Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting One’s Reason and of Seeking Truth in the Sciences
The author and protagonist, who develops and applies the method of doubt to establish certain knowledge.
Prefatory Note by the Author
The author of the Discourse, who has discovered the method and deduced rules of morals and metaphysical foundations.
Discourse on the Method
The philosopher who systematically doubts all previous beliefs to find indubitable truth.
Meditations on the First Philosophy: In Which the Existence of God and the Immortality of the Soul Are Demonstrated
The author who presents the Meditations, addresses objections from learned men, and demonstrates the existence of God and the immortality of the soul.
Dedication
Author of the treatise, seeking patronage and correction from the Faculty of Theology.
Preface to the Reader
Author and narrator, defending his philosophical method and responding to objections.
Synopsis of the Six Following Meditations
Descartes is the author and central figure, outlining his philosophical method and arguments.
Meditations on the First Philosophy
Descartes presents his philosophical arguments, including the wax example and the role of free will in avoiding error.
Meditation I: Of the Things of Which We May Doubt
The philosopher who authors the Meditations and is the subject of the narrative.
Meditation II: Of the Nature of the Human Mind; and That It Is More Easily Known Than the Body
Descartes is the central figure, conducting the meditation and articulating the Cogito and the nature of the mind.
Meditation III: Of God: That He Exists
The author and philosophical protagonist, who presents his method of doubt and the proof of God's existence.
Meditation IV: Of Truth and Error
The author and meditator, presenting his philosophical analysis of truth and error.
Meditation VI: Of the Existence of Material Things, and of the Real Distinction Between the Mind and Body of Man
The philosopher whose arguments and reflections are presented throughout the meditation.
Selections from the Principles of Philosophy
Author and primary philosophical voice; presents arguments for God's existence, clear and distinct perception, and the nature of material things.
Letter of the Author to the French Translator of the Principles of Philosophy Serving for a Preface
Author of the letter and the Principles of Philosophy; defends his method and principles against traditional philosophy.
Dedication
Author and philosopher, writing a dedicatory letter to Princess Elizabeth.
Selections from the Principles of Philosophy
Author and central thinker; presents the principles of philosophy through systematic doubt and the Cogito.
Part I: Of the Principles of Human Knowledge
The author and philosopher presenting his principles of human knowledge.
I
Implied author and subject of the philosophical method described.
VII
The author and thinker presenting the argument that doubt implies existence.
VIII
The author and philosophical voice behind the argument for mind-body distinction.
X
Author and philosopher who defends the cogito as the first principle of philosophy and critiques the use of logical definitions for self-evident truths.
XI
The author and philosopher presenting the argument that the mind is known more clearly than the body.
XII
Descartes is the implied authorial voice presenting the argument.
XV
The philosopher presenting the argument that necessary existence is unique to the idea of an all-perfect Being.
XVIII
Author and philosopher presenting the argument for God's existence from the idea of perfection.
Chapter XX
The philosopher presenting the argument that the idea of God's infinite perfections cannot be self-caused, leading to the proof of God's existence.
XXVI
Author of the chapter, presenting his view on the infinite and the indefinite.
XXXI
Author and philosopher explaining the origin of errors.
XXXII
Author of the distinction between understanding and will.
XXXV
Author and philosopher presenting the argument about the will and understanding.
XXXIX
Author and philosopher asserting the self-evidence of free will.
XLII
Authorial voice presenting the argument about will and error.
XLIII
Author of the argument that clear and distinct perception, guaranteed by God's veracity, prevents error.
XLVII
Descartes is the implied author, enumerating simple notions to distinguish clear from obscure ideas.
XLVIII
Descartes articulates the division of things into intellectual and material substances, and acknowledges the mind-body union.
Chapter L
Author and philosopher explaining the unequal perception of clear truths due to prejudices.
LII
Author and philosopher presenting the argument.
Of distinctions; and first of the real
Author and philosopher presenting the doctrine of real distinction.
Of the Distinction of Reason (Logical Distinction)
Author of the chapter, explaining the distinction of reason and referencing his earlier work.
LXVII
Descartes is the authorial voice behind the argument, critiquing the common belief that pain exists in the body rather than in the mind.
LXVIII
Author and philosopher presenting the distinction between clear sensation as thought and obscure judgment of external existence.
LXXI
Descartes is the author presenting his analysis of the causes of error.
LXXVI
Author of the principle that divine authority surpasses human reason, and that in non-revealed matters only clear and distinct perceptions should be accepted.
Part II: Of the Principles of Material Things
Author and primary voice; argues for the existence of material things and defines body as extension.
III
Descartes is the authorial voice behind the argument, advocating reliance on the understanding over the senses.
IX
Author of the chapter, presenting his argument about corporeal substance and extension.
How space is not in reality different from corporeal substance
Author and philosopher presenting the argument that extension constitutes the nature of body.
XVI
Author of the argument against the possibility of a vacuum.
How the prejudice of an absolute vacuum is to be corrected
Author of the argument correcting the prejudice of an absolute vacuum.
Part III: Of the Visible World
Author and narrator of the philosophical inquiry into the visible world.
I
Author and philosopher presenting principles of material things and the need to contemplate God's infinity.
III
Author presenting a philosophical argument about the purpose of creation.
Part IV: Of the Earth
Author and narrator of the treatise; presents his mechanical philosophy and theory of perception.
Of what is to be borrowed from disquisitions on animals and man to advance the knowledge of material objects
Author reflecting on his unfinished plans for the Principles of Philosophy and his decision to include sensory objects.
CLXXXIX
The philosophical author whose views on perception and the soul are presented.
CXC
Descartes presents his physiological and philosophical account of internal senses, passions, and natural appetites.
Of Smell
Author explaining the mechanism of smell
CXCV
The author of the Dioptrics and treatise on Meteors, whose theories on light and color are referenced.
CXCVII
Author and primary philosopher presenting the argument about the mind's nature.
CXCVIII
Descartes is the philosopher advancing the mechanistic view of perception.
The Universality of Mechanical Principles
Author of the treatise, defending its principles as ancient and universal.
CCI
Author presenting the argument that bodies contain insensible particles and defending reason over sensory limits.
CCII
Defends his philosophy against comparison with Democritus, clarifying points of agreement and divergence.
CCIII: How we may arrive at the knowledge of the figures, magnitudes, and motions of the insensible particles of bodies
The philosopher who explains his method for inferring the properties of insensible particles from clear and distinct notions and mechanical principles.
CCIV
Author of the argument that hypothetical causes are sufficient for explaining natural phenomena.
Appendix
Author of the geometrical demonstration, presenting definitions, axioms, and proofs for God's existence and mind-body dualism.
Endnotes
Central figure whose terminology and doctrines are explicated throughout the endnotes, especially regarding the nature of ideas, their twofold relation, and the distinction between perception and idea.
