Teologia augustiniană a lui René Descartes și implicațiile epistemologice ale preocupării de sine în viziunea lui George F. McLean

Abstract

George F. McLean is concerned in his writings with the significant changes in philosophy and theology resulting from the way humans came to see themselves and their relation to the world. Hence, when referring to modern-day philosophy and theology, McLean often mentions among others, René Descartes. As McLean believes that ancient wisdom responds to postmodern changes, he argues that Descartes, unlike other modern contemporaries, turned to Augustine's theology. Whereas scholastic Aristotelianism was discredited as outdated, Augustine's works carried a personal charge resulting from a questioning mind and a literary beauty fostering an interest in rhetoric and spirituality. While Descartes refers to God as the founder of existence and the guarantor of knowledge, he reformulates metaphysics in terms of thinking of self or “self-thinking.” This, in turn, as McLean notes, has several epistemological implications.

Keywords

• Descartes
• McLean
• knowledge
• Augustine
• God