A B S T R A C T
Infinity and Unpredictability: Descartes and Arendt on Will and Action

Martina Reuter
Ph. D., Academy Research Fellow, Department of Systematic Theology
University of Helsinki
Website


The philosophical thought of Hannah Arendt is usually – quite correctly – expected to agree upon Heidegger’s severe critique of Cartesianism. The question of Arendt’s relation to Cartesian philosophy gets more nuanced, though, if we turn our gaze from the realm of knowledge and look at the capacities of willing and acting.

Arendt’s and Descartes’s conceptions of the will have a common ground in the thought of Augustine. According to Descartes, humans have a finite intellect, able to gain certainty in the realm of knowledge, and an infinite will, able to act in the realm of morality, where there is no certainty. Descartes is well aware that we usually have to act in situations where we do not have certainty. In the realm of knowledge the infinite will is obligated to submit itself to the finite intellect, but in the realm of morality the demand to act in a sense forces the will to take the lead and use its full infinite capacity. Here the tension between finite knowledge and infinite will introduces a necessary unpredictability of action.

Exactly this kind of unpredictability is an essential element in Arendt’s concept of action. I will compare Arendt’s and Descartes’ understandings of the human capacity to act and show how Arendt can be seen as radicalising Descartes’ position. On the other hand Descartes’s nuanced analysis of the relations between mental action and passion complements Arendt’s understanding of the human condition, which puts great emphasis on activity. Descartes regards the passion of generosity as a kind of first virtue, which calms our minds and enables us to act according to other virtues, such as courage. Generosity in a sense reconciles the tension between finite knowledge and the infinite will. I will claim that Descartes’ concept of generosity illuminates Arendt’s remarks on forgiving.


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