Introduction: Radical Cartesianism in Context
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 July 2009
Summary
Il ne me reste qu'à témoigner à Robert Desgabets la reconnaissance que j'ay au nom de tous les Cartésians des avis qu'il leur donne si souvent de se garder des préjugez. Il ne me reste, dis-je, qu'à lui témoigner ma reconnaissance par l'avis, que je crois lui devoir en cette occasion, de se défendre avec application, de la pente qu'il a un peu trop naturelle à s'imaginer que ce qui est le plus outré dans les sciences est le plus vrai.
It remains for me only to show Robert Desgabets the recognition that I have in the name of all the Cartesians of the advice that he gives to them so often to guard against prejudices. It remains for me, I say, only to show by the warning that I believe I owe him on this occasion to defend himself carefully against the inclination that is a little too natural for him to imagine that what is the most extreme in the sciences is the most true.
– Cardinal de Retz, “Dissertations sur le cartésianisme” (R 219)This passage, which dates from 1677, serves to introduce us to the early modern, French Cartesian Robert Desgabets, a figure almost entirely unknown in the English-speaking world.
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- Radical CartesianismThe French Reception of Descartes, pp. 1 - 24Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2002