Linee per una rilettura dell'antropocentrismo cartesiano

In the Principia philosophiæ Descartes admonishes not only against «having a high opinion of yourself», but also against believing that everything was created for us. Is Descartes therefore a precursor of the current anti-anthropocentric view? It is not easy to provide a positive answer. Nonetheless it ought to be expressed the need to correct the preconception that Descartes was insensitive to the value of nature and justified animal cruelty. Indeed, anthropocentrism is for Descartes a thesis with theological value, but not a truth with scientific significance. Leaving aside the functional merit of anthropocentrism with respect to the ethical and religious orienta-tion of human behaviour, Descartes’ philosophy criticises anthropocentric arrogance, with the intent both to condemn the illusion that mankind is the purpose of divine creation and to avoid ridiculous and inappropriate effects on physics of such an illusion.