مقاربة أنطولوجية بين توما الأكويني و رينه ديكارت أو من العرفان إلى العقل

Abstract EN

This paper discusses the evolution of the philosophical theologian discourse in Christianity from the perspective of two leading figures who represented a crucial turning point in the history of modern western civilization: Saint Thomas Aquinas and the philosopher and mathematician Rene Descartes.

While Thomas Aquinas championed the relation between mind and faith in the name of the Church, Descartes applied a rigorous scientific methodology to all types of knowledge.

These developments fostered a dialogue between reason and science; between the Thomist dictum "I reason so that I believe" and the Cartesian cogito "I think, therefore I am".

The originality of the two figures resides in that both of them adopted and defended Christian thought, but in fact, both endeavored to eradicate the traditional religious system in order to establish a new theology founded on rational knowledge.

Equally, both strived to establish a rigorous scientific methodology to liberate knowledge from myths and doubts.

Paradoxically, Thomas Aquinas found himself enclosed between Ibn Rushd and Al-Ghazali, and his fate was no better than the day he fell from his donkey and died.

If he tends to compromise between mind and faith, he becomes necessarily Rushdist.

If he, on the contrary, prefers faith, mysticism and heart knowledge, he finds himself Ghazalist.

Descartes, on the other hand, was trapped in the dilemma of duality of spirit and body, which gave Spinoza the chance to wipe out his entire structure and build a new philosophical system.

Moving between this and that, this contribution tries to do justice to both, highlighting their pros and cons.