Descartes: A Biography PDF
Preview Descartes: A Biography
P:KAE pre CUNYB/Clarke December, : DESCARTES ABiography Rene´Descartesisbestrememberedtodayforwriting“Ithink,thereforeIam,” buthismaincontributiontothehistoryofideaswashisefforttoconstruct aphilosophythatwouldbesympathetictothenewsciencesthatemergedin theseventeenthcentury.ToagreatextenthewasthemidwifetotheScientific Revolutionandasignificantcontributortoitskeyconcepts.Infourmajorpub- lications,hefashionedaphilosophicalsystemthataccommodatedtheneeds of these new sciences and thereby earned the unrelenting hostility of both CatholicandCalvinisttheologians,whoreliedonthescholasticphilosophy thatDescarteshopedtoreplace.Hiscontemporariesclaimedthathisproofs ofGod’sexistence,intheMeditations,weresounsuccessfulthathemusthave beenacrypticatheist,andthathisdiscussionofscepticismservedmainlyto fantheflamesoflibertinism.DescartesdiedinStockholminobscuritybut soonbecameoneofthemostfamousphilosophersoftheseventeenthcentury, astatusthathecontinuestoenjoytoday.ThisisthefirstbiographyinEnglish thataddressesthefullrangeofDescartes’interestsintheology,philosophy, andthesciencesandthattraceshisintellectualdevelopmentthroughhisentire career. DesmondM.ClarkeisProfessorofPhilosophyattheNationalUniversity of Ireland, Cork. He received a D.Litt. from the National University of Ireland, was Jean Monnet Fellow at the European University Institute inFlorence,andhasbeenelectedtotheRoyalIrishAcademy.Heisthe author of a number of books on Descartes and the seventeenth century, mostrecentlyDescartes’sTheoryofMind. i P:KAE pre CUNYB/Clarke December, : ii P:KAE pre CUNYB/Clarke December, : Descartes A Biography Desmond M. Clarke NationalUniversityofIreland,Cork iii cambridge university press Cambridge,NewYork,Melbourne,Madrid,CapeTown,Singapore,SãoPaulo Cambridge University Press TheEdinburghBuilding,Cambridgecb22ru,UK PublishedintheUnitedStatesofAmericabyCambridgeUniversityPress,NewYork www.cambridge.org Informationonthistitle:www.cambrid ge.org/9780521823012 © D e s m o n d M . C l a r k e 2006 Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexceptionandtotheprovisionof relevantcollectivelicensingagreements,noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplace withoutthewrittenpermissionofCambridgeUniversityPress. Firstpublishedinprintformat 2006 isbn-13 978-0-511-16899-4 eBook (NetLibrary) isbn-10 0-511-16899-3 eBook (NetLibrary) isbn-13 978-0-521-82301-2 hardback isbn-10 0-521-82301-3 hardback CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyofurls forexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication,anddoesnot guaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain,accurateorappropriate. P:KAE pre CUNYB/Clarke December, : Contents Prefaceand Acknowledgments page vii NoteonTexts andReferences ix DescartesFamilyTree x Introduction ALawyer’sEducation InSearchofaCareer(–) Magic,Mathematics,andMechanics:Paris, – AFabulousWorld(–) TheScientificEssaysandtheDiscourseon Method(–) RetreatandDefence(–) MetaphysicsinaHornet’sNest(–) TheFrenchLiar’sMonkeyandtheUtrecht Crisis DescartesandPrincessElizabeth ThePrinciplesofPhilosophy() TheQuarrelandFinalRiftwithRegius OnceMoreintoBattle:TheLeiden Theologians() ThoughtsofRetirement DeathinSweden v P:KAE pre CUNYB/Clarke December, : vi Contents Appendix:Descartes’ PrincipalWorks Appendix:PlacesWhere DescartesLived Notes Bibliography Index P:KAE pre CUNYB/Clarke December, : Preface and Acknowledgments Those who were best equipped in the past to write a biography of Descartes embarked on the project with great reluctance and explicit apologies. This pattern was set by the first major biographer, Adrien Baillet,inthelateseventeenthcentury.Ashebeganthetask,hehadon his desk more original documents by Descartes and his contemporaries thananyonehasevercollectedsincethen.Nonetheless,hesuggestedthat Chanut, Clerselier, or Legrand would have been a more suitable biog- rapher than himself. Charles Adam was equally hesitant about writing his Life of Descartes (), even though he had just completed editing the eleven-volume edition of Descartes’ works with Paul Tannery. ‘In the current state of our knowledge’, he wrote, ‘it will not be possible for a long time to complete such a work properly.’ Adam thought that a good biography would require preparatory studies of philosophical andscientifictopicsintheearlyseventeenthcentury,andmoreresearch on those who influenced Descartes and on his personal relations with contemporaries. WhenthelateTerryMooreaskedmeifIwereinterestedinwritinga biography of Descartes, I answered too quickly in the affirmative. I did notappreciateadequatelytheunsatisfactorystateofDescartes’correspon- dence,althoughIbelievedthatmanyofthestudiesthatAdamtalkedabout had been done during the past century. My colleague in Utrecht, Theo Verbeek,wasmuchbetterinformedaboutthesemattersandtoldmewith benevolentkindnessthatIwasafool!However,healsoagreedtocompen- sate as much as possible for my ignorance and temerity by sharing with mehiswealthofknowledgeaboutDescartes’lifeintheNetherlands,and abouttheDutchauthorsintheseventeenthcenturywhoweresignificant forhisbiography. vii P:KAE pre CUNYB/Clarke December, : viii PrefaceandAcknowledgments IamparticularlygratefultoTheoVerbeekformakingavailablehiswork inprogressonDescartes’correspondence.IalsothankErik-JanBosand Theoforreadingthefirstdraftofthewholetextandformakingmanyvalu- ablesuggestionsandnecessarycorrections.DoloresDooleylikewiseread thefulltextandmadedetailedcomments.DesMacHaleandOliverRanner readvariouschaptersandofferedhelpfulsuggestions.JeroenvandeVen providedinformationaboutHelenaJans,andIborrowedextensivelyfrom the two-volume bibliography of Descartes’ works prepared by Matthijs van Otegem. Letizia Panizza and John Sutton obliged with suggestions andmaterialaboutthelibertinesandDigby.Iconsultedcolleaguesinthe DepartmentsofFrenchandAncientClassicsatUniversityCollege,Cork, forassistancewithtranslations,includingMatthewMacNamara,Patrick O’Donovan,andKeithSithwell,andIamverygratefulfortheirhelp. Mostoftheresearchforthisbookwascompletedduringthe– academic year, during which I had a Government of Ireland Senior FellowshipfromtheIrishResearchCouncilfortheHumanitiesandSocial Sciences. I am grateful to the council for the financial assistance that made this work possible. I also acknowledge financial support from the ArtsFaculty,UniversityCollege,Cork,duringtheyears–,which enabledmetoconsultmaterialattheBibliothe`queNationale,Paris,andat theBritishLibrary,London.Duringthepastyear,Ialsoreliedonthepro- fessional advice of Charles Shinkwin and David Pearson, each of whom contributed indirectly but significantly to the timely conclusion of this project. Cork November P:KAE pre CUNYB/Clarke December, : Note on Texts and References Most references to Descartes are to the eleven-volume edition of his Oeuvres, edited by Charles Adam and Paul Tannery, which was sub- sequentlyreissuedwithadditionsandcorrections.Althoughthisedition isusuallyidentifiedintheliteratureas‘AT’,Ihavesimplifiedreferences by omitting this acronym and by providing only the volume and page numbers.WhereIrefertoalternativeeditionsofDescartes’works,Iuse thesamestyleofauthor/datethatisusedforotherauthors.Ihaveused theusualprefix,‘CM’,torefertothestandardeditionofMersenne’scor- respondence.SomerelevantdetailsofDescartes’correspondenceremain uncertain,suchasthedateoraddressee.Ihavefollowedthetentativesug- gestionsofAdamandTannery,indicatinguncertaintybysquarebrackets, unlesstheambiguitieshavebeenresolvedinDescartes()orelsewhere. Thenotesusetheauthor/datesystemofreference.Thecorresponding entriesinthebibliographyrefertotheeditionsthatImanagedtoconsult, ratherthantofirsteditions.WheretherearestandardEnglisheditionsof primarytextsreadilyavailable,Ihavealsoprovidedinformationonsuch editions. Finally, I have translated into English the titles of all works that are mentionedinthebodyofthetext. ix
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