The Sequel to the Count of Gabalis, or New Discourses on the Secret Sciences

New Conversations

...that God has any part in the creation, the preservation, and the guidance of the world; and regarding our soul, it follows either that it is no different from that of beasts, or that it is not necessary that it should never die. In such a way, the merit of Faith is not undermined by this Philosophy, and you see that it is not unworthy of being taught or studied by Christians.

But DescartesRené Descartes (1596–1650), the French philosopher famous for "I think, therefore I am," who attempted to use pure reason to prove the existence of God and the soul., being little concerned with the glory of Christianity, has mixed Peripatetic chimerasReferring to the "Peripatetics," the followers of Aristotle. The speaker is accusing Descartes of polluting his "solid" philosophy with old Aristotelian ideas he claimed to have discarded. into this solid philosophy; and he has dreamed so much upon a thought of AristotleThe ancient Greek philosopher whose logical systems dominated medieval Christian theology, often to the frustration of later mystics and reformers. that he has finally succeeded in turning it into a kind of sophismA clever but false argument., which at first dazzles weak minds and appears to them as a clear and certain demonstration of the existence of God.

"There, Sir," I said to him, "is what I found ridiculous and impenetrable in this man. He says openly that one can understand nothing of his Philosophy if one does not perfectly know his Metaphysics; and this Metaphysics, which he deems so necessary, is entirely founded upon that demonstration of which you speak, and which seemed to me at first a true paralogismA piece of illogical or fallacious reasoning, often one that the speaker is unaware is flawed., which one..."