compassion, Descartes, passions

Abstract

Descartes understood that passions move the world. His dream was for passions to be governed by reason. Far from analyzing passions the way contemporary theology does, Descartes’ approach is like that of an anthropologist, who first defines and then describes their complex mechanism. He is interested in their operation and in their mechanical organization, since the control of passions must spring from the interior of every man. An example of the role played by reason in the control of passions is illustrated throughout Descartes’ analysis of piety and compassion. He insists on acting only after having made distinctions in a rational way. In this sense, as far as compassion is concerned, he shares the same point of view of the critics of this feeling, like Nietzsche who is its most fierce spokesman.