Philosophische Gotteserkenntnis bei Suárez und Descartes

Book excerpt: This volume deals with basic questions regarding the philosophical knowledge of God in Suárez and Descartes, two very different, but historically linked early-modern philosophers. It has two parts devoted to Suárez and Descartes respectively. Each section examines the path along which philosophy can acquire knowledge of God, the adequacy which is ascribed to this knowledge, as well as selected topics of the doctrine of God's attributes. Special attention has been given to both critical and positive reactions to Suárez and Descartes on the part of seventeenth-century Dutch Reformed theologians. The author argues that Descartes, in comparison with Suárez, reduced the theological interests of philosophy and also limited the starting points for attaining to a philosophical knowledge of God. On the other hand, Descartes elevated the presumed adequacy of this knowledge.