Reading guide for Tues 11/1 and Thurs 11/3:
Descartes, The World: Treatise on Man, pts. 4-5 (pp. 139-169)
Descartes, selections in Matthews anth. (pp. 92-108)
Tuesday we complete discussion of The World. The bulk of this assignment lies in part 5, where Descartes' attention is centered on the operation of the pineal gland (which he refers to by the label 'H' used in the diagrams). Much of the discussion is focused on diagrams; and, since the reproduction of them in our edition isn't as clear as it might be, I've added a few supplementary comments about them. Perhaps the biggest help in general is that the labels tend to be fairly consistent from one diagram to the next.
Fig. 58: the labels 'B' and 'C' appear in the area below the central cavity around the pineal gland, first 'B' and then below it 'C'. Both appear in a couple locations, so they appear to label regions rather than specific spots.
P. 150: although Gaukroger refers you to Fig. 59 in connection with the label 'N' (see note 50), in some editions Fig. 60 shows the label 'N' to the left of the lower eyeball just below the optic nerve.
Fig. 61: if you think of the area in which the holes appear in the linen cloth as the face of a clock, the labels 'a', 'b', 'c', and 'd' appear in the locations of 1, 4, 10 and 7 o'clock, respectively.
P. 155: the reference to Fig. 63 should be to Fig. 64 (on the opposite page); the label '8' appears below the pineal gland (and looks somewhat like an 'X').
Fig. 68: the label '7' marks the opening of the rightmost system of tubes; the labels 'N' and 'z' have been reversed and appear as they would in a mirror.
Fig. 69: you can see the open centers of the labels 'D' near the brain stem at the bottom.
Thursday we will discuss the selections from the Discourse on Method and The Principles of Philosophy in the Matthews anthology. (Although the listing of contents of Matthews refers to two parts of the Discourse on Method, the selection that appears is all from part II; some selections from part VI appear on the reading guide for last week.) Most of these selections address the broader philosophical framework of Descartes' hypothetical account of the world. The laws of nature stated in the selections from part II of the Principles are similar to those in ch. 7 of the Treatise on Light and appear just a little before the rules for collisions on the handout.