RICHARD WATSON mmi: $35*0 0 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