Frans Burman kept a record of his conversation (in Latin) with Descartes in 1648. I have selected just a couple of sentences which may throw some light on Descartes’ theory of substance.

It was first published by Charles Adam in 1896, and for my translation I have used the reprint (Paris, Vrin, 1975). Page numbers in square brackets refer to that edition.

The whole conversation has been translated into English by John Cottingham: Descartes’ Conversation with Burman (Oxford, 1970).

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