Meditations on First Philosophy
René Descartes 1641
Six linked reflections examine what we can know about ourselves, God, and the world. A piece of wax melting by a fire becomes a test of how we understand physical objects.
91 pages 1h 46m reading time
- A founding work of modern Western philosophy, still among the most widely taught books in the subject.
- Argues that we should doubt everything we can, even our senses and the world around us, to find what is truly certain.
- Argues that one thing survives all doubt: the fact that I am thinking proves that I exist, an idea later summed up as "I think, therefore I am."
- Its sharp split between the mind and the body (often called "Cartesian dualism," after Descartes) set off a debate about how thought relates to the physical world that philosophers and scientists still carry on.
- Its demand to rebuild knowledge on firm foundations shaped how later thinkers like Locke, Hume, and Kant approached the question of what we can know.
Printed with its critics' attacks
Before publishing, Descartes sent drafts to thinkers like Thomas Hobbes and printed their objections alongside his replies.
Addressed to Paris theologians
Descartes dedicated it to the religion teachers of Paris, hoping their approval would shield it from attack.
Banned by the Church
Years after his death, the Catholic Church added it to its list of books Catholics were forbidden to read.
Retold in French
A French version soon followed, checked by Descartes himself, so readers who knew no Latin could read it.
Translated from Latin by William Molyneux