Pizhuhish nāmah-i intiqādī-i mutūn va barnāmah hā-yi ̒ulūm-i insāni (Critical Studies in Texts & Programs of Human Sciences)

A Critical and Analytical Review of the Book“Material Falsity and Error in Descartes’ Meditations”

Document Type : Research

Authors

Seyed Mostafa Shahraeini 1
Sajede Firoozbakht 2

1 Professor of Philosophy, Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies, Tehran,Iran

2 PhD in Philosophy, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran

https://doi.org/10.30465/crtls.2025.41773.2622
Abstract
This paper presents an analytical and critical review of “Material Falsity and Error in Descartes’ Meditations” by Cecilia Wee (2006), a study devoted to one of the most intricate and overlooked issues in Cartesian philosophy—the notion of material falsity. The book distinguishes between “static” and “dynamic” interpretations of materially false ideas, arguing that Descartes’s understanding of material falsity evolves throughout the Meditations in accordance with his epistemological progress. While Wee’s “dynamic interpretation” is innovative in emphasizing the transformative process of Descartes’s inquiry, it raises significant philosophical challenges. The findings suggest that although Wee’s approach revitalizes the discussion of material falsity and highlights the evolving nature of Descartes’s thought, it remains conceptually ambiguous concerning the representational mechanism of materially false ideas and their relation to truth and epistemic agency.

Keywords

Descartes&rsquo
Epistemology, Representation, Truth, Material Falsity, Human Error, The Judgment, The Will
Subjects
Alanen, L. (1994), “Sensory Ideas, Objective Reality, and Material Falsity”, in: J. Cottingham (ed.), Descartes, 229-250. ‎Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley-Blackwell
De Rosa, R. (2008), “Material Falsity and Error in Descartes’ Meditations (Review)”, Journal of the History of Philosophy, vol. 46, no. 4, 641-642.
Descartes, R. (1964-1976), Oeuvres de Descartes, C. Adam and P. Tannery (eds.), Paris: Vrin/CNRS.
Descartes, R. (1984-1985), The Philosophical Writings of Descartes, vols. 1-2, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Guéroult, M. (1953), Descartes Selon L’ordre des Raisons, Paris: Aubier.
Hatfield, G. (2014), Routledge Philosophy Guidebook to Descartes and the Meditations, London and New York: Routledge.
Suárez, F. (1965), Disputationes Metaphysicae, Hildesheim: Georg Olms.
Secada, J. (2000), Cartesian Metaphysics: The Late Scholastic Origins of Modern Philosophy, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

  • Receive Date 05 April 2025
  • Revise Date 01 June 2025
  • Accept Date 27 July 2025

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