Economy of Desire in Hemsterhuis

What the essay calls ‘economy of desire’ in Frans Hemsterhuis refers to the attempt of the philosopher to show (first of all in his Lettre sur les désirs 1770) the ways the soul takes to reach the highest perfection for human being. i.e. to harmonize contingent choices and absolute ‘dispositions’ of the soul. Considering Descartes’ ‘new method’ for the impression of a “total intuition” (Regulae VII, IX) as the very goal to conquer, and joining together the Platonical eros and the Newtonian power of attraction, Hemsterhuis describes as ‘desire’ every search for homogeneity through heterogeneity, according to the principle ruling every judgement on beauty, on friendship, on God’s love. The essay claims Hemsterhuis focuses attention upon an economical-ethical principle to reduce complexity and to smooth differences, being also helped by the feeling of ‘dusgust’ as the device which allows the soul to avoid loss of spiritual energy and useless labor. To be fulfilled, Hemsterhuis’s plan requests finally both an ‘economy of desires’ to direct the practical choises of the soul (included its tendency to be or become a member of a community) and a ‘hyperbolic metaphysics’ (a sense of beauty) to go beyond the natural assurance and inclination to unity, and explain why ‘uneasiness’ is a permanent quality of the soul and of its striving nature.