Cogito, ergo sum: the life of Rene Descartes

390 Pages·2002·60.243 MB·English

by  Richard A. Watson

RICHARD WATSON
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Cogito, Ergo Sum
The Life of Rene Descartes
RENE DESCARTES is the philosophical architect
of our modern world. In metaphysics, he estab-
lished the view that mind and body are distinct
substances, a position foundational for any belief
that the human soul is immortal. In mathemat-
ics, he invented analytic geometry — the basis of
calculus — which makes physics as we know it
possible. Descartes perfected the method of pro-
posing and testing hypotheses with experiments
that anyone can repeat, which forms the basis of
modern science. In optics, he discovered and
described laws of refraction and reflection. In
medicine, he was a pioneer in vivisection and
anatomical description for understanding the
human body. In physiology, his analysis of the
relations among the sense organs, nerves, and the
brain is still taught today. In psychology, he dis-
covered conditioned reflexes and investigated the
role of the emotions in human behavior. Des-
cartes said there was no point in trying to refute
Aristotelian Scholasticism; rather, he would sim-
ply show a better way. Some 350 years after his
death, our twenty-first-century world — from
mind-body dualism to heart pumps, from pop
psychology to personal computers — is thor-
oughly Cartesian. Nothing in the modern world
would alarm or surprise him were he alive today.
Descartes’s motto was that a life well hidden is
a life well lived. Much of his own life is obscure to
us now, which has led to tales of the great philoso-
pher lying in bed meditating each morning until
eleven, piously following the dictates of a cardinal,
writing verses for a queen, and so on. Many of
these myths are exploded in Cogito, Ergo Sum, the
(contim
UtlL-rS. J !U fJJ
COGITO, ERGO SUM
RENE DESCARTES (1596-1650)
BY JAN-BAPTIST WEENIX • 1643
Centraal Museum, Utrecht
RICHARD WATSON
Cogito, Ergo Sum
THE LIFE OF RENE DESCARTES
liberty and leisure are two things 1 possess so perfectly,
and that 1 value so highly that no monarch on earth
is rich enough to buy them from me.
'Rene Descartes, 1630
1 love storm, and dread it when the wind drops.
Queen Christina, 1650
Publisher
DAVID R. GODINE,
BOSTON
First published in 2002 by
R. • Publisher
DAVID GODINE
Post Office Box 450
Jaffrey, New Hampshire 03452
www.godine. com
Copyright © 2002 by Richard A. Watson
All Rights reserved. No part of this book may be used
or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without
written permission except in the case of brief excerpts
embodied in critical articles and reviews.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Watson, Richard A., 1931-
Cogito, ergo sum: the life of Rene Descartes
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1-56792-184-1 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN
1. Descartes, Rene, 1596-1650.
2. Philosophers—France—Biography.
I. Title.
B1873.W38 2002
194—dc2i
[B] 2001040858
FIRST EDITION 2002
Printed in Canada
CONTENTS
List of Illustrations vii
Introduction
The curse of Cartesianism 3
Prologue
On the Zeedijk 24
I • Childhood
Since my childhood,
I have been nurtured on books. 41
II • Schooling
It is the best school in France. 65
III • Isaac Beeckman
You have awakened me. 78
IV • Magic Kingdoms
I have made a most marvelous discovery. 93
V • The Rebel
I am not prepared for a judgeship. 115
VI • Flight
Tell no one my address. 137
VII • Descartes’s Dog
I go almost every day to the slaughterhouse. 155
VII • Francine Descartes
/ am not one of those philosophers who think
a man should not cry. 171
V
IX • The Geometers
/ have gone as far in mathematics
as the human mind can go. igi
X • Princess Elisabeth
No one has understood me better. 2 05
XI • The Preachers
/ am not an atheist. 221
XII • The Fronde
It is like inviting a guest to dinner when your
kitchen is in an uproar and the cooking pot
turned over. 244
XIII • Queen Christina
Where mens thoughts freeze like the water. 271
Conclusion
The ghost in the machine fights
the last battle for the human soul. 312
Acknowledgments 329
Bibliography 331
Index of Names 347
Index of Subjects 356
VI
ILLUSTRATIONS
page
a Rene Descartes (1596-1650)
by Jan-Baptist Weenbc, 1643
40 The house in La Haye where Descartes was born
53 The house in Chatellerault where Descartes was
brought up by his great-uncle Michel Ferrand
6o Michel Ferrand (1568-1610) Descartes’s maternal
great-uncle and godfather
67 The Royal College of La Fleche around 1610
114 Guez de Balzac (1579?-1654) poet, Descartes’s
friend in Paris
136 Pere Marin Mersenne (1588-1648) Descartes’s
postman in Paris
173 Westermarkt 6 in Amsterdam, where Francine
Descartes was conceived
190 Pierre Gassendi (1592-1655) one of the objectors to
Descartes’s Meditations
204 Elisabeth de Boheme (1618-1679) Princess Palatine
by Guillaume van Honthorst
215 Engraved Portrait of Rene Descartes
after a drawing by Frans Schooten II1644
220 Henry Regius (1598-1679) Descartes’s first
disciple in Utrecht
VII
22 9 Gisbertus Voetius (1586-1676) Rector at the
University of Utrecht in 1641
239 Constantijn Huygens (1596-1687)
by Jan Lievens
270 Queen Christina of Sweden (1626-1689)
by Sebastian Bourdon c. 1648
310 Rene Descartes by Jan Lievens,
sometime after 1647
VIII