# A Puritan Response to Descartes?



## Puritan Sailor (Oct 17, 2016)

Did any Puritan or Scottish Presbyterian contemporaries of Descartes respond to his new epistemology? If so, what are the references, and what was their response (briefly)?


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## hammondjones (Oct 17, 2016)

Are you interested in Dutch Puritans, too? Quite a lot of back and both between Descartes and Voetius, but I'm less sure about English/Scottish interactions.


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## MW (Oct 17, 2016)

Puritan Sailor said:


> Did any Puritan or Scottish Presbyterian contemporaries of Descartes respond to his new epistemology? If so, what are the references, and what was their response (briefly)?



I would be interested in seeing something along the same lines, but from what I have seen there wasn't much in the way of interaction.

For an idea of the continental Reformed response De Moor is helpful:

http://www.bernardinusdemoor.com/ch...l-theology-against-cartesian-universal-doubt/

http://www.bernardinusdemoor.com/ch...stence-of-god-be-proven-from-the-idea-of-god/


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## ZackF (Oct 17, 2016)

Puritan Sailor said:


> Did any Puritan or Scottish Presbyterian contemporaries of Descartes respond to his new epistemology? If so, what are the references, and what was their response (briefly)?



If there was it probably isn't in English yet.


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## Puritan Sailor (Oct 18, 2016)

Thanks for the Continental references. I'll keep looking too. I thought I remembered someone mentioning a Westminster divine interacting with Descartes but I couldn't remember who. And I know there was discussion across the channel. But maybe the discussion had not advanced that far in England yet until a generation later.


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## MW (Oct 18, 2016)

Puritan Sailor said:


> I thought I remembered someone mentioning a Westminster divine interacting with Descartes but I couldn't remember who.



That would likely be John Dury. There is reference to his discussions with Descartes in the Hartlib papers.


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