| Background | |
| The Discourse on Method, published in 1637, was Descartes' first publication (his first major work, Le Monde, was suppressed after Descartes learned of Galileo's condemnation for his writings). Unlike his later works, it was written in French rather than Latin to secure a broader circulation of his views. Today it is read mostly for its presentation of a four-step method of arriving at certain knowledge. At least as important, however, is the outline of the suppressed Le Monde, since it reveals just how far he thought a priori, deductive reasoning could take us. In reading Descartes' description of the movement of the blood, keep in mind that the great English physician William Harvey had already published a fundamentally correct account. | |
| Overview | |
| Part I of the Discourse contains a sketch of Descartes' early years as he would like us to think of them. Is there, perhaps, an undercurrent of irony in his comments on the various subjects of study in early 16th century education? | |
| Part II opens with an attempt to justify construction of a unified theory by a single individual and then contains a statement of Descartes' famous four-step Method. | |
| Part V, Descartes tells us, is a summary of the contents of the suppressed Le Monde. He first describes how far he was able to proceed by strict adherence to the Method he has presented in Part II of the Discourse, and then proceeds to describe the movement of the heart and blood as an illustration of what one can achieve through observation when a priori reasoning fails us. Finally, he appends some remarks about the nature of human beings; the difference between humans on the one hand and animals and machines on the other; and the realtionship between the soul (or mind) and the body. | |
| And the rest of the Discourse? Part III is largely a statement of a disappointing, highly innocuous moral theory; Part IV is a rough, early statement of the argument developed at length in the Meditations; and Part VI is mostly a wrap-up/wind-down, although it does contain some intriguing remarks about the nature of experimentation and its role in attainment of knowledge of the world. | |
| Study Questions | |
| What portions of Part I do you think can be taken at face value? What do you think Descartes' purpose is in Part I? | |
| Given the statement of method that we find in Part II, what would you expect Descartes' philosophical writings to look like (i.e., what form would you expect them to have)? | |
| To what subjects do you think the method that Descartes describes is appropriate? To what subjects is it inappropriate? | |
| How far does Descartes claim that a priori, deductive reasoning can take us in gaining knowledge of the world? | |
| With what assumption(s) does Descartes' a priori reasoning about the world begin? | |
| What prevents Descartes from carrying his deductive reasoning about the world further--personal limitations, the limitations on human reason, or limitations inherent in deductive reasoning? | |
| In what way(s) is Descartes' description of the movement of the blood incorrect? | |
| What does Descartes' believe are the hallmarks of human reason? | |
| What does Descartes believe distinguishes humans from animals? Animals from machines? | |
| How does Descartes characterize the relationship between the body and the soul (mind)? | |