Skip directly to: Main page content
UC Davis Department of Philosophy

Descartes

Philosophy Department

1240 Social Sciences and Humanities
University of California, Davis
One Shields Avenue
Davis, CA 95616

Phone: (530) 752-0607

Fax: (530) 752-8964

Picture of Descartes and Queen Christina

Descartes and Queen Christina

Recent News

  • The second paper is due in class on Monday, November 21.

This is the material covered in each class. Page numbers refer to the Adam and Tannery edition of the works of Descartes, indicated in the margins of our text.

  • September 21: Introductory Remarks, through slide 17, “Mechanism”
  • September 26: Remainder of Introductory Remarks, Discourse Part One and Part Two, first paragraph
  • September 28: Remainder of Part Two, Rules for the Direction of the Mind, through Rule XI
  • October 3: Remainder of Rules, Discourse on Method Part Three, Part Four through paragraph 5
  • October 5: Remainder of Discourse, Meditations through paragraph 3 of Meditation I
  • October 10: Remainder of Meditation I, Meditation II through second paragraph from the end
  • October 12: Remainder of Meditation II, Meditation III through the second paragraph
  • October 17: Meditation III through the first argument for the existence of God
  • October 19: Meditation III through four paragraphs from the end
  • October 24: Meditation IV through description of free will
  • October 24: Remainder of Meditation IV
  • October 24: Meditation V through second argument for the existence of God
  • November 2: Remainder of Meditation V
  • November 7: Meditation VI through proof of the existence of bodies
  • November 9: Remainder of Meditation VI
  • November 14: Objections to Meditiation VI, Regius’s 21 Theses
  • November 19: Remainder of Notes Against a Certain Program, Discourse on Method, Part Four, Part Five through paragraph 9
  • November 21: Remainder of Discourse on Method, Principles of Philosophy, through Article 54
  • November 23: Handouts on Descartes’s theories of optics and motion
  • November 28: Remainder of Principles of Philosophy, Part I, Parts II-IV
  • November 30: Passions of the Soul