Chapter 2 1. Early anthology

introduction After the author's death, a small notebook containing various early works is mentioned in a catalog of Descartes papers compiled by later generations, which was made by the author when he was traveling in Europe from 1619 to 1622.This notebook has long been lost.But later a copy was found in the collection of Leibniz, published in 1859 as Personal Reflections, from which the following three excerpts are taken.The order of the excerpts may be somewhat confusing due to the absence of paragraphs and headings in the Leibniz copy. (one) Excerpts from the Foreword Actors were warned not to show any embarrassing expressions on their faces, so they put on masks, and I also plan to learn to walk in Handan.Until now, I have been an audience member on this big stage of the world, but now I will go to the stage and appear with a mask.

In my childhood, whenever a genius discovery was presented to me, I always wondered if I could design the inventor myself before I read the description of the inventor.Gradually this habit led me to find myself stepping into a routine. Science is like a woman. If she is faithful to her husband, she will be respected; In most books, as long as we read a few lines or look at a few diagrams, the general content of the article is clear at a glance, and the rest is just rubbish that fills the blank paper. The mathematical treasure discovered by Palibus, "Subjects of the World", which formulates practical methods for solving all difficult problems in the mathematical sciences, and demonstrates that human intelligence cannot obtain deeper research on these problems.The book is aimed at those who expect to be shown to us a set of marvelous discoveries in all sciences, with the purpose of scolding their laziness and exposing their boastful ignorance, and with another, deeper purpose, to those who spend their days and nights in the field Those who overcome difficulties and solve problems, and those who waste their talents and achieve nothing, alleviate the unbearable suffering.The book was a great travesty to scholars all over the world and especially to the illustrious Rosicrucian brothers in Germany.

The sciences are now forced to disguise themselves, but if the mask is removed, all their beauty will be lost.If we can see how the sciences are related to each other, we can keep them in our minds as easily as a series of numbers. Each of us is faced with a set of frameworks that we cannot cross and that limit our imagination.Those who lack the wisdom to make discoveries from first principles will still be able to appreciate the true value of science, and this will enable them to arrive at a correct judgment about the value of things. (two) Observations I use the word "evil" to refer to mental illnesses, which are not as easily recognized as physical illnesses.This is because we often experience good physical health, but we never know the true state of mental health.

I've noticed that if I'm sad or feeling dangerous and bothered by something serious, I'm lethargic and gobble it up, but if I'm excited I can't eat or sleep. In a garden, we can represent a shape by a shadow, such as a tree; or we can arrange an edge so that it represents a fixed shape when viewed from a certain angle.On the other hand, in the house, we can let the sun's rays pass through various openings to form various shadows in order to represent different numbers and figures.Or we make it appear to have tongues of fire in the air, or a chariot, or some other shape.All by means of mirrors to concentrate the sun's rays to various points.On the other hand, we can arrange things so that when the sun hits the house it always seems to come from the same direction, or seems to move from west to east.All of these are formed with parabolic mirrors: the sun's rays strike a concave mirror on the roof, the focal point of which must be in line with a small hole, and on the other side of the hole is a concave mirror with the same focal length, which also In line with the hole, this allows the sun's rays to fall horizontally into the house.

It was in 1620 that I began to understand the fundamentals of this wonderful discovery. Just as it is proud to be praised by others, it is also very rewarding to be criticized by friends.We want praise from people who don't know us, but from friends we want truth.There is an element in all human minds which, when aroused, however slight, produces strong feelings.Thus, if an extremely sensitive child is scolded, he will not cry but get angry, and the other child will cry instead.If we are told that a certain disaster is going to happen, we will be sad, but if we are first told that some villain caused it, we will become angry.From one kind of anger to another emotion, we pass through the intermediary that connects various emotions.But often there is a sharp turn of one emotion into the opposite, as we hear some unfortunate news at a merry party.

(three) Sublime Matters Just as the imagination uses figures to imagine objects in order to conceive concepts of spiritual matter, so reason also uses certain objects, which may be apprehended through the senses, such as wind and light.In this way we can philosophize in a nobler way, expand our knowledge, and bring our spirits to a high point. It seems surprising to find far-reaching judgments in the works of poets but not in those of philosophers.The reason is that poets write motivated by passion and imagination.In us, as in the flint and steel, there are the sparks of knowledge: the philosopher abstracts them from reason, but the poet from the burst of imagination, so they sparkle more brilliantly.

Learned insights can be reduced to a very small number of general laws. Before the end of November I am going to Roland, and I intend to walk there from Venice, if it is practicable and customary to do so.If that doesn't work, I'll go on a pilgrimage with the usual offerings.The most important thing is that I have to dispose of my property before Easter.If I can find a publisher and I'm very happy with what I want to publish, I will publish it.This is my pledge today (February 23, 1620). Everything has a single active capacity: love, kindness, harmony.Sensual things are great for helping us imagine sublime things.Wind signifies soul, passage of time signifies life, light signifies knowledge, heat signifies love, momentary activity signifies creation; every bodily form works in harmony.The things of the world are more wet than dry, and colder than hot, for otherwise the active elements would win the battle too quickly, and the world would not last.

"God separated the light from the darkness" means in Guinness: God separated the good angels from the ugly angels.It is difficult to take this sentence literally, because a non-existent cannot be separated from a fixed place.God is purely rational.God has created three miracles: nothingness, free will, and God in man. Man's knowledge of natural things is acquired only by their resemblance to that which is attended to by the senses.In fact, our estimate of how much truth a man has attained in his philosophizing studies increases with the increasing resemblance he can draw between what he investigates and what he knows by sense.Some of the high perfection in their movements makes us suspect that animals do not have free will.