Hmmm Except there is no conflict between faith and reason --Mike
On Sun, May 31, 2009 at 3:50 PM, <[email protected]> wrote: > Back when the dinosaurs still ruled the earth (January, 1999), I > started a thread on where Mr. I-Think-Therefore-I-am is buried. > I was joined in this by other TIPSters, Sue Franz in particular, I think. > So what did we uncover? > > The question, it turned out, required another question to be answered > first. Which part of Descartes? Because in the process of burying the > poor man, digging him up, and burying him again (three times), various > of his parts went missing or on tour, a shabby way to treat the great > philosopher. Playing Carmen Sandiego with Descartes´ body intrigued me, > both because it seemed a useful way to interest students in him, and also > because, well, it was curious, wasn´t it? > > It also seems to have intrigued the journalist Russell Shorto, who has > now provided a definitive account of the travels of Descartes after > death. His 2008 book is titled, reasonably enough, "Descartes' Bones". > The punny subtitle is: "A skeletal history of the conflict between faith > and reason", because it uses the occasion of tracing Descartes' bones to > discuss his life and times and intellectual contributions. It's an > entertaining and edifying read. > > In less than twitter-like fashion, I summarize. Descartes died in the > middle of a Swedish winter in 1650 of some mysterious disorder, which > included fever and pneumonia. The strange Queen Christina is unjustly > blamed for his death, because she invited him to Sweden, and insisted > that he get up at 5 am to come over and tutor her in her castle. Did I > mention this was in the middle of one of the coldest of Swedish winters? > And that 17th century Swedish castles do not have central heating? You > can see why she gets blamed. > > Descartes was buried outside of Stockholm. Sixteen years later (1667), he > was dug up, consigned to a too-small copper coffin, and shipped off to > Paris. The French ambassador took the opportunity to help himself to a > bone of his right index finger, which was never seen again. 154 years > later, a skull alleged to be his shows up at auction. The best guess is > that the skull was stolen back in 1667 and its absence unnoticed until > much, much later. In the meantime the skull travelled widely. > > At Paris, what was left of Descartes was stashed in the church of > Ste.Genevieve-du-Mont. Time passed; the church decayed. The French > Revolution arrived. In 1792, when religious institutions were under > attack, the church was closed. A debate arose at the National Convention > whether to transfer Descartes to the Pantheon (conveniently located just > across the square from Ste. Genevieve) where French heroes reside. Some > guidebooks insist that's where he is now, but they're wrong. It didn´t > happen, the National Convention having other matters to distract them > such as whose heads to guillotine. > > The heroic and driven Alexandre Lenoir set out on the noble task of > saving the great works of art of France from the vandals (just see what > they did to the facade of Notre Dame, for example). Because the old, > falling-down church of St. Genevieve was in danger of being ransacked in > the chaos of the revolution, Lenoir in 1792 mounted a rescue mission, > digging Descartes up again and bringing him to his warehouse of saved > treasures (the "Museum of French Monuments", now the Ecole des Beaux- > Arts). Lenoir helped himself to a bit, having "one very small piece of > bone plate" carved into rings which he gave to friends. Nice to know > someone who can give you jewellery made out of Descartes. > > Napoleon arrived, then Louis XVIII. 1819 was another moving day for > Descartes, this time from Lenoir´s place to the church of St. Germain-des- > Pres, because the saved art objects were going back to their owner, the > Catholic church. Descartes was placed in a "fresh oak coffin" and buried. > This time he stayed there. Maybe. > > Then there's the matter of Descartes' skull. The 1821 auction where it > reappeared was of the estate of the deceased Professor Anders Sparrman of > Sweden. The winning bid came from a casino owner. The eminent Swedish > chemist Jons Berzelius, Sparrman´s student, was shocked by the loss of > the relic, tracked down the owner, and convinced him to sell the skull to > Berzelius at cost. It was turned over to the Museum of Natural History > (Museum of Man) in Paris, where it remains today. > > The skull has notes written on it by its various owners in its travels > before Sparrman rescued it, and also a poem. The jaw is missing. You > would think a museum would be able to hold onto to it but, no, it was > washed away in the great flood of 1910, and only after a determined > search retrieved from a "jumble" of other bones. Opinion seems to be that > it's the real deal, but given its poorly-documented provenance, no one > can be certain. > > SPOILER ALERT. Shorto adds a important hypothesis to this remarkable > story of the perambulations of Descartes' bones. If you plan on reading > the book, I suggest you read no further, and wait for Shorto to tell you > about it, for maximum pleasure. > > But a story like this is a specialized taste, and most of you won't be > reading it. So here it is for those who can't wait. > > There's a significant problem with this story according to Shorto. When > Descartes was buried for the last time at St. Germain-des-Pres in 1819, > he says the attending officials were shocked to discover how little of > him remained. Lenoir also wrote in a letter that when he retrieved > Descartes in 1792 he found only "some very disappointing bits of bone in > very small quantity". The skull was missing. And there was no copper > coffin. So where did most of Descartes go? > > Shorto makes a convincing case that _none_ of it is Descartes. He cites > various clues that when Lenoir went back to St. Genevieve during the > Revolution to rescue Descartes' bones, in the chaos of the time and > misled by a plaque on the wall, he dug at the wrong place. Shorto thinks > that whatever it was he brought out of the church, it wasn´t Descartes. > > So why can't we go back now to get him? Because the church, in poor > condition for many years, no longer exists. It was razed in 1807, and the > bones, if they were still there, were either destroyed by Revolutionary > vandals, or were ploughed up in the construction of the street that > stands in its place. Although Shorto doesn't say so, from his description > and with the help of Google and street view, the street which may have > obliterated Descartes' bones must be the Rue Clovis, next to the Church > of St. Etienne du Mont, just across from the Pantheon. Shorto does say > that this unnamed street runs into the Rue Descartes, which the Rue > Clovis does, although given this history, it would be more fitting were > the Rue Clovis named Descartes. > > I think Tom Hanks should star as Russell Shorto in a movie of this. > > ----------------------------------------------------------------- > Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. > Professor of Psychology, Emeritus > Bishop's University e-mail: [email protected] > 2600 College St. > Sherbrooke QC J1M 1Z7 > Canada > > Subscribe to discussion list (TIPS) for the teaching of > psychology at http://flightline.highline.edu/sfrantz/tips/ > ----------------------------------------------------------------------- > > --- > To make changes to your subscription contact: > > Bill Southerly ([email protected]) > --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected])
