ORIGINAL EDITION OF CARTESIUS’ LETTER TO VOET ON HIS OWN PHILOSOPHY: THE DEFENSE OF THE AUTONOMY OF REASON

DESCARTES, René. Epistola Renati Des-Cartes ad celeberrimum virum D. Gisbertum Voetium. In qua examinantur duo libri, nuper pro Voetio Vltrajecti simul editi, unus de confraternitate Marianâ, alter de philosophiâ Cartesianâ. Amsterodami: apud Ludovicum Elzevirium, MDCXLIII [Amsterdam: Elzevier, 1643].

16mo, contemporary stiff vellum, pp. [12], 282, [6].

Very scarce original edition of Cartesius’ letter to Voet in defense of the autonomy of reason and doubt.

A fundamental text for the history of philosophy and human thought.
br>Gisbertus Voetius (Latinized version of the Dutch name Gijsbert Voet) (1589–1676) was a Dutch Calvinist theologian.
In March 1642, while serving as rector of the University of Utrecht, Voetius persuaded the university’s academic senate to issue a formal condemnation of the Cartesian philosophy. According to the senate's statement, Cartesian philosophy was to be suppressed because:

1.it was opposed to 'traditional' (i.e. Scholastic/Aristotelian) philosophy;
2.young people taught Cartesian philosophy would be unable to understand the technical terminology of Scholasticism; and
3.it had consequences contrary to orthodox theology.
Descartes countered with a personal attack on Voetius: in his long letter, he mentioned Aristotelianism only twice; by contrast, the topics of theology, faith, and atheism were put on the table hundreds times. Both Descartes and Voetius acknowledged that the issue they treated was most of all theological.

Voetius pursued the faith-seeking-understanding program whereas Descartes repudiated the faith-lacking-understanding project. The primary concern of Voetius was not to preserve Aristotelianism but to keep the biblical truth that, as he put it, was received from orthodox tradition.

Descartes insisted that the article of faith did not fall under the regime of human reason because faith was something one could not fully grasp with reason. He argued that whoever embraced the articles of faith for incorrect reasoning would commit a sin no less grave than those who rejected them. What Descartes desperately defended was the autonomy of human reason and its proper use. In his philosophical enterprise, faith seemed to hinder the autonomy and the use of reason. He believed that his method of doubt would provide a firm road to perfect knowledge.

Voetius, however, argued that human reason was surrounded by error and sin, so that perfect knowledge was impossible for humans. He maintained that human beings would be able to learn the truth from divine revelation, which was the only principle in the pursuit of truth. Therefore, for Voetius, Cartesianism was primarily confronted with scriptural truth, not with Aristotelianism.

References: Willems, Les Elzevier, p. 253, no. 998. IT\ICCU\TO0E\009693. Han van Ruler: The Crisis of Causality. Voetius and Descartes on God, Nature and Change. Brill, Leiden/New York/Köln, 1995. B. Hoon Woo: The Understanding of Gisbertus Voetius and René Descartes on the Relationship of Faith and Reason, and Theology and Philosophy, in Westminster Theological Journal, 75, no. 1 (2013): 45-63.

A fine and unsophisticated copy.