Descartes: A Biography

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

Notes to Pages– 

Second Meditation: ‘The Human Mind, that it is better known than the body’,

‘so that people will not think that I wished to prove its immortality’ (iii.).

.Descartes to Mersenne,November(iii.).

.See Descartes to Mersenne,December(iii.–).

.Descartes to Mersenne,January(iii.).

.Hobbes to Mersenne for Descartes,February(iii.).

.Descartes to Mersenne for Hobbes,January(iii.). The controversy

continued in correspondence exchanged by Hobbes and Descartes through the

intermediary of Mersenne: Hobbes to Mersenne for Descartes,February

(iii.); Descartes to Mersenne for Hobbes,February(iii.); Descartes

to Mersenne,March,inwhich only part of the letter was for Hobbes (iii.

–); Hobbes to Mersenne for Descartes,March(iii.); Descartes

to Mersenne for Hobbes (iii.).

.Descartes to Mersenne,January(iii.). Even on first reading, on

January, Descartes was reluctant about this ‘Englishman’ and suspected that

he was not worth replying to (iii.).

.Descartes to Mersenne,March:‘Iwas the first to write it’ (iii.); Hobbes

to Mersenne for Descartes: ‘when you say that I could have borrowed a hypothesis

from him which he had published first, you will be my witness, I hope, that it is

seven years since I discussed with you in your lodging the reflection of the rainbow’

(iii.).

.Descartes to Mersenne,March,March, andMarch(iii.–,,

). Arnauld received his doctorate onDecember.

.Descartes to Mersenne,March(iii.–).

.Descartes to Huygens,July(iii.) andApril(iii.); Descartes

to Mersenne,July(iii.).

.See the letters from Gassendi quoted in iii.–.

.When Princess Elizabeth got a copy of the French translation of theMeditations,

she commented that Gassendi, ‘who has a great reputation for his knowledge,

wrote objections that – apart from the Englishman – were less reasonable than all

the others.’ Elizabeth to Descartes,December(v.).

.Descartes to Mersenne,June(iii.).

.Descartes mentions the possibility of getting an official endorsement in many

letters following the initial criticism by Bourdin, although the Sorbonne is not

always explicitly mentioned. Descartes to Mersenne,July(iii.–);

Descartes to Mersenne,September(iii.); Descartes to Mersenne,

November(iii.); Descartes to Mersenne,March(iii.);

Descartes to Mersenne,April(iii.); Descartes to Huygens,July

(iii.).

.See Armogathe ().

.‘A s r e gards myMetaphysics,Ihavestopped thinking about it since the day I sent

myreply to Hyperaspistes....thus I cannot reply to any of the things you asked

me about it, eight days ago, except to ask you not to think any more about it than

Ido.’Descartes to Mersenne, September(iii.).