at variance with the prevailing Scholastic
philosophy of his time. He notes that this study of philosophy, the norm in universities,
has no practicality since “it has no place other than as a handmaid to the Roman
religion” (Hobbes 133). He also denounces its dependence on the authority of Aristotle
(and not reason), saying it “is not properly philosophy…but Aristotelity” (133). One
particular Scholastic tenet that Hobbes takes issue with is the notion of abstract
essences, “essences separated from bodies” (133). This notion especially conflicts with
Hobbes’ materialist doctrine. Thus is seen Hobbes’ dissatisfaction with Scholastic
philosophy for its perceived lack of reason and practicality.
René Descartes also considered philosophy to be a practical endeavor. In his
Discourse, Descartes notes that his motivation for his studies was acquiring “a clear and
Stika 3
assured knowledge of everything that is useful in life” (Descartes 26). Kreeft notes that
Descartes sought a philosophy that is based on personal experience, certain, and
practical (72). Like Hobbes, Descartes sees philosophy as useful for human life. Kreeft
observes that, for Descartes, “knowledge is a means to power” over nature, which in
turn is a means to human happiness (76).
This technological practicality comes from Descartes’ conception of philosophy
as a science. In his philosophy, “Descartes narrowed ‘reason’…from ‘wisdom’ to
‘science’, from philosophical logic to scientific logic, from Socrates’ ‘dialectical’ method
to the scientific method” (Kreeft 13). Descartes ascribes scientific certainty to
philosophy. More specifically, a mathematical certainty is present in philosophy. In his
Meditations, Descartes states that arithmetic, geometry, and other mathematical
disciplines cannot be doubted because they “treat of nothing but the simplest and most
general things and which are indifferent as to whether these things do or do not in fact
exist” (42). This certainty in mental abstractions, unconcerned with material existence,
reveals the importance Descartes places on the mind (which becomes more apparent
when he defines himself as a thinking being). Considering the certainty the mind
produces, it is clear that Descartes considers philosophy to be an intellectual endeavor
dependent only on the human mind, thereby rejecting any philosophy dependent on
authority, tradition, or the senses. This is made clear in Descartes’ rationalist doctrine
that the content of ideas “derives from the nature of the mind alone” (Newman).
Like Hobbes, Descartes is also dissatisfied with the state of Scholastic
philosophy. Descartes rejects his education in it because it led him to be “confounded
by so many doubts and errors” (26). It lacked the certainty he sought. In its hair-
Stika 4
splitting distinctions, it lacked the practicality he sought. In its dependence on Aristotle,
it lacked the personal experience he sought. In noting the positive aspects of his
education, Descartes mentions, rather sarcastically, “that philosophy provides the
means…of making oneself admired by the less learned” (27).
By comparing Descartes and Hobbes in their concepts of philosophy, one finds
some fundamental agreement between the two. Both Hobbes and Descartes assert
that philosophy is practical, with a purpose towards human advancement. In this vein,
they both agree that philosophy is scientific, if not a science. However, philosophy is
more mathematical for Descartes, and Hobbes does not elaborate on the scientific
qualities of philosophy. They also find accord in the conditions for philosophy. Hobbes
explains the necessity of peace and leisure in a civilization for philosophy to flourish
(Hobbes 132). Descartes observes that he felt free to judge doctrines because his “age
seemed…to be just as flourishing and as fertile in good minds as any of the preceding
ones” (Descartes 26). Descartes acknowledges that there are societal conditions that
are conducive to philosophy. Although Descartes’ concern is with the presence of good
minds, this is not opposed to the necessity of peace and leisure that Hobbes explains.
These similarities establish Descartes and Hobbes to be modern philosophers.
As modern philosophers, they share a discontent with Scholastic philosophy for similar
reasons. They both share a disdain for its lack of practicality, for they both considered
philosophy to be a means for human advancement. They also rejected Scholasticism’s
dependence on tradition and the authority of books. To assert the necessity of reason
in philosophy, they rejected the traditions and authors, particularly Aristotle, which were
Stika 5
held in esteem by the Scholastics. However, it is interesting to note that this rejection
led Descartes and Hobbes into different directions.
Descartes, in rejecting books and tradition, sought personal experience in his
philosophy (Kreeft 72). In fact, his Meditations are based on his own experiences. On
the other hand, Hobbes rejects books along with experience because it can be “found
as well in brute beasts as in men” (Hobbes 132). Hobbes rejects knowledge from
experience because it does not come from reasoning, but it also does not come from a
body. Experience, being “but a memory…of events in times past,” has no corporeality
and thus no place in Hobbes’ materialist doctrine (132). Descartes, who promotes the
mind, defends experience as a faculty of the thinking mind. Each philosopher’s account
of experience reveals the most fundamental difference in their conceptions of
philosophy.
Hobbes is a materialist, and Descartes is a rationalist. In this regard, they are
diametric opposites. Hobbes advocates for the primacy of the body in philosophy.
Descartes champions the primacy of the mind in philosophy. They agree on what
philosophy ought to do, but they radically differ on how and where philosophy ought to
do it. They promote and use very different playing fields.
By comparing Descartes’ and Hobbes’ conceptions of philosophy, one finds
agreement that philosophy is practical and scientific. Descartes and Hobbes are also
kindred spirits in their rejection of Scholastic philosophy. However, they differ widely on
the use of experience in philosophy and the realms philosophy ought to be concerned
with. A contention between the primacy of the mind and the primacy of the body is
Stika 6
found. This is reflective of the larger rationalist-empiricist conflict in modern philosophy.
Many philosophers agreed that a new philosophy was needed, but no one agreed what
that philosophy ought to be.
Stika 7
Works Cited
Descartes, René. "Discourse on the Method." 1637. Modern Philosophy: An Anthology
of Primary Sources. Ed. Roger Ariew and Eric Watkins. 2nd ed. Indianapolis:
Hackett Publishing, 2009. 25-34. Print.
Descartes, René. "Meditations on First Philosophy." 1641. Modern Philosophy: An
Anthology of Primary Sources. Ed. Roger Ariew and Eric Watkins. 2nd ed.
Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 2009. 35-68. Print.
Funk, Michael. "A Sudden Surprise of the Soul: The Passion of Wonder in Hobbes and
Descartes." Heythrop Journal 49.6 (2008): 948-63. Academic Search Complete.
Web. 12 Dec. 2012.
Hobbes, Thomas. "Leviathan." 1651. Modern Philosophy: An Anthology of Primary
Sources. Ed. Roger Ariew and Eric Watkins. 2nd ed. Indianapolis: Hackett
Publishing, 2009. 114-36. Print.
Kreeft, Peter. Socrates Meets Descartes: The Father of Philosophy Analyzes The
Father of Modern Philosophy's Discourse on Method. San Francisco: Ignatius
Press, 2007. Print.
Newman, Lex. "Descartes' Epistemology." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Stanford University, 20 July 2010. Web. 28 Nov. 2012.
<http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/descartes-epistemology/>.
Turner, William. History of Philosophy. Boston: Ginn & Company, 1929. Print.