Descartes,_Rene_-_Discourse_On_The_Method_Of_Rightly_Conducting_The_Reason,_And_Seeking_Truth_In_Th.pdf

DISCOURSE ON THE METHOD

OF RIGHTLY CONDUCTING THE REASON,

AND SEEKING TRUTH IN THE SCIENCES

René Descartes

Cogito Ergo Sum

This Electronic Book Is a Publication of the Pennsylvania State University’s

Electronic Classics Series,

Jim Manis

Faculty Editor

DISCOURSE ON THE METHOD OF RIGHTLY CONDUCTING THE REASON, AND SEEKING TRUTH IN

THE SCIENCES by René Descartes , is a publication of the Pennsylvania State University. This

Portable Document file is furnished free and without any charge of any kind. Any person using

this document file, for any purpose, and in any way, does so at his or her own risk. Neither

the Pennsylvania State University nor Jim manis, Faculty Editor, nor anyone associated with the

Pennsylvania State University assumes any responsibility for the material contained within

thedocument or for the file as an electronic transmission, in any way.

DISCOURSE ON THE METHOD OF RIGHTLY CONDUCTING THE REASON, AND SEEKING TRUTH IN

THE SCIENCES by René Descartes, the Pennsylvania State University, Jim Manis, Faculty Editor,

Hazleton, PA 18201-1291 is a Portable Document File produced as part of an ongoing student

publication project, the Pennsylvania State University’s Electronic Classics Series, to bring classi-

cal works of literature, in English to free and easy access of those wishing to make use of them.

The Pennsylvania State University is an equal opportunity university.

DISCOURSE ON THE METHOD

DISCOURSE ON THE

METHOD OF RIGHTLY

CONDUCTING THE REA-

SON, AND SEEKING

TRUTH IN THE SCIENCES

in the fifth, the order of the Physical questions which he

has investigated, and, in particular, the explication of the

motion of the heart and of some other difficulties pertain-

ing to Medicine, as also the difference between the soul of

man and that of the brutes; and, in the last, what the Au-

thor believes to be required in order to greater advancement

in the investigation of Nature than has yet been made, with

the reasons that have induced him to write.

PART I

René Descartes

Good sense is, of all things among men, the most equally

distributed; for every one thinks himself so abundantly pro-

vided with it, that those even who are the most difficult to

satisfy in everything else, do not usually desire a larger mea-

sure of this quality than they already possess. And in this it

is not likely that all are mistaken the conviction is rather to

be held as testifying that the power of judging aright and of

distinguishing truth from error, which is properly what is

called good sense or reason, is by nature equal in all men;

and that the diversity of our opinions, consequently, does

not arise from some being endowed with a larger share of

reason than others, but solely from this, that we conduct

our thoughts along different ways, and do not fix our atten-

PREFATORY NOTE BY THE AUTHOR

If this Discourse appear too long to be read at once, it may

be divided into six Parts: and, in the first, will be found

various considerations touching the Sciences; in the sec-

ond, the principal rules of the Method which the Author has

discovered, in the third, certain of the rules of Morals which

he has deduced from this Method; in the fourth, the reason-

ings by which he establishes the existence of God and of the

Human Soul, which are the foundations of his Metaphysic;

DISCOURSE ON THE METHOD

tion on the same objects. For to be possessed of a vigorous

mind is not enough; the prime requisite is rightly to apply

it. The greatest minds, as they are capable of the highest

excellences, are open likewise to the greatest aberrations;

and those who travel very slowly may yet make far greater

progress, provided they keep always to the straight road,

than those who, while they run, forsake it.

For myself, I have never fancied my mind to be in any

respect more perfect than those of the generality; on the

contrary, I have often wished that I were equal to some

others in promptitude of thought, or in clearness and dis-

tinctness of imagination, or in fullness and readiness of

memory. And besides these, I know of no other qualities

that contribute to the perfection of the mind; for as to the

reason or sense, inasmuch as it is that alone which consti-

tutes us men, and distinguishes us from the brutes, I am

disposed to believe that it is to be found complete in each

individual; and on this point to adopt the common opinion

of philosophers, who say that the difference of greater and

less holds only among the accidents, and not among the

forms or natures of individuals of the same species.

I will not hesitate, however, to avow my belief that it has

been my singular good fortune to have very early in life

fallen in with certain tracks which have conducted me to

considerations and maxims, of which I have formed a method

that gives me the means, as I think, of gradually augment-

ing my knowledge, and of raising it by little and little to the

highest point which the mediocrity of my talents and the

brief duration of my life will permit me to reach. For I have

already reaped from it such fruits that, although I have been

accustomed to think lowly enough of myself, and although

when I look with the eye of a philosopher at the varied

courses and pursuits of mankind at large, I find scarcely one

which does not appear in vain and useless, I nevertheless

derive the highest satisfaction from the progress I conceive

myself to have already made in the search after truth, and

cannot help entertaining such expectations of the future as

to believe that if, among the occupations of men as men,

there is any one really excellent and important, it is that

which I have chosen.

After all, it is possible I may be mistaken; and it is but a

little copper and glass, perhaps, that I take for gold and

diamonds. I know how very liable we are to delusion in what

relates to ourselves, and also how much the judgments of

our friends are to be suspected when given in our favor. But

I shall endeavor in this discourse to describe the paths I

DISCOURSE ON THE METHOD

have followed, and to delineate my life as in a picture, in

order that each one may also be able to judge of them for

himself, and that in the general opinion entertained of them,

as gathered from current report, I myself may have a new

help towards instruction to be added to those I have been in

the habit of employing.

My present design, then, is not to teach the method which

each ought to follow for the right conduct of his reason, but

solely to describe the way in which I have endeavored to

conduct my own. They who set themselves to give precepts

must of course regard themselves as possessed of greater

skill than those to whom they prescribe; and if they err in

the slightest particular, they subject themselves to censure.

But as this tract is put forth merely as a history, or, if you

will, as a tale, in which, amid some examples worthy of

imitation, there will be found, perhaps, as many more which

it were advisable not to follow, I hope it will prove useful to

some without being hurtful to any, and that my openness

will find some favor with all.

From my childhood, I have been familiar with letters; and

as I was given to believe that by their help a clear and cer-

tain knowledge of all that is useful in life might be acquired,

I was ardently desirous of instruction. But as soon as I had

finished the entire course of study, at the close of which it

is customary to be admitted into the order of the learned, I

completely changed my opinion. For I found myself involved

in so many doubts and errors, that I was convinced I had

advanced no farther in all my attempts at learning, than the

discovery at every turn of my own ignorance. And yet I was

studying in one of the most celebrated schools in Europe, in

which I thought there must be learned men, if such were

anywhere to be found. I had been taught all that others

learned there; and not contented with the sciences actually

taught us, I had, in addition, read all the books that had

fallen into my hands, treating of such branches as are es-

teemed the most curious and rare. I knew the judgment which

others had formed of me; and I did not find that I was con-

sidered inferior to my fellows, although there were among

them some who were already marked out to fill the places of

our instructors. And, in fine, our age appeared to me as

flourishing, and as fertile in powerful minds as any preced-

ing one. I was thus led to take the liberty of judging of all

other men by myself, and of concluding that there was no

science in existence that was of such a nature as I had pre-

viously been given to believe.

I still continued, however, to hold in esteem the studies of

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika: