Descartes: A Biography

c CUNYB/Clarke     December, :

 Descartes: A Biography

he did not mention explicitly what he proposed studying on that occasion,

he wrote unambiguously to Huygens at the end of the month that he had

sent him more thanpages of objections and replies, and asked him to

cast his eye over the whole lot and to suggest corrections.By May, he

had to send a reminder, asking for a return of the ‘bundle’ of objections

(ii.), because he planned to have them published that summer. Huy-

gens, however, was busy with preparations for the departure of the prince’s

army from The Hague.

By this time it seems clear that Descartes was discussing with Huygens

the publication of a Latin version of theEssays, together with selected

objections and replies. It remains unclear when work on the Latin trans-

lation began. Descartes referred to discussions of a Latin edition as early

as, and there is evidence that a Latin version of theMeteorswas

being circulated in early.Forexample, Descartes had sent a copy

of this Latin text to a Dutch theologian, Caspar van Baerle (–), in

the autumn of,inthe hope of provoking him into writing objections.

Unfortunately, that ploy failed, and one year later he had to request that the

manuscript be returned.The text that eventually appeared in Latin, in

from Elzevier in Amsterdam, was most likely done not by Descartes

himself, but byEtienne de Courcelles, a French Huguenot who earned ́

his living as a translator. Betweenand, therefore, there is good

reason to think that some parts of a Latin translation of theDiscourse, the

Dioptrics, and especially theMeteorswere circulating among those Dutch

readers who did not read French, and that Descartes was concerned that

he would lose control of its publication.

Huygens advised Descartes, onMay,topublishThe World

rather than ‘these objections and solutions’ (ii.). Descartes seems to

have accepted more or less immediately the second part of this advice,

not to publish objections and replies to theEssays. Huygens left The

Hague with the army onMay, and wrote from an army camp five

days later with a new argument in favour of publishingThe World.‘You

will die. After your death, thisWorldwill see the world’ (ii.), and

there will be no opportunity at that stage to rebut the objections and

misinterpretations that will result from the ‘ignorance and envy’ of readers.

Descartes, however, was not impressed by this new argument. He had not

decided never to publishThe Worldwhile he was alive, no more than he

planned to arrange for a posthumous publication. Besides, although death

might surprise him at any moment, ‘I feel that my teeth are so good and