A Discourse of a Method for the Well Guiding of Reason
and the Discovery of Truth in the Sciences
René Descartes published his Discourse on Method in French in 1637, and this is an anonymous seventeenth-century English translation, prefaced by a short address to the reader. In six parts Descartes tells how his education left him dissatisfied, sets out four simple rules for reaching certainty, adopts a provisional moral code, and arrives at his famous first principle, I think, therefore I am, from which he argues for the existence of God and the soul. He then discusses the circulation of the blood and the difference between humans and animals, and explains why he hesitated to publish his physics. The old spelling gives the text a period flavor. It is available to read online in your browser on Vinteuil, with the opening pages free.
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