Natura e vita: tradizioni filosofiche e cartesianesimo in Tommaso Cornelio

Nature and life: philosophical traditions and Cartesianism in Tommaso Cornelio. Tommaso Cor-nelio’s theoretical-scientific program is committed to explaining life phenomena with-in the framework of Cartesian physics, which integrates living bodies into the mecha-nistic framework of a universe governed by the immutable laws of na-ture. However, while grounded in Cartesian anthropology, Cornelio expands his analy-sis of physio-logical processes by drawing from diverse philosophical and scientific traditions, rang-ing from the pre-Socratics and Renaissance thinkers to the ideas of his contemporar-ies. This study aims to highlight the strategy by which Cornelio frames the Cartesian paradigm within a more expansive spectrum of ideas and influences. By doing so, he traces a unique intellectual trajectory within the physical world as mapped by Des-cartes, in particular by accounting for vital phenomena without confining them to a strictly spatial and mechanistic model.