The Correspondence between Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia and René Descartes (The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe)

280 Pages·2007·1.42 MB·english

by  Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia

THE CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN
PRINCESS ELISABETH OF BOHEMIA
AND RENÉ DESCARTES
THE
OTHER VOICE
IN
EARLY MODERN
EUROPE
A Series Edited by Margaret L. King and Albert Rabil Jr.
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Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia
and
René Descartes
THE CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN
PRINCESS ELISABETH OF BOHEMIA
AND RENÉ DESCARTES
(cid:2)
Edited and Translated
by Lisa Shapiro
THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS
Chicago & London
Elisabeth of Bohemia, Princess Palatine, 1618–1680
René Descartes, 1596–1650
Lisa Shapiro is associate professor of philosophy
at Simon Fraser University.
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
© 2007 by The University of Chicago
All rights reserved. Published 2007
Printed in the United States of America
16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 1 2 3 4 5
ISBN-13: 978-0-226-20441-3 (cloth)
ISBN-13: 978-0-226-20442-0 (paper)
ISBN-10: 0-226-20441-3 (cloth)
ISBN-10: 0-226-20442-1 (paper)
The University of Chicago Press gratefully acknowledges the generous support of
James E. Rabil, in memory of Scottie W. Rabil, toward the publication of this book.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Elisabeth, Countess Palatine, 1618–1680.
[Correspondence. English. Selections]
The correspondence between Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia and René Descartes / edited
and translated by Lisa Shapiro.
p. cm. — (The other voice in early modern Europe)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-226-20441-3 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-226-20441-3 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN-13: 978-0-226-20442-0 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-226-20442-1 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Descartes, Reni, 1596–1650—Correspondence. 2. Elisabeth, Countess Palatine,
1618–1680—Correspondence. 3. Philosophy, Modern—17th century. I. Shapiro, Lisa.
II. Descartes, Reni, 1596–1650. Correspondence. English. Selections. III. Title.
B1873.E55 2007
193—dc22
2006039657
(cid:2)(cid:2) The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments / vii
Series Editor’s Introduction / ix
Volume Editor’s Introduction / 1
Volume Editor’s Bibliography / 52
Note on Texts and Translation / 58
The Correspondence / 61
Appendix:
Additional Correspondence of Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia / 183
Series Editors’ Bibliography / 217
Index / 237

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This edition of Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia’s correspondence with Des-
cartes and with others has been a long time in the making, and so there
are many thanks due to those who have provided assistance, advice, and en-
couragement along the way. I thank the Other Voice series editors for their
interest in this volume, their patience as it awaited completion, and their com-
ments on it. The enthusiasm of Annette Baier and Stephen Engstrom when I
fi rst began thinking about the project provided the impetus to get started on
it. Daniel Garber and Eileen O’Neill provided signifi cant encouragement and
advice that carried through to the completion of the project. Their generosity
of spirit has been remarkable. The conference on women philosophers of the
seventeenth century at the University of Massachusetts–Amherst organized
in 1998 by Eileen O’Neill, with Vere Chappell and Robert Sleigh, provided
an occasion for me to begin thinking about Elisabeth’s metaphysics. Another
conference on seventeenth-century women philosophers organized by Dan
Kaufman at the University of Florida gave me occasion to work out Elisabeth’s
position in moral philosophy. I was able to try out my translation and my read-
ing of Elisabeth on students in a Nordic graduate course at Uppsala Univer-
sity. I thank them for their patience and comments. Lilli Alanen, Annette Baier,
Robert D’Amico, and Charles Pidgen provided helpful feedback on parts of
the introduction. Karen Detlefsen provided thoughtful comments on the
whole of it. Several have alerted me to and helped me access archival material.
I thank Carol Pal for drawing my attention to mentions of Elisabeth in the Pell
and Coventry papers. Theo Verbeek and Erik-Jan Bos facilitated my access-
ing the newly rediscovered manuscripts of Elisabeth’s letters and, with Jeroen
van de Ven, provided answers to questions of historical context. Dr. Jorien Jas,
of the Geldersch Landschap/Geldersche Kasteelen, made my examination of
those manuscripts seem effortless. Thanks to Susanne Fader, Jennifer Liderth, vii
viii Acknowledgments
and Patrick Monaghan for help in the mechanics of preparing the manuscript.
Thanks to Randy Petilos for help in securing permission for the portraits of
Elisabeth and for his general editorial assistance. Susan Tarcov’s fi ne copy-
editing improved the translation immensely. The errors remain all my own.
Eileen’s work on the women philosophers of the early modern period deserves
special mention. Her efforts to rehabilitate and methods in reading these
women are inspirational. Her own work provides a model that mine can only
attempt to emulate. Support from the National Endowment for the Humani-
ties, the American Council of Learned Societies, and Simon Fraser University
facilitated the completion of this edition.
Lisa Shapiro
THE OTHER VOICE IN
EARLY MODERN EUROPE:
INTRODUCTION TO THE SERIES
Margaret L. King and Albert Rabil Jr.
THE OLD VOICE AND THE OTHER VOICE
In western Europe and the United States, women are nearing equality in
the professions, in business, and in politics. Most enjoy access to educa-
tion, reproductive rights, and autonomy in fi nancial affairs. Issues vital to
women are on the public agenda: equal pay, child care, domestic abuse,
breast cancer research, and curricular revision with an eye to the inclusion
of women.
These recent achievements have their origins in things women (and
some male supporters) said for the fi rst time about six hundred years ago.
Theirs is the “other voice,” in contradistinction to the “fi rst voice,” the voice
of the educated men who created Western culture. Coincident with a gen-
eral reshaping of European culture in the period 1300–1700 (called the
Renaissance or early modern period), questions of female equality and op-
portunity were raised that still resound and are still unresolved.
The other voice emerged against the backdrop of a three-thousand-
year history of the derogation of women rooted in the civilizations related
to Western culture: Hebrew, Greek, Roman, and Christian. Negative at-
titudes toward women inherited from these traditions pervaded the intel-
lectual, medical, legal, religious, and social systems that developed during
the European Middle Ages.
The following pages describe the traditional, overwhelmingly male
views of women’s nature inherited by early modern Europeans and the new
tradition that the “other voice” called into being to begin to challenge reign-
ing assumptions. This review should serve as a framework for understanding
the texts published in the series The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe.
Introductions specifi c to each text and author follow this essay in all the
volumes of the series.
ix