Descartes's ballet : his doctrine of the will and his political philosophy (with a transcript and English translation of La naissance de la paix) / Richard A. Watson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Watson, Richard A., 1931-2019.

Standardized Title:

Naissance de la paix. English

Language:

English

French

Subjects (All):

Descartes, René, 1596-1650.

Descartes, René.

Will.

Physical Description:

xii, 133 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

South Bend, Ind. : St. Augustine's Press, 2007.

Summary:

In his 54th year, Rene Descartes went to Stockholm at the invitation of Queen Christina. He caught pneumonia there and died on February 11, 1650. It is said that because Descartes refused to dance, Queen Christina charged him with writing the verses for a court ballet, La Naissance de la Paix. What a wonderful story! Alas, the evidence of Descartes's authorship is virtually nonexistent. Watson provides the first translation of The Birth of Peace into English, and he examines exhaustively the question of its authorship based on original archival research. He also examines Descartes's doctrine of the will to construct a political philosophy for Descartes. The great individualist is found to be a royalist in support of the powers that be, although he chose in fact to live in republican Holland rather than in his homeland France.

Contents:

Transcript and English translation of La naissance de la paix

Analysis of La naissance de la paix

Did Descartes write La naissance de la paix?

Descartes's doctrine of the will

Did Descartes read Corneille?

Descartes's political philosophy.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [121]-128) and index.

ISBN:

1587311755

9781587311758

OCLC:

50866884