Principles of Descartes’ Philosophy

In Histories of Philosophy Spinoza’s name stands inseparably associated with Pantheism if it has not become practically synonymous with that term. His earlier writings, therefore, are of value primarily for the light they throw upon his later thought. While it is true that some of them have intrinsic worth, for the most part it is because they illumine the mysteries of his mystical Pantheism that these early writings are preserved and read. We need not hesitate to say that this is pre-eminently true of the Principles of Descartes’ Philosophy. In 1663 Spinoza published Renati des Cartes Principiorum Philosophiae (1663; René Descartes’ Principles of Philosophy), the only one of his works to be published under his own name in his lifetime. An exposition of Descartes’ Principia Philosophiae (1644; Principles of Philosophy), it showed a profound understanding of Descartes’ system. This translation, undertaken at the suggestion of Professor George M. Duncan of Yale University, has been made from the Latin text of Vloten’s and Land’s Benedict de Spinoza Opera, 1895. A careful study of this work will be a convincing argument that more attention should be given to the early writings of Spinoza for the help they give in understanding his Pantheism.