Descartes: A Biography

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

 Descartes: A Biography

was most likely medical, he suggested, and Mersenne was too credulous if

he believed otherwise. Indeed, Descartes was confident that he could even

diagnose the illness himself if the patient were to consult him.During

all this time, Descartes seems to have continued his interest in anatomy,

especially in response to queries about the pineal gland.This suggests

acontinuation of the pattern of investigations adopted from his early days

in the United Provinces, which is reflected in the surprising plans for a

new book that emerge during the months when theMetaphysicswas being

published.

OnNovember, Descartes began to sketch the idea of writing

a general summary of his philosophy, which might even include a parallel

summary of scholastic philosophy. This was outlined in the context of

explaining to his Minim correspondent that many phenomena could not

be explained without revealing ‘the principles of my philosophy’:

I will tell you that I have decided to write them [i.e., thePrinciples] before I leave this

country and to publish them possibly within a year. My plan is to write, in order, a

whole textbook of my Philosophy in the form of theses where, without any redundant

discussion, I will include only all my conclusions, with the real reasons from which I

deduce them, something that I think I can do in relatively few words. I also plan, in

the same book, to print a textbook of the common Philosophy such as, possibly, that of

Brother Eustace, with my notes at the end of each question where I will add the various

opinions of others...and, in conclusion, I might add a comparison between these two

philosophies. But I beseech you not to say a word about this to anyone, especially not

before myMetaphysicsis published....it might inhibit the approval of the Sorbonne,

which I desire, and which I think could be extremely helpful for my plans. (iii.)

The vague reference to ‘my plans’ revealed his hopes of having this book

accepted as a treatise on metaphysics that could serve as an alternative to

those usually used in colleges. The same ambition was repeated in similar

wordsthe following month. On this occasion Descartes asked whether

Brother Eustace was still alive, so that he could ask permission to reprint

his philosophy course.As usual, Mersenne did not keep the news to

himself. OnDecember,Villiers wrote to him to say how happy he

was to hear that Descartes’ metaphysics was about to appear and that ‘it

might perhaps be the fore-runner to his Physics.’

By the end of, Descartes had apparently made enough progress

onthe draftPrinciplesto write to Mersenne as follows:

Apart from issues that are relevant to myMetaphysics...Iwould be very happy to have

as few distractions as possible, at least for this year [i.e.,], which I have decided