Major Works

The Discourse on Method

- The Discourse on Method, translated, edited by Pamela Kraus and Frank Hunt, Introduction by Richard Kennington (Focus Library, R. Pullins Co., 2007).
From the publisher: This is an English translation of Descartes’ seminal discourse, with an original essay by Richard Kennington. This text is designed to provide the student with a close translation, notes, and a glossary of key terms, facilitating… More

The Passions of the Soul

- The Passions of the Soul, translated by Stephen H. Voss (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1989).
From the publisher: Contents include a translator’s introduction, introduction by Genevieve Rodis-Lewis, bibliography, index, index locorum, and The Passions of the Soul — PART I: About the Passions in General, and Incidentally about the Entire… More

The Geometry of René Descartes

- The Geometry of René Descartes, translated by David Eugene Smith and Marcia L. Lantham (New York: Dover Publications, 1954).
Excerpt: If a mathematician were asked to name the great epoch-making works in his science, he might well hesitate in his decision concerning the product of the nineteenth century ; he might even hesitate with respect to the eighteenth century ; but as to the… More

Principles of Philosophy

- Principles of Philosophy, translated by V.R. Miller and R.P. Miller (Dordrecht: D. Reidel, 1983).
From the publisher: Principles of Philosophy was written in Latin by René Descartes. Published in 1644, it was intended to replace Aristotle’s philosophy and traditional Scholastic Philosophy. This volume contains a letter of the author to the French… More

Meditations on First Philosophy

- Meditations on First Philosophy, translated by John Cottingham, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
From the publisher: The Meditations, one of the key texts of Western philosophy, is the most widely studied of all Descartes’ writings. This authoritative translation by John Cottingham, taken from the much acclaimed three-volume Cambridge edition of… More