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And finally, consistency and resoluteness are not sufficient in all cases. There may be some people
who cannot will anything other than those dictated by their passions. Even such people will accept
the truth if they are acquainted with it. Each soul is capable of controlling its passions by means of
knowing what to do and also being sufficiently resolute for doing it. “There is no soul so weak that it
cannot, if well‐directed, acquire absolute power over its passions.” 35
All these explanations can be considered as the answers of both of Elisabeth’s questions; her
metaphysical question concerning the interaction between the soul and the body as two distinct
substances and her practical question concerning the way for living a moral life. Descartes’ detailed
considerations concerning the first question in terms of nerves, blood, heart, pineal gland, (which
turns out to be false later) do not answer Elisabeth’s question. Descartes does not give any
explanation concerning how the soul ‐as an unextended substance‐ can cause some motions in the
pineal gland which is corporeal and vice versa. Therefore, it does not seem very likely that Elisabeth
was completely satisfied by Descartes’ explanations. 36 It is more likely to think that she was more
convinced by his answers to the second question. Descartes’ views on how to live a morally good life
might have been influential on Elisabeth’s decision for spending the last 20 years of her life in a
Lutheran convent.
The correspondences between Elisabeth and Descartes, the subject matter of which has been
determined by the issues in Elisabeth’s life and her pursuit of ways to deal with these problems
constitute the evidence for their solid friendship that lasted until Descartes’ death in 1649. These
correspondences left important topics of discussion in the fields of metaphysics, moral philosophy,
philosophy of mind, and psychology. There can be no doubt that they would not have reached us if
they had not been provoked by the questions and problems posed by Elisabeth.
Keywords: Modern philosophy, Cartesian philosophy, Women philosophers, Mind and body,
problem, Freewill and determinism
Associate Prof. Aliye Karabük Kovanlıkaya
Galatasaray University
Philosophy Department
akovanlikaya@gsu.edu.tr
Notes
1
André Bridoux, ed., Descartes: Œuvres et Lettres (Paris: Editions Gallimard, 1953), 1373.
2
Desmond M. Clarke, Descartes: A Biography (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), 1‐
24.
3
Lisa Shapiro, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Elisabeth, Princess of Bohemia."
http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2013/entries/elisabeth‐bohemia/>
4
Blaze de Bury, Memoirs of The Princess Palatine Princess of Bohemia (London: Richard Bentley,
1853), 175‐196.
5
Alp Hamuroğlu, Bilim ve Gelecek, “İlk Dünya Savaşı: Otuz Yıl Savaşları (1618‐1648),
http://www.bilimvegelecek.com.tr/?goster=1577.
6
Bridoux, Descartes: Œuvres et Lettres, 25.
7
J. Sirven, Les années d’apprentissage de Descartes 1596‐1628 (New York&London : Garland
Publishing, Inc.,1987), 280.
8
Wikipedia contributors, "Frederick V, Elector Palatine," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Frederick_V,_Elector_Palatine&oldid=611069754
9 Wikipedia contributors, "Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia," Wikipedia, The Free
Encyclopedia,http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Elizabeth_Stuart,_Queen_of_Bohemia&
oldid=610490588
10
Foucher de Careil, Descartes, la princesse Élisabeth et la reine Christine (Paris: Félix Alcan,
1909), 9‐10.