The Princess and the Philosopher Letters of Elisabeth of the Palatine to RenZ Descartes

by Nye, Andrea

• ISBN13: 9780847692644
• ISBN10: 0847692647
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-04-15
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Summary

For a number of years, those interested in recovering women's thought have known about Princess Elisabeth, a seventeenth-century correspondent and friend of Descartes whose questions provoked the philosopher to think more seriously about ethics and the passions. Up to now, only a few of her letters have found their way into print. This volume includes translations of all of Elisabeth's extant letters to Descartes, as well as of other materials relevant to understanding her philosophical perspective and her life. Nye has supplemented the translations with a running commentary on the historical, biographical, and intellectual context of the lettersz The letters were during a tumultuous time in European history. A devastating Thirty Years War had ruined Elisabeth's family and devastated their principality, the Palatine. On his part, Descartes was increasingly embroiled in bitter controversies surrounding his work in relatively free-thinking Holland. In her commentary, Nye shows how personal experiences energized his and Elisabeth's different views of the relation between mind and body, the existence of God, and the nature of morality. What Nye evokes, along with the thinking of an extraordinary woman, is an alternative model for philosophy, a nonadversarial form of dialogue that does not pretend to objective theorizing. Such a philosophy depends on mutual respect and trust, on concern for the other's sensibilities and views, on friendship between women and men with a common concern for human life.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Prologue: A Terrible Grief	1	(4)
The First Overtures	5	(6)
Body and Soul	11	(5)
The Scent of a Rose	16	(5)
An Initial Disappointment	21	(3)
The Uses of Metaphysics	24	(6)
A Test	30	(4)
The Philosophic Muse	34	(4)
Doctor-Philosopher	38	(10)
A Life Blessed with Happiness	48	(10)
The Burdens of Civility	58	(3)
A Discourse on Prudence	61	(11)
The Consolations of Theology	72	(5)
Traitor to the Cause	77	(7)
A Silence between Friends	84	(5)
Master of Passion	89	(7)
A Certain Languor	96	(3)
Murder in the Streets	99	(3)
The Prince	102	(7)
Magic Powers	109	(5)
An Ungrateful Disciple	114	(6)
An Accusation of Blasphemy	120	(5)
A New Patroness	125	(7)
The Purloined Letters	132	(6)
Affairs of State	138	(7)
On the Advantages of Partition and Death by Beheading	145	(6)
A Royal Summons	151	(7)
Reason in the Service of Sense	158	(5)
In the Land of Ice and Snow	163	(6)
Epilogue: The Abbess of Herford	169	(6)
Notes	175	(8)
Bibliography	183	(2)
Index	185	(2)
About the Author	187