The Princess and the Philosopher: Letters of Elisabeth of the Palatine to René DescartesRowman & Littlefield Publishers, 1999 - 187 Seiten 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 letters. 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. |
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Seite 105
... wishes always to be a good man , I believe that he means not only that to be a good man one must follow the laws of superstition , but also that one must follow the common law - that one should do to each what one would wish done to ...
... wishes always to be a good man , I believe that he means not only that to be a good man one must follow the laws of superstition , but also that one must follow the common law - that one should do to each what one would wish done to ...
Seite 127
... wish that they were all assembled in one city , and then I would be happy to leave my hermitage , to go and live with them , if they would wish to receive me into their company . " Christina's plan to attract intellectuals to her ...
... wish that they were all assembled in one city , and then I would be happy to leave my hermitage , to go and live with them , if they would wish to receive me into their company . " Christina's plan to attract intellectuals to her ...
Seite 160
... wish the said marriage he should have informed his relations here , who could have refused with better grace than by demanding conditions quite unheard of.1 The importance of evidence , the reliability of testimony , consistency in judg ...
... wish the said marriage he should have informed his relations here , who could have refused with better grace than by demanding conditions quite unheard of.1 The importance of evidence , the reliability of testimony , consistency in judg ...
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The Princess and the Philosopher: Letters of Elisabeth of the Palatine to ... Andrea Nye Eingeschränkte Leseprobe - 1999 |
Häufige Begriffe und Wortgruppen
able advice affairs affectionate friend Anna van Schurman answer assured believe body Bohemia brother Cartesianism Catholic cause Chanut Charles-Louis Christina court danger Descartes's Discourse on Method doubt Dutch Dutch Republic effects Egmond Elisabeth emotion Epicurus favor feel fortune France French friendship give Hague happy Heidelberg Herford Highness Holland honor hope House of Orange illness interest judge Krossen Labadists learned letter live marriage matter Meditations metaphysics mind Monsieur Descartes moral mother necessary never obliged one's oneself pain Palatine passions peace person philosophy physical pleasure Pollot prince of Orange Prince Rupert princess Protestant prudence queen question rational reason received René Descartes Rhegius sadness satisfaction seems Seneca Sister of Prince someone soul spirit Sweden tell theologians things thought tion treatise trip trouble truth understand Utrecht virtue Voetius woman worry write wrote young