Descartes: A Biography

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The Principles of Philosophy() 

declining lack of interest in reading books is confirmed by Baillet’s account

of the inventory taken after his death in Sweden. ‘One must acknowledge,

however, that he did not read very much, that he had very few books, and

that most of those that were found by his inventory after his death were

presents from his friends.’

This unwavering focus on anatomy and physiology was confirmed by

Descartes’ reply to a request from one of his most loyal and supportive

friends, Constantijn Huygens, who asked him in Julyto do some

work on chemistry. Descartes replied, with regret:

It was difficult for me to decide to send you this letter without including a discourse

on chemistry, as you had requested. For there is nothing that I would not do very

willingly to obey you, on condition that I was capable of doing so. However, having

already written what little I know about this subject in Part Four of myPrinciples...I

cannot write anything more about it without running the risk of making mistakes,

because I have not done the experiments that would be required to acquire detailed

knowledge of each thing. Since I have no opportunity to perform those experiments,

I renounce this study for the future...and all other studies for which I require the

assistance of others. For I still have enough other studies, which I can do myself, and

which will occupy me happily for the rest of my life. (iv.–)

Since Descartes was given to making dramatic claims that had the

appearance of finality, one has to read this letter to Huygens with some

caution. However, there are obvious intimations in his correspondence

that he was becoming increasingly aware of the limited time that might

remain to him and of the need to channel his energies to complete the more

urgent of his projects. In contrast with earlier predictions of a long healthy

life, Descartes also began to acknowledge explicitly his advancing years

and their impact on his well-being. From about the age of forty-three he

had taken to wearing a wig, to protect his head from the cold.He began

to feel that, ‘since my trip to France [in], I have got twenty years

older than I was last year, so that to go from here to the Hague is now a

greater journey than it was previously to travel to Rome.’This reticence

about travel did not prevent him from making two further journeys to

France, inand, nor from accepting the invitation from Queen

Christina of Sweden that eventually led to his death. His state of mind, in

the final years in Egmond, was one of uncertainty about the future and of

agrowing reluctance to publish anything at all. Even his desire for victory

in the long-running dispute with Voetius was waning. Having heard no