HOBBES

OBJECTIONS TO DESCARTES’ MEDITATIONS,
WITH DESCARTES’ REPLIES

When Descartes had finished writing the Meditations on First Philosophy, he had the unusual and commendable idea of sending manuscript copies to some of the most prominent philosophers of the day, so that he could accompany the first edition of the work with their comments and his replies. The seven sets of objections and replies are six times as long as the Meditations themselves. At the time, Descartes was in self-imposed exile in Holland, and Hobbes was in self-imposed exile in Paris. The work of distributing the manuscripts and collecting the replies was done by Descartes’ and Hobbes’s mutual friend Mersenne, who selected Hobbes as one of the distinguished philosophers to provide his objections. Throughout the 17th century, it was common for people to write anonymously, pseudonymously, or giving only their initials; and Hobbes is identified merely as ‘a celebrated English philosopher.’

The work was published in Paris in 1641, with Hobbes’s objections and Descartes’ replies (the second shortest set) printed as the third set. The original, Latin text is included both in the Molesworth edition of Hobbes’s works, and in the Adam & Tannery edition of Descartes’s works (Charles Adam and Paul Tannery, Oeuvres de Descartes (revised edition: Paris, Vrin, 1964–76)). I have used the latter (volume 7). Most of the standard translations into English of selections from Descartes include Hobbes’s objections and Descartes’ replies.

In the original, there were no page references to the text of the Meditations. The page numbers I have added in square brackets beginning with ‘=Cress’ refer to the edition by Donald A. Cress, Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy (Hackett, 1980), which has been a compulsory text for all level-1 students.

Go to the Index to Hobbes’s Objections