Descartes: A Biography

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Retreat and Defence (–) 

so strong, thank God, that I do not think I need to fear death for more

than thirty years, unless it were to surprise me’ (ii.).

With these optimistic anticipations about his health, Descartes con-

cluded that it would be best not to publish the objections and replies, and

to defer once again any final decision about publishingThe World. His

recent studies in anatomy and medicine prompted the reflection that, had

he been composingThe Worldinrather than in–,hewould

not have avoided trying to explain the formation and birth of animals by

assuming a body already fully formed.Thus, almost nine years after he

had begun to work systematically on a general renewal of natural philos-

ophy,The Worldremained in the background as the key to understanding

his philosophy, often requested by sympathetic readers, but destined to

remain unpublished unless Rome changed its mind about Galileo.Mean-

time, the period–had been consumed by objections from critics to

theEssaysand by detailed and lengthy replies that would appear, posthu-

mously, only in Descartes’ correspondence. If Descartes were to realize

his ambitions, he needed a new strategy that would not compromise his

standing vis-`a-vis Rome and would support his claim to be recognized as

a distinctive voice in the already crowded competition for novel ideas in

thes.