Lisa Shapiro
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226204413
- eISBN:
- 9780226204444
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226204444.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Women's Literature
The correspondence between Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia (1618–80) and René Descartes covers topics spanning the range of philosophical inquiry, but the letters were not written for the public. Early ...
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The correspondence between Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia (1618–80) and René Descartes covers topics spanning the range of philosophical inquiry, but the letters were not written for the public. Early on in the correspondence, Elisabeth is quite insistent that their exchanges be kept private. In concluding her letter of 6 May 1643, she charges Descartes to refrain from making their exchange public, and her letter of 10 October 1646 demonstrates that they considered communicating in code. This introductory chapter presents biographies of Princess Elizabeth and René Descartes. It then provides an overview of the philosophical issues engaged in the correspondence, along with some essential background for understanding those issues. Next, it considers in greater depth Elisabeth's own philosophical position.Less
The correspondence between Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia (1618–80) and René Descartes covers topics spanning the range of philosophical inquiry, but the letters were not written for the public. Early on in the correspondence, Elisabeth is quite insistent that their exchanges be kept private. In concluding her letter of 6 May 1643, she charges Descartes to refrain from making their exchange public, and her letter of 10 October 1646 demonstrates that they considered communicating in code. This introductory chapter presents biographies of Princess Elizabeth and René Descartes. It then provides an overview of the philosophical issues engaged in the correspondence, along with some essential background for understanding those issues. Next, it considers in greater depth Elisabeth's own philosophical position.
Lisa Shapiro
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226204413
- eISBN:
- 9780226204444
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226204444.003.0004
- Subject:
- Literature, Women's Literature
This chapter presents the English translation of the correspondence between Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia and René Descartes.
This chapter presents the English translation of the correspondence between Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia and René Descartes.
Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia and Rene Descartes
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226204413
- eISBN:
- 9780226204444
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226204444.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Women's Literature
Between the years 1643 and 1649, Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia (1618–80) and René Descartes (1596–1650) exchanged fifty-eight letters—thirty-two from Descartes and twenty-six from Elisabeth. Their ...
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Between the years 1643 and 1649, Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia (1618–80) and René Descartes (1596–1650) exchanged fifty-eight letters—thirty-two from Descartes and twenty-six from Elisabeth. Their correspondence contains the only known extant philosophical writings by Elisabeth, revealing her mastery of metaphysics, analytic geometry, and moral philosophy, as well as her keen interest in natural philosophy. The letters are essential reading for anyone interested in Descartes's philosophy, in particular his account of the human being as a union of mind and body, as well as his ethics. They also provide an insight into the character of their authors, and the way ideas develop through intellectual collaboration. Philosophers have long been familiar with Descartes's side of the correspondence. Elisabeth's letters add context and depth both to Descartes's ideas and the legacy of the princess. This annotated edition also includes Elisabeth's correspondence with the Quakers William Penn and Robert Barclay.Less
Between the years 1643 and 1649, Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia (1618–80) and René Descartes (1596–1650) exchanged fifty-eight letters—thirty-two from Descartes and twenty-six from Elisabeth. Their correspondence contains the only known extant philosophical writings by Elisabeth, revealing her mastery of metaphysics, analytic geometry, and moral philosophy, as well as her keen interest in natural philosophy. The letters are essential reading for anyone interested in Descartes's philosophy, in particular his account of the human being as a union of mind and body, as well as his ethics. They also provide an insight into the character of their authors, and the way ideas develop through intellectual collaboration. Philosophers have long been familiar with Descartes's side of the correspondence. Elisabeth's letters add context and depth both to Descartes's ideas and the legacy of the princess. This annotated edition also includes Elisabeth's correspondence with the Quakers William Penn and Robert Barclay.
R. Darren Gobert
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780804786386
- eISBN:
- 9780804788267
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804786386.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind
This book explores theater history's unexamined importance to Cartesian philosophy alongside Descartes's unexamined impact on theatre history. Put another way, it provides a new reading of mind-body ...
More
This book explores theater history's unexamined importance to Cartesian philosophy alongside Descartes's unexamined impact on theatre history. Put another way, it provides a new reading of mind-body union informed not only by Descartes's Passions of the Soul and his correspondence with Elisabeth of Bohemia but also by stage theory and practice, while simultaneously itemizing the contributions of Cartesianism to this theory and practice. For example, Descartes's coordinate system reshaped theater architecture's use of space—as demonstrated by four iconic theaters in Paris and London, whose historical productions of Racine's Phèdre are analyzed. Descartes's theory of the passions revolutionized understandings of the emotional exchange between spectacle and spectator in general and dramatic catharsis in particular—as demonstrated in Descartes-inflected plays and dramatic theory by Pierre Corneille and John Dryden. And Descartes's philosophy engendered new models of the actor's subjectivity and physiology—as we see not only in acting theory of the period but also in metatheatrical entertainments such as Molière's L'Impromptu de Versailles and the English rehearsal burlesques that it inspired, such as George Villiers's The Rehearsal. In addition to plays both canonical and obscure and the writings of Descartes and Elisabeth of Bohemia, the book's key texts include religious jeremiads, aesthetic treatises, letters, frontispieces, architectural plans, paintings, ballet libretti and all manner of theatrical ephemera found during research in England, France, and Sweden.Less
This book explores theater history's unexamined importance to Cartesian philosophy alongside Descartes's unexamined impact on theatre history. Put another way, it provides a new reading of mind-body union informed not only by Descartes's Passions of the Soul and his correspondence with Elisabeth of Bohemia but also by stage theory and practice, while simultaneously itemizing the contributions of Cartesianism to this theory and practice. For example, Descartes's coordinate system reshaped theater architecture's use of space—as demonstrated by four iconic theaters in Paris and London, whose historical productions of Racine's Phèdre are analyzed. Descartes's theory of the passions revolutionized understandings of the emotional exchange between spectacle and spectator in general and dramatic catharsis in particular—as demonstrated in Descartes-inflected plays and dramatic theory by Pierre Corneille and John Dryden. And Descartes's philosophy engendered new models of the actor's subjectivity and physiology—as we see not only in acting theory of the period but also in metatheatrical entertainments such as Molière's L'Impromptu de Versailles and the English rehearsal burlesques that it inspired, such as George Villiers's The Rehearsal. In addition to plays both canonical and obscure and the writings of Descartes and Elisabeth of Bohemia, the book's key texts include religious jeremiads, aesthetic treatises, letters, frontispieces, architectural plans, paintings, ballet libretti and all manner of theatrical ephemera found during research in England, France, and Sweden.
R. Darren Gobert
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780804786386
- eISBN:
- 9780804788267
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804786386.003.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind
The chapter suggests that the historical antipathy between philosophy and theater as disciplines has obscured the theater's unexamined importance to Cartesian philosophy and Descartes's unexamined ...
More
The chapter suggests that the historical antipathy between philosophy and theater as disciplines has obscured the theater's unexamined importance to Cartesian philosophy and Descartes's unexamined impact on theater history: on playwriting and dramatic theory, on acting theory, on theater architecture. Philosophers since at least Plato have suspected the alleged falseness of theater, preferring an immaterial realm; meanwhile, theater historians have tended to subordinate philosophical questions to material research concerns. Thus, the two disciplines have mimicked the split between mind and body putatively authored by Descartes. By helping us to better understand Descartes's doctrine of mind-body union, the chapter helps too to reconcile the methodological schism between the two disciplines. Specifically, it promotes an epistemology of performance, reliant on the repertory of lived action as a supplement to the historical archive of material artifacts.Less
The chapter suggests that the historical antipathy between philosophy and theater as disciplines has obscured the theater's unexamined importance to Cartesian philosophy and Descartes's unexamined impact on theater history: on playwriting and dramatic theory, on acting theory, on theater architecture. Philosophers since at least Plato have suspected the alleged falseness of theater, preferring an immaterial realm; meanwhile, theater historians have tended to subordinate philosophical questions to material research concerns. Thus, the two disciplines have mimicked the split between mind and body putatively authored by Descartes. By helping us to better understand Descartes's doctrine of mind-body union, the chapter helps too to reconcile the methodological schism between the two disciplines. Specifically, it promotes an epistemology of performance, reliant on the repertory of lived action as a supplement to the historical archive of material artifacts.
Lisa Shapiro
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226204413
- eISBN:
- 9780226204444
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226204444.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, Women's Literature
This chapter presents some remarks about the texts and translations of the correspondence between Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia and René Descartes, Robert Barclay, and William Penn.
This chapter presents some remarks about the texts and translations of the correspondence between Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia and René Descartes, Robert Barclay, and William Penn.
R. Darren Gobert
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780804786386
- eISBN:
- 9780804788267
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804786386.003.0002
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind
This chapter addresses the poetics of performance that emerges from Descartes's epistolary dialogue with Elisabeth of Bohemia. Elisabeth had pressed Descartes on the inadequacies of dualism, pushing ...
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This chapter addresses the poetics of performance that emerges from Descartes's epistolary dialogue with Elisabeth of Bohemia. Elisabeth had pressed Descartes on the inadequacies of dualism, pushing him to the refined positions he takes in Passions of the Soul. Meanwhile, its theoretical ideas find expression in The Birth of Peace, the ballet whose libretto Descartes is said to have written and whose 1649 performance at the court of Queen Christina of Sweden the chapter analyzes. Like Descartes's correspondence with Elisabeth, the ballet restores the body to a place of prominence by demonstrating how it serves as the repository of experience and memory. And if experience (especially emotional experience) reshapes the body, as Descartes showed as early as his mechanistic Treatise on Man, theater like ballet could encourage salutary physical effects by providing joyful experience and building joyful memories.Less
This chapter addresses the poetics of performance that emerges from Descartes's epistolary dialogue with Elisabeth of Bohemia. Elisabeth had pressed Descartes on the inadequacies of dualism, pushing him to the refined positions he takes in Passions of the Soul. Meanwhile, its theoretical ideas find expression in The Birth of Peace, the ballet whose libretto Descartes is said to have written and whose 1649 performance at the court of Queen Christina of Sweden the chapter analyzes. Like Descartes's correspondence with Elisabeth, the ballet restores the body to a place of prominence by demonstrating how it serves as the repository of experience and memory. And if experience (especially emotional experience) reshapes the body, as Descartes showed as early as his mechanistic Treatise on Man, theater like ballet could encourage salutary physical effects by providing joyful experience and building joyful memories.
Emma Gilby
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- April 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780198831891
- eISBN:
- 9780191869723
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198831891.003.0009
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature
Increasingly, Descartes returns to more practical questions about forms of attentiveness, premeditation, and industry. In his correspondence with the Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia, in the 1647 ...
More
Increasingly, Descartes returns to more practical questions about forms of attentiveness, premeditation, and industry. In his correspondence with the Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia, in the 1647 Letter-preface to the French edition of the Principles of Philosophy, dedicated to Elisabeth, and finally in the Passions de l’âme of 1649, which he had commenced in 1646, Descartes develops his interest in the lived benefits that our philosophy may bring us. Descartes’s later work consistently uses the language of theatre to add an affective dimension to his discussion of the gulf between the human and the ungraspably divine. His use of the extended analogy of God as sovereign finds key expression in the correspondence with Elisabeth, with the renowned example of a king and two duelling gentlemen. This example is also considered for its dramatic resonance.Less
Increasingly, Descartes returns to more practical questions about forms of attentiveness, premeditation, and industry. In his correspondence with the Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia, in the 1647 Letter-preface to the French edition of the Principles of Philosophy, dedicated to Elisabeth, and finally in the Passions de l’âme of 1649, which he had commenced in 1646, Descartes develops his interest in the lived benefits that our philosophy may bring us. Descartes’s later work consistently uses the language of theatre to add an affective dimension to his discussion of the gulf between the human and the ungraspably divine. His use of the extended analogy of God as sovereign finds key expression in the correspondence with Elisabeth, with the renowned example of a king and two duelling gentlemen. This example is also considered for its dramatic resonance.
Emma Gilby
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- April 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780198831891
- eISBN:
- 9780191869723
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198831891.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature
Descartes’s Fictions traces common movements in early modern philosophy and literary method. This volume reassesses the significance of Descartes’s writing by bringing his philosophical output into ...
More
Descartes’s Fictions traces common movements in early modern philosophy and literary method. This volume reassesses the significance of Descartes’s writing by bringing his philosophical output into contact with the literary treatises, exempla, and debates of his age. Arguing that humanist theorizing about the art of poetry represents a vital intellectual context for Descartes’s work, the volume offers readings of the controversies to which this poetic theory gives rise, with particular reference to the genre of tragicomedy, the question of verisimilitude, and the figures of Guez de Balzac and Pierre Corneille. Drawing on what Descartes says about, and to, his many contemporaries and correspondents embedded in the early modern republic of letters, this volume shows that poetics provides a repository of themes and images to which he returns repeatedly: fortune, method, error, providence, passion, and imagination, amongst others. Like the poets and theorists of the early modern period, Descartes is also drawn to the forms of attention that people may bring to his work. This interest finds expression in the mature Cartesian metaphysics of the Meditations, as well as, later, in the moral philosophy of his correspondence with Elisabeth of Bohemia or the Passions of the Soul. Some of the tropes of modern secondary criticism—a comparison of Descartes and Corneille, or the portrayal of Descartes as a ‘tragic’ figure—are also re-evaluated. This volume thus bridges the gap between Cartesian criticism and late-humanist literary culture in France.Less
Descartes’s Fictions traces common movements in early modern philosophy and literary method. This volume reassesses the significance of Descartes’s writing by bringing his philosophical output into contact with the literary treatises, exempla, and debates of his age. Arguing that humanist theorizing about the art of poetry represents a vital intellectual context for Descartes’s work, the volume offers readings of the controversies to which this poetic theory gives rise, with particular reference to the genre of tragicomedy, the question of verisimilitude, and the figures of Guez de Balzac and Pierre Corneille. Drawing on what Descartes says about, and to, his many contemporaries and correspondents embedded in the early modern republic of letters, this volume shows that poetics provides a repository of themes and images to which he returns repeatedly: fortune, method, error, providence, passion, and imagination, amongst others. Like the poets and theorists of the early modern period, Descartes is also drawn to the forms of attention that people may bring to his work. This interest finds expression in the mature Cartesian metaphysics of the Meditations, as well as, later, in the moral philosophy of his correspondence with Elisabeth of Bohemia or the Passions of the Soul. Some of the tropes of modern secondary criticism—a comparison of Descartes and Corneille, or the portrayal of Descartes as a ‘tragic’ figure—are also re-evaluated. This volume thus bridges the gap between Cartesian criticism and late-humanist literary culture in France.
Emma Gilby
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- April 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780198831891
- eISBN:
- 9780191869723
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198831891.003.0010
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature
In this chapter, poetic categories—chance, imagination, wonder—are shown to be a vehicle for enquiry into our proper relationship to the passions. In the correspondence with Elisabeth and the ...
More
In this chapter, poetic categories—chance, imagination, wonder—are shown to be a vehicle for enquiry into our proper relationship to the passions. In the correspondence with Elisabeth and the Passions de l’âme, the transformations effected upon the body of the theatrical spectator yield particular insights. We arrive here at the crux of mind-body interaction. The experience of watching a tragedy allows us to perceive the operations of our soul, and to take pleasure in this alertness to its own activity. It constitutes a model of reactive processes that bring new forms of attentiveness with them, along with new dispositions of the will.Less
In this chapter, poetic categories—chance, imagination, wonder—are shown to be a vehicle for enquiry into our proper relationship to the passions. In the correspondence with Elisabeth and the Passions de l’âme, the transformations effected upon the body of the theatrical spectator yield particular insights. We arrive here at the crux of mind-body interaction. The experience of watching a tragedy allows us to perceive the operations of our soul, and to take pleasure in this alertness to its own activity. It constitutes a model of reactive processes that bring new forms of attentiveness with them, along with new dispositions of the will.
