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



The Quarrel and Final Rift

with Regius

The book by Mr. Regius does not contain a word about Metaphysics that is not

exactly the opposite of my views.

T

two years immediately following his visit to France –and

–were a transitional period in Descartes’ life in many senses of

that term. In Paris he had met a number of potentially supportive scholars,

and he had begun almost immediately to cultivate their friendship. How-

ever, once returned to the north of Holland, he seemed to lapse into a gen-

eral malaise. He heard onNovemberthat his friend Bannius had

died during his absence.During the following months he wrote relatively

little; he tried with limited success to complete the missing parts of the

Principles; and he completely sundered his friendship with one of his most

loyal and committed followers, Regius. There was some compensation

forthis intellectual stagnation in the preparation of French translations

of his two Latin books, theMeditationsand thePrinciples, although the

work involved in translating them was done by others. Midway through

this period he also began to work on a completely new project – which he

called the passions of the soul – partly at the request of Princess Elizabeth

and partly in response to queries from Chanut. Even here, however, his

tentative explorations were qualified by a lack of interest in publishing the

results. It was consistent with this mood that, for the first time in almost

two decades, he began to consider seriously returning to France or finding

alternative ways to enjoy the stimulation of intellectual discussions with

his fellow countrymen.

It is clear from Descartes’ earliest days in the United Provinces that he

had a weakness for losing friends and, in the case of those who criticized

him, for making permanent enemies. One notable exception to this gen-

eral pattern was Cornelis van Hogelande (–). Van Hogelande

