Cartesian Firewall

Under Preparation: CCP Version (trying for 7000 words, no footnotes) 

Submitted to CCP login via: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5710-0323 and MIT alum email on 1st Oct 2025. Submitted: CCP Manuscript Author Details

Dear Asad Zaman,
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Submission ID

258684169

Manuscript Title

The Cartesian Firewall: Reinterpreting the Foundations of Modern Philosophy

Journal of Comparative and Continental Philosophy

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Abstract
This paper reinterprets Descartes’ philosophy not as the failed search for indubitable foundations, but as a successful strategic performance aimed at protecting inquiry from theological intrusion. The paradox of Cartesian philosophy—at once riddled with errors and yet enduring as a monument of modern thought—dissolves when we read it as a firewall rather than as a blueprint. Descartes’ notorious contradictions, from the Cartesian Circle to the incoherence of dualism, are recast as deliberate maneuvers designed to insulate natural philosophy from ecclesiastical authority. His strategic use of radical doubt, his repurposing of scholastic vocabulary, and even his problematic account of mind–body interaction appear less as metaphysical missteps than as calculated diversions that secured a safe space for reason. The success of this performance is evident in its legacy: Descartes’ epistemological framework was absorbed so deeply that even Newton judged his own theory of gravity “absurd” in Cartesian terms. To see Descartes as a strategist is to recognize both the brilliance of his achievement and the need, today, for new performances suited to the challenges of our own intellectual landscape.

JEMS: Cartesian Firewall: Reinterpreting the Foundations of Modern Philosophy - submitted via email to: jems@zetabooks.com  on 15th Sep 2025.  JEMS Version with Footnotes (9900 words). One 1Drive (JEMS Version) = NO Response to submission!!