Cartesius Page #2

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from La Turenne.

I haven't seen him

for more than two months.

Unfortunately you have

found much excitement at Paris.

Oh, I don't know the

intrigues of court,

but it seems right to me

that the young king

wants to govern himself

rather than letting

an intriguing courtier do so.

Yes, you're right.

What do you intend to

do now that you're in Paris?

What plans do you have?

I could help you.

I've already told

that to my father.

I would really like no one to help me.

I have decided...

not to start any career.

I need to wait still.

But then if you are undecided,

you'll need some help.

No, because I'm

absolutely not undecided.

I just want to find out by myself,

alone...

how this world is made up.

Paris, for example.

Since I left the college

I've realised

that I've learned nothing

that might be useful to me

in life.

Good God

how I adore your hair,

it's like gentle

waves on your forehead.

and it caresses your beauty gently

and it makes me

jealous when I kiss you.

Your mouth is amber and pink,

but your words will

cut me to the quick

if while you kiss

me you do not tell me

that to love is a sublime thing.

Come with me, the wind is blowing

strong, he certainly can't hear us,

and what we'll do here

will be a very sweet mystery.

Wonderful.

You say that you don't like

law, but you certainly love poetry,

and I am sure that you will soon come to

tell me that you have discovered love in Paris.

I want to discover completely

different things here, at Paris.

That's very uninteresting sir.

Oh no it's not, I can

most absolutely assure you.

Come, I'll accompany

you to your room.

Here's your room ,

I hope you like it.

It'll be fine.

Your father wrote that

you are a little wild,

but here you can feel at home.

I thank you, sir.

Put it down here.

Sir!

Sir!

What's up?

You know I don't want to be disturbed.

Yes I know sir, but it's midday.

A man has been waiting for an

answer to this ticket for two hours.

It is an invitation from Father

Mersenne to the ''Padri Minimi'' convent.

Mersenne is an elderly pupil

of the La Fleche college.

Tell him I'll go.

Go, go.

What do think then,

of these false sciences

that affirm without

ever proving anything.

They invoke the hidden qualities

of the moon and the constellations.

What must we think about the many

who give up praying to God and the saints

to direct magic prayers to the stars.

What must we think

about these astrologers

who dare

to make a horoscope

of our Lord Jesus Christ.

A wise man is neither a

diviner nor even less a magician

he is someone who loves the truth

and like Aristotle believes in nature

and shows it by

studying causes

and the succession

of phenomena.

I certainly do not approve

everything about Aristotle

because almost two thousand

years have passed since his death

and man's science

has progressed a good deal.

But as for the search of the truth,

I repeat again here...

What I've said many other times.

Aristotle is an eagle,

the others are just little chicks.

But Reverend Father

in the search for the truth

Plato says one thing,

Aristotle says another,

Epicure another one again,

Agostino seems to

indicate a different way

to that of Tommaso D'Aquino,

Telesio, Campanella,

Bacon and other innovators

bring still yet more

diverse arguments.

You said that apart from Aristotle,

they are all chicks,

don't you think you're exaggerating.

The sums of the

scholastic philosophers

founded on the doctrines of Aristotle

seem to be perfect constructions

that lead to the truth,

when you study them

remaining enclosed

inside the walls of a library

or of a college...

But they seem very remote

when confronted

with the thousands and

thousands of phenomenon

that are the reality of our world.

Can any of these ever teach us

something with authority

about which there

can be no possible doubt.

You are too young,

you still have much to study.

And you talk in an inconsistent

way, probably about Aristotle

you only know the citations

shown to us in the summae...

And you, you... are

certainly Mr Descartes.

My young La Fleche fellow student.

Father Francoise

of the company of Jesus,

recommended this young man to me,

Mr Descartes

who has a great passion

for mathematical sciences.

You'll be able to get to

know him better later.

Certainly gentlemen ,

but I ask you now to continue

and to excuse my interruption.

Well now...

Let's get back to where we were.

Come and look.

Come.

I've had an idea. I've found the way

of measuring the humidity in the air.

Now, I'll show you

what I've thought up.

Look at these two strips of paper,

the first is in its natural state,

this other one

I moistened previously,

shrinks on drying.

With this method, I believe

that I can measure

different degrees of humidity

like we measure different degrees

of heat with a thermoscope.

It's interesting.

You'll see the effect in a few minutes.

I see that in the scientific field

you don't follow Aristotle

but I don't understand...

if you reject his science,

why ever do you

diffuse the philosophy?

You're not telling me that you too

belong to the innovators,

and reject all kinds of philosophy.

No, I don't reject philosophy at all,

but the doctrines appear

to me constructed

on not very safe bases,

such as sand.

I would be displeased

if through this way

you were to reach scepticism,

this is a danger you know well.

What do you do to avoid it?

I do not look for any other science

that I can't check out

by myself

and...

I draw my lessons from life,

rather than from the books.

But if the authority of the

philosophers makes you gloomy

Who else do think may guide you?

The conviction, Father,

that in the natural condition,

in our soul,

there are seeds of truth

and that it is precisely these seeds

that can give us the ability

to distinguish what is true,

from what is false.

The seeds of truth.

You should write your

observations down

about the philosophy of our times,

a very useful discussion

could be born out of it.

Write?

Ah no. I can't do that Father,

I still haven't reflected enough.

I hope at least you'll come

and find me from time to time

to speak with me

and with my gifted friends

if that would please you.

Of course, I'll be around.

I thank you.

There, did you see?

One day, the old

Marshall of Roclair,

took me to visit a certain Guglielmetta

to ascertain that she could speak

in very different languages

whilst she was possessed by the devil.

I approached her and

began to talk to her in five

or six different languages,

without having any reply

other than incomprehensible

words and horrible swearing in Gascon.

At a certain moment

a priest entered the room

and she came back to normal.

A deception, gentlemen ,

nothing more than a deception.

It is my duty to warn you

that by trying not to believe

in the devil , you'll end up

not believing in God anymore.

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