Descartes' Bones: A Skeletal History of the Conflict between Faith and Reason

Descartes' Bones: A Skeletal History of the Conflict between Faith and Reason | Russell Shorto | A fascinating blend of philosophy and (admittedly morbid) history

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	Descartes' Bones: A Skeletal History of the Conflict between Faith and Reason Russell Shorto Doubleday, 2008 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 47 reviews view larger image
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On a brutal winter's day in 1650 in Stockholm, the Frenchman René Descartes, the most influential and controversial thinker of his time, was buried after a cold and lonely death far from home. Sixteen years later, the French Ambassador Hugues de Terlon secretly unearthed Descartes' bones and transported them to France.

Why would this devoutly Catholic official care so much about the remains of a philosopher who was hounded from country to country on charges of atheism? Why would Descartes' bones take such a strange, serpentine path over the next 350 years?a path intersecting some of the grandest events imaginable: the birth of science, the rise of democracy, the mind-body problem, the conflict between faith and reason? Their story involves people from all walks of life?Louis XIV, a Swedish casino operator, poets and playwrights, philosophers and physicists, as these people used the bones in scientific studies, stole them, sold them, revered them as relics, fought over them, passed them surreptitiously from hand to hand.

The answer lies in Descartes? famous phrase: Cogito ergo sum?"I think, therefore I am." In his deceptively simple seventy-eight-page essay, Discourse on the Method, this small, vain, vindictive, peripatetic, ambitious Frenchman destroyed 2,000 years of received wisdom and laid the foundations of the modern world. At the root of Descartes? ?method? was skepticism: "What can I know for certain?" Like-minded thinkers around Europe passionately embraced the book--the method was applied to medicine, nature, politics, and society. The notion that one could find truth in facts that could be proved, and not in reliance on tradition and the Church's teachings, would become a turning point in human history.

In an age of faith, what Descartes was proposing seemed like heresy. Yet Descartes himself was a good Catholic, who was spurred to write his incendiary book for the most personal of reasons: He had devoted himself to medicine and the study of nature, but when his beloved daughter died at the age of five, he took his ideas deeper. To understand the natural world one needed to question everything. Thus the scientific method was created and religion overthrown. If the natural world could be understood, knowledge could be advanced, and others might not suffer as his child did.

The great controversy Descartes ignited continues to our era: where Islamic terrorists spurn the modern world and pine for a culture based on unquestioning faith; where scientists write bestsellers that passionately make the case for atheism; where others struggle to find a balance between faith and reason.
Descartes? Bonesis a historical detective story about the creation of the modern mind, with twists and turns leading up to the present day?to the science museum in Paris where the philosopher?s skull now resides and to the church a few kilometers away where, not long ago, a philosopher-priest said a mass for his bones.

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It turns out the body of Descartes is as interesting as his mind

Russell Shorto's engaging book is an exciting tour through the history of politics, religion and ideas from the 17th Century onwards, that takes the bizarre and fascinating story of the vicissitudes of the late philosopher's bones as an occasion to illuminate and ruminate on the question what makes us modern.

Descartes is, of course, widely acknowledged to be the father of modern philosophy. This is not because he was the most brilliant modern philosopher, or scientist, or mathematician -- although he was brilliant in all of these, and he came of age in a time when these three were not at all as clearly differentiated as we now conceive them to be -- but because his thinking set the stage for a new approach to thinking that has dominated the landscape of philosophy ever since (at least until the twentieth century). Systematic inquiry, beginning with and always returning to a careful analysis of the foundations of that inquiry, is the modern approach to philosophy, and Descartes is the one to have established this approach as the only one proper to a philosophy that would aim for certainty. Even those successors who challenged some of his most distinctive results -- i.e. his claim that the mind and the body are distinct, and yet somehow able to interact in the pineal gland -- took for granted that philosophy must begin with an investigation of how we know what we claim to know, that even metaphysics is always subject to the demands of epistemology. Even Immanuel Kant -- probably the most important philosopher since Aristotle -- can be seen to be following in Descartes' footsteps and merely attempting to do his project over with greater rigor. So Shorto is right to suggest that the story of Descartes' remains should have some wider interest.

What I was unprepared for, however, was how rich the story of his remains turns out to have been. What Shorto does is identify several episodes in the story of his bones, and he outlines the historical and political and religious background necessary to appreciate these episodes. It turns out that to tell the story of Descartes' bones it really is necessary to tell the story of how we "moderns" came to be what we are -- and to outline many of the tensions and ambiguities in the thinking and practices that have led us to where we have come.

Descartes died of pneumonia in Sweden, after having agreed to tutor Queen Christina -- and to give up his usual practice of writing in bed until mid-morning, and travel through the wintry climes to give her lessons at 4 in the morning. The question what to do with him became important, not only because it was a national embarrassment to have indirectly caused the death of the famous philosopher, but because Descartes was a Catholic and Sweden was Protestant -- so rather than go under in style, he had to be buried with infants from a distant orphanage, since the young are innocent and their religion was not a factor in their burial site. Fourteen years later, his bones were relocated and brought back to France where his views had been deemed heretical. Along the way, it seems, some bones -- likely to include even his skull -- were stolen as relics. He was buried by supporters in France, who hoped thereby to strike a blow for Enlightenment and against the Catholic church. But the question what to do with his remains was raised again after the French revolution, and again following the Napoleonic wars, after which his skull was discovered to be missing, and then, allegedly, found after having been auctioned off in Sweden. The number of important scientists and politicians and historical figures who became intimately involved in the various debates over questions regarding the authenticity and ultimate disposition of his bones is pretty astonishing.

Shorto traces the meandering story patiently, and effortlessly. The story reads like a mystery novel infused with philosophical weight. The author knows how to move back and forth from broad strokes history and philosophical and religious discourse to detailed accounts of the various persons involved in that history, and rich anecdotes that illustrate their character and temperaments. I knew a lot about this history coming into the book, and especially knew a lot about Descartes himself and his contemporaries, but I was surprised and intrigued by several important details: such as the fact that on his death bed Descartes had to fight against the royal physician's insistence that he be bled as a cure (and that Descartes ultimately gave in, accelerating his decline); or that Descartes' skull and its cranial capacity became a focus for debates on the science (now considered a pseudo-science) of phrenology, which (ironically, given Descartes' own thoughts) reduces the mind to the brain.

This is a remarkable book -- well written throughout, entertaining and engaging, and also intellectually astute. While there may be some controversy in his assessments of the thought and work of some of the many figures he outlines, Shorto is obviously well-read and thorough, and shows throughout that he is aware of the controversies that crop up in the history he recounts. Highly recommended for those who like intellectual history, pitched at a level that should appeal to a wide range of educated readers.

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A fascinating blend of philosophy and (admittedly morbid) history

Award-winning historian Russell Shorto presents the unabridged audiobook rendition Descartes' Bones: A Skeletal History of the Conflict Between Faith and Reason, a fascinating blend of philosophy and (admittedly morbid) history. Rene Descartes, famous for saying "I think, therefore I am," a phrase with the underlying tenet that true knowledge lies in facts and research rather than church teachings. After Descartes' death, his remains became subject to surprisingly ghoulish greed - humans have fought over, stolen, and sold his bones, and the location of his skull remains a perplexing mystery to this day. A saga that spans six nations, three centuries, and three burials, while also exploring the philosophical implications of Descartes' legacy, Descartes' Bones is a truly remarkable look at how one man's ideas can literally affect himself and all around him long after his passing. Tracks are present every three minutes for easy bookmarking. 8 CDs, 9.25 hours.

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Descartes Bones Are Connected To The...

A book such as this touches on numerous subjects. Biography, math, science, philosophy, and even a bit of mystery creeps in, but as the subtitle indicates, it is history, and specifically the history of the conflict between faith and reason which is the primary focus of this work. "Descartes' Bones (A Skeletal History of the Conflict Between Faith and Reason)" by Russell Shorto is an all too brief history of the subject, and naturally focuses almost exclusively on the aspect of the subject which was impacted by the unusual history of Descartes' remains.

Chapter one is titled "The Man Who Died" and is a brief discussion of Descartes focusing mainly on his death in 1650 and the circumstances which resulted in his being in Sweden, but also looks at Descartes own faith as well as the attitude towards his works during his lifetime. This is the start of the conflict, but I would have liked it to be a more thorough treatment of Descartes life than it was to provide a better foundation for the discussion.

"Banquet of Bones" is the second chapter and discusses the moving of Descartes' Bones in 1666 from Sweden to France, but also advances the discussion of the conflict by looking at Cartesianism which arose as a result of Descartes' teachings after his death. Another important discussion is about the taking of artifacts which plays a huge role in the story, as Descartes' index finger is recorded as being taken at this time. There is also the hint of other bones being taken, though that was not discovered until much later.

"Unholy Relics" looks at the next period of the history of his remains, which were buried in St. Genevieve after being moved there from Sweden. The historical context for the next disruption is the French Revolution, and Russell Shorto provides a wonderful discussion of the role Descartes' teachings played in the minds of people during that turbulent time. He also discusses the confusing history of what is known, but mostly what is unknown, about Descartes' remains during this time.

"The Misplaced Head" discusses the revelation that the original skull was separated from the body, when a letter is sent from Sweden by Berzelius claiming to have found the original skull which he was also returning to France. There was a great debate by the Academy of Sciences at the time as to the veracity of the claim, with Cuvier taking the position that it was the skull and Delambre taking the position that it was far from proven. One of the key problems with the theory was that the evidence pointed to the skull being swapped, but there was no distinguishable skull with Descartes remains in France, so the question appeared to still be open, though ultimately the Academy accepted the skull as being authentic.

"Cranial Capacity" goes deeper into the discussion of the scientific debate at the time of whether or not brain size is directly related to intelligence, and how the skull which had been returned was used in that debate by both sides as evidence in the debate. Russell Shorto also discusses other scientific theories such as evolution and how the skull was used in those debates. Key in the debate on evolution is that how evolution played a role, but not in the conflict between faith and reason, but rather between religion and reason.

"Habeas Corpus" is (hopefully) the last chapter in the strange story of Descartes' remains, and it discusses the final efforts to determine if the skull was really that of Descartes. There was an extensive amount of research done by Paul Richer looking at the artistic evidence of the portraits of Descartes done around the time of his death. In addition, this chapter discusses the event of losing the skull, though it was later found. Lastly, the author presents his theory for just what happened to Descartes' Bones and who was responsible for much of the confusion and mystery around what happened to them.

"A Modern Face" is a short chapter which discusses the modern efforts to use the skull to reconstruct the face of Descartes, and along with the Epilogue provides a fitting ending to the tale.

In addition to the above, Russell Shorto several times relates the story being told to the fight between religion and secularism today, and though I agree with many of his positions on the increasingly radical view expressed by some of the atheists today, it does feel a bit out of place in this book. I also feel that he should have distinguished between faith and religion in stronger terms. His subtitle confuses the two to some extent, though one could argue that he is referring to people's faith in a particular religion, rather than their faith in God. Overall, though, I found this to be a very entertaining read and well worth it for those who are interested in history.

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Philosophy in the Bones

The bones of the famous French philosopher and mathematician, Rene Descartes, have had a fascinating history. Buried in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1650 (where Descartes had traveled to tutor the monarch, Christina), his body was disinterred for transfer to Paris some sixteen years later, where he was buried in Ste.-Genevieve. During the French Revolution, it was argued that his bones should be moved to the Pantheon but, instead, they were (supposedly) saved from the vandalization of Ste.-Genevieve and put in a museum where they stayed until... Needless to say, there are plenty of twists to the story, including the removal of various bones as secular relics, the sale of various body parts, and the arrival of his skull in Paris by post.

Had Shorto stuck mainly to history and the bones, this would have been a better book. The history alone is good stuff and the conceit of the bones is a good one. He gets a lot of mileage out of the skull, in particular. Discussions of the mind-body problem, phrenology, cranial capacity and other scientific and pseudo-scientific concepts. (He is at his best when he reminds us how often the best scientists could be very wrong at times.) We get some insights into the politics of the times--both civil and scientific--and biography of some lesser-known scientists of the Enlightenment and after. And, ultimately, the conclusions Shorto draws about which of the "relics" are likely actually from Descartes seem sound.

Where he seems to go off-track are those times when he tries to link his work on Descartes with the faith vs. reason struggles of today. Granted, they had their roots in the Enlightenment and the work of Descartes, but his links often seem forced and haphazard, especially in the one-off comments he makes at various points in the text. These would have best been saved for the conclusions he draws near the end of the book.

To be fair, some of his conclusions are quite valid. Most impressive are the lines he draws (based on the work of Jonathan Israel) between the theological camp, the radical Enlightenment camp, and the moderate Enlightenment camp that developed in the years after Descartes and remain with us today. It's a useful framework for trying to understand why there is a faith/reason conflict (and why there doesn't have to be). Still, his logic fails in places.

But this is a book with many strengths. It tells a great historical tale and opens up a discussion on dualism and the impact of the Enlightenment that is worth having. That makes it a book worth reading.

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