« back to chapter 7 » proceed to chapter 8
Task 7.1
View Translation 3. Imagine the passage in the original French. Can you see something paradoxical in the English translation?
Task 7.2
View Translation 3 again. How would the passage have to run in a Latin translation?
Task 7.3
The statement in Translation 3 suggests that in Descartes’ day philosophical works were normally written in Latin rather than in a vernacular language like French. Descartes’ training was in Latin. Does this mean that, to write his book in French, Descartes had to translate his own thought from Latin into French?