The Passion Of The Soul Analysis

The real proof of existence Descartes built his philosophy from the very bottom. He took nothing for granted. “I think therefore I am” is not the beginning of his philosophy; it is the first important conclusion on which he builds his further meditations. But what if the whole proof of existence starts with wondering? Descartes didn’t write anything about wondering in his “Discourse on Method”, but he gave it a big part in his meditations and in “The Passion of the Soul”. So what if he just came up with the idea of wondering later in his life, but in fact everything started with wondering? It’s possible that wondering is the real proof of the existence while thinking is just a product of wondering. To prove this thesis, I’m going to research …show more content…
It was written by the influence of Princess Elisabeth and her and Descartes’ corresponds. Here Descartes talks a lot about wondering as one of the passions that drives people. According to Descartes “wonder is the first of all the passion” (p.52 of The passions of the soul) It is “a sudden surprise of the soul which makes us to consider attentively those objects which seem to it rare and extraordinary” (p.56 of The Passions of the soul). Basically, wondering is a process that happens in our brain which makes us regard something as unusual and interesting enough to continue exploring the object. However, this passion has a unique aspect: it doesn’t change one’s heart or blood. It has no physical effects on people just because all you get from wondering is a pure knowledge. Wondering is not good or evil. It just leads to thinking about an object and can’t affect a body. It also has its strength such as it “alerts motion of spirits” (p.58 of The Passion of the soul). Wonder causes movement of the mind which makes us learn and keep thoughts in our heads of the things that we previously were ignorant of. Wonder is the first instinct on which people react and that leads to future …show more content…
As well as the idea of wondering – this is primary passion that makes us explore the object further. But if it’s a primary passion, why didn’t he mentioned it in “Discourse on method” or in his Meditations? Probably, when he was Discourse he didn’t really know anything about wondering as he came up with this ideal later. The fact that this book was written by Descartes for himself make it possible just because it was kind of a “diary” for the author where he was trying too find the truth. But the Meditations also haven’t had any references to wondering. And he the author was writing it to a Meditator which means that he was trying to teach him something that he already knew. Then why he didn’t even mention wondering? Maybe because it’s just a passion and it’s not very philosophical in spite of the fact that it leads to the philosophy. Would it change something if wondering was in the