ГЕОМЕТРИЧЕСКИЙ МЕТОД В ФИЛОСОФИИ

Geometrical Method in Philosophy

Widely used but inaccurate name for the axiomatic method of setting out philosophical theories; Spinoza was its most prominent exponent. He modelled his chief work Ethics, on Euclid's geometry, in the sense that he first presented the necessary definitions and axioms and then proceeded to prove the resultant theorems. In our time these theorems appear artificial, but it was Spinoza's purpose to stress the necessary interconnection between parts of the Universe, our knowledge of which is capable of proof.

Descartes, whose Discours de la méthode is clearly influenced by geometry, set a high value on the Geometrical Method. He went so far as to postulate that clarity and appearance, both notable features of geometrical axioms, are criteria of the validity of all knowledge. In his De la recherche de la vérité, Malebranche notes man's natural inclination to error and recommends the Geometrical Method for metaphysics, i.e., speculative philosophy, to make it possible to deduce all the consequences from its few self-evident propositions.