If this Discourse appear too long to be read at once, it may be divided into six Parts: and, in the first, will be found various considerations touching the Sciences; in the second, the principal rules of the Method which the Author has discovered, in the third, certain of the rules of Morals which he has deduced from this Method; in the fourth, the reasonings by which he establishes the existence of God and of the Human Soul, which are the foundations of his Metaphysic; in the fifth, the order of the Physical questions which he has investigated, and, in particular, the explication of the motion of the heart and of some other difficulties pertaining to Medicine, as also the difference between the soul of man and that of the brutes; and, in the last, what the Author believes to be required in order to greater advancement in the investigation of Nature than has yet been made, with the reasons that have induced him to write.
If this Discourse seems too long to read at once, it may be divided into six parts. The first offers various reflections on the sciences. The second presents the main rules of the method the author has discovered. The third presents some rules of morality he has derived from this method. The fourth gives his arguments for the existence of God and the human soul, the foundations of his metaphysics. The fifth presents, in order, the questions in physics he has investigated. In particular, he explains the heart’s movement and some other difficult questions in medicine. He also discusses the difference between the human soul and the souls of animals. The final part explains what the author believes is needed to advance the study of nature beyond its current achievements. It also gives his reasons for writing.