For a number of years, those interested in recovering women's thought have known about Princess Elisabeth, a seventeenth-century correspondent and friend of Descartes whose questions provoked the philosopher to think more seriously about ethics and the passions. Up to now, only a few of her letters have found their way into print. This volume includes translations of all of Elisabeth's extant letters to Descartes, as well as of other materials relevant to understanding her philosophical perspective and her life. Nye has supplemented the translations with a running commentary on the historical, biographical, and intellectual context of the letters. The letters were during a tumultuous time in European history. A devastating Thirty Years War had ruined Elisabeth's family and devastated their principality, the Palatine. On his part, Descartes was increasingly embroiled in bitter controversies surrounding his work in relatively free-thinking Holland. In her commentary Nye shows how personal experiences energized his and Elisabeth's different views of the relation between mind and body, the existence of God, and the nature of morality. What Nye evokes, along with the thinking of an extraordinary woman, is an alternative model for philosophy, a nonadversarial form of dialogue that does not pretend to objective theorizing. Such a philosophy depends on mutual respect and trust, on concern for the other's sensibilities and views, on friendship between women and men with a common concern for human life.
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Nye has put this correspondence in readable form ... well done. -- S. C. Schwarze, Cabrini College CHOICE An intriguing combination of social history, biography, and philosophical commentary. The Princess and the Philosopher provides a lens that enables readers to understand Elisabeth's appreciation of and impact on Descartes' philosophy, framed within the political and cultural context of their time. -- Nancy Tuana, University of Oregon
About the Author
Andrea Nye is professor of philosophy at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Her books include Philosophia: The Thought of Rosa Luxemburg, Simone Weil, and Hannah Arendt (1994) and Words of Power: A Feminist Reading of the History of Logic (1990).
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2.3 out of 5 stars
3 reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
If only she would have included the rest of the letters!
7 Feb 2005
By Casimir
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I was so taken with the portions of the letters translated and available for the first time in English, that I wasn't particularly bothered by the perspective. It was actually quite thought provoking.
One wishes the complete texts of the letters would have been included. After all, why not? Then readers could find things that interested them, that may have not interested the author. In particular, one feels that Elisabeth's status as a Reformed Protestant could have been explored more.
One wishes the complete texts of the letters would have been included. After all, why not? Then readers could find things that interested them, that may have not interested the author. In particular, one feels that Elisabeth's status as a Reformed Protestant could have been explored more.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Too much excerpting!
20 Oct 2009
By Aaron Boyden
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
Like another reviewer, I found Nye's commentary excessive and not very interesting or helpful, and would have much preferred to see more of the text of Elisabeth's letters themselves. Still, it is at least a chance to get a significant proportion of Elisabeth's ideas in English, and that's certainly valuable.
10 of 17 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars
Garbage
30 May 2000
By A Customer
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
Throughout this book one may find translations of important letters between Descartes and Princess Elizabeth that are otherwise unavailable in English. This is, however, the book's only merit. The "commentary" on the letters reduces Elizabeth's often insightful objections to concerns about suitors who only care to (actual quote from the book) "get into her pants." Conjectures about an affair between Elizabeth and Descartes, generalizations about the trials and tribulations of court life and pure incompetence regarding all substantive points raised in the correspondence pervade the entire work. An absolute insult.
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2.3 out of 5 stars
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