Theological Origins of Modernity

descartes’ path to truth 177
against the backdrop of a world that had failed to fi nd a principle of order
that could restrain the religious passions and establish political peace. Th e
path that Descartes follows in his speculations is a path that leads away
from the political and into the self, but it is not a path of retreat and withdrawal,
not merely an eff ort to save himself or maintain his own independence
on the model of Petrarch or Montaigne. Th e retreat into the self is
part and parcel of his eff ort to discover the ground for a radical transformation
of European society based on a certain method for determining
the truth. His “retreat” in this respect follows a Rosicrucian path. Indeed,
in Hermetic fashion, he tries to separate his mind from his body in order to
free himself from the illusions of the world and in so doing to open himself
up to a visionary revelation. 36 His goal, however, is not personal but public
and in a certain sense political.
Th e date of his momentous day was charged with great and perhaps even
mystical signifi cance for Descartes. November 10, 1619 was St. Martin’s
Eve. Th is was the day on which Ignatius Loyola founded the Jesuit order. 37
Th is day was also traditionally regarded as the end of warm weather in
Descartes’ native Touraine, and folk wisdom saw it as beginning of winter.
Rents were due on leases at this time. It was also the opening day for parlements
(courts) in France. Descartes received his B.A. on November 9, 1614
and licentiate in canon and civil law on November 10, 1616. He fi rst met
Beeckman on November 10, 1618, and his dream occurred on November
10, 1619. He also apparently continued to regard this date as signifi cant. On
November 11, 1620, he claims he had just begun (presumably on November
10, 1620) to understand the foundation of his wonderful discovery. On
November 10, 1640, he wrote to Mersenne that he had sent the Meditations
to Huygens the day before and on the same day announced his intention
to publish the Principles. 38
According to his own account, Descartes spent that entire November
10, 1619 in thought, laying out the foundations for what he described as
a miraculous science. Aft er this day of feverish thinking, fi lled with enthusiasm,
Descartes went to bed, expecting a dream that would confi rm
his great discovery. He was not disappointed. Indeed, he had a series of
dreams (either two or three depending on the commentator) that left him
convinced that he had chosen the right path in life and had discovered a
method that would lead infallibly to the truth. 39
Th e meaning and importance of Descartes’ dream(s) have been the
subject of a controversy that at one time or another has occupied nearly
every prominent Descartes scholar and even, if only briefl y, the greatest
“dream scholar” of them all, Sigmund Freud. Th ere are two quite diff erent