笛卡尔论动物

Descartes's theory of animals

笛卡尔质疑17世纪流行的关于动物的认识方式,以二元论为基础,采用演绎法,并借助《圣经》和神学理论,以"奥卡姆剃刀"清除了动物身上具有感觉灵魂的设定。笛卡尔认为,动物没有思维,没有严格意义上的感觉和激情,动物是没有意志的"自动机",动物不是道德主体,不负有任何道德责任。笛卡尔动物观的革命性源于他的形而上学,他对动物并不持有"工具论"的观点,但他的动物观是一种人类中心主义的动物观。笛卡尔驳斥动物具有灵魂的说法,突出了人的灵魂的不朽性。他看到了灵魂不朽对道德的必要性。笛卡尔哲学对动物的观点是残忍的,其解释并非完全公正。

Descartes questioned the popular understanding of animals in the 17th century. On the basis of dualism and with the help of “Occam s razor”, he dispelled the assumption about the animal s soul by using the deductive method, absorbing the ideas of the Bible and theological theory. Descartes held that animals had no thought, no sense of feeling and passion in a strict sense, because they were “automatic machines” without will, they were not moral subjects and so had no moral responsibility. Descartes revolutionary view on animals rooted in his metaphysics. His theory of animals was not an “instrumental theory”, but it was a kind of anthropocentric standpoint. By refuting the idea that animals had souls, Descartes highlighted the immortality of human souls. He held that morality made the immortality of the human soul necessary. Some people think that Cartesian philosophy is cruel to animals, but this explanation is not entirely fair.