Descartes: A Biography

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

 Descartes: A Biography

onhis gradual adjustment to a life of solitude before leaving France for

the United Provinces. Despite the passing of time, these lines have the

appearance of authenticity. He was discussing the general question of how

onemoves between two radically different positions and was suggesting

that such significant changes are realized best by degrees. In that context,

he used the example of his own conversion from a normal busy life to that

of a reclusive philosopher:

That is why, it seems to me, it is best to move from one extreme to another only by

degrees. Before I came to this country in search of solitude, I spent a winter in France

in the country, where I did my apprenticeship. Although I had embarked on a definite

direction in my life, in which my indisposition did not allow me to remain for any

length of time, I did not wish to hide this indisposition. I preferred instead to make it

appear greater than it actually was, so that I could honestly excuse myself from all the

actions which could reduce it and thereby, by a series of easy steps, realize a complete

freedom by degrees.

The beneficial results of this apprenticeship in solitude became evident in

subsequent years.

There is no direct evidence that Descartes participated in the siege of

La Rochelle.The St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre, during the reign of

Charles IX, had been the worst example previously of the intermittent

ethnic cleansing of Huguenots in France. It began onAugustand

continued for a number of days, during which thousands of Huguenots

were murdered in Paris and in various provincial cities, including the

famous professor of eloquence and philosophy Peter Ramus. This defining

moment in French history was followed by a period of relative toleration

under Henry IV, who was responsible for the Edict of Nantes. The complex

factors that led to the siege of La Rochelle are certainly not reducible

simply to intolerance of the Reformed Church by the majority Catholic

population. However, Richelieu recommended to the young Louis XIII

that he consolidate his power over the kingdom of France – to ‘demolish

the Huguenot party, to humble the pride of the great, to subjugate all

subjects in their duties and to raise his name among foreign nations to the

status that it deserved.’

La Rochelle, therefore, was not just a Huguenot city; it was also poten-

tially a focus of dissent in a kingdom that was frequently threatened by

secession and disunity. At the beginning of the siege,September,

the city had approximately,inhabitants. The landing of the duke of

Buckingham at the nearby Ile de R ́einJulygavethe impression of an