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Meditations on First Philosophy

René Descartes · 1641

Descartes's 1641 Latin treatise moving from radical doubt to the cogito, the existence of God, and the distinction of mind and body.

Descartes's central metaphysical work, written to demonstrate the existence of God and the soul through reason alone.

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Title page of the 1641 Latin edition of Descartes' Meditationes de prima philosophia, printed in Paris by Michael Soly. Red and black type, with an engraved emblem of a phoenix rising from flames within a circle, and the date M.DC.XLI at the bottom.
René Descartes, Meditationes de Prima Philosophia, title page, 1641. Paris.

About this source

What it is

A philosophical treatise written in Latin by René Descartes, first published in 1641. It is structured as six days of meditation, in which Descartes strips away everything he cannot be certain of, then tries to rebuild knowledge from secure foundations. The first edition included Objections and Replies from other thinkers, including Hobbes, Gassendi and Arnauld.

Why it matters

This is considered one of the most influential philosophical texts ever written. It shows Descartes not working alone but in dialogue with contemporaries who challenged his ideas, revealing how philosophical arguments were tested and debated in his time.

Look closer

  • Why does Descartes write in the first person, as if inviting the reader to meditate along with him?
  • What is gained by publishing objections from critics alongside the original argument?
  • What might it mean that the dedication asks theologians for protection of the work?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Rene Descartes on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Title page of the 1637 first edition of Discours de la Methode, in old French printed type. Text reads Discours de la Methode, Pour bien conduire sa raison, & chercher la verite dans les sciences, plus La Dioptrique, Les Meteores, et La Geometrie, with a small woodcut emblem of a figure with a lantern in a laurel wreath, and imprint A Leyde, De l'Imprimerie de Ian Maire, 1637.Book

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Discourse on the Method

René Descartes · 1637

Title page of the 1637 first edition of Descartes' Discours de la Methode, in French. The text lists it with La Dioptrique, Les Meteores, and La Geometrie as essays of this method, printed at Leyde by Ian Maire. A small engraved vignette of a figure with a tree and landscape appears in the center.Document

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René Descartes · 1637

Oil painting of a man with shoulder-length dark wavy hair, a thin mustache, and a white collar over a dark jacket, turning his head toward the viewer against a brown background, with one hand visible at the lower right.Painting

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Portrait of René Descartes

Frans Hals · 1649

Title page of a book reading 'Renati Des-Cartes Principia Philosophiae', with a Latin subtitle, an engraving of a winged figure and a robed figure beside a armillary sphere with banner 'Indefessus Agendo', an oval library stamp, and imprint 'Amstelodami, Ex Typographia Blaviana, MDCLXXXV'.Book

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Principles of Philosophy

René Descartes · 1644

Title page of the 1649 French edition of Les Passions de l'Ame by René Descartes. Large serif title 'LES PASSIONS DE L'AME', 'PAR RENE DES CARTES' below, a crowned fleur-de-lis coat of arms in an oval wreath, and a Paris publication imprint at the bottom.Book

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Passions of the Soul

René Descartes · 1649

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