Res extensa

Res extensa is one of the two substances described by René Descartes in his Cartesian ontology[1] (often referred to as "radical dualism"), alongside res cogitans. Translated from Latin, "res extensa" means "extended thing" while the latter is described as "a thinking and unextended thing".[2] Descartes often translated res extensa as "corporeal substance" but it is something that only God can create.[3]

  1. ^ Principia Philosophiae, 2.001.
  2. ^ Bordo, Susan (2010). Feminist Interpretations of Rene Descartes. University Park, Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University Press. p. 59. ISBN 978-0271018577.
  3. ^ Schmaltz, Tad (2008). Descartes on Causation. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 46. ISBN 9780195327946.