The Philosophical Writings of Descartes

As soon as he had completed the Meditations, Descartes began to circulate them among his friends, asking for comments and criticisms. He also sent the manuscript to Friar Marin Mersenne (1588–1648), his friend and principal correspondent, asking him to obtain further criticisms. He wrote to Mersenne in a letter of 28 January 1641: ‘I shall be glad if people make me as many objections as possible – and the strongest ones they can find. For I hope that in consequence the truth will stand out all the better.’ The resulting six sets of Objections (the first set collected by Descartes himself, the remainder by Mersenne) were published in Latin, together with Descartes' Replies, in the same volume as the first (1641) edition of the Meditations. The second edition of the Meditations (1642) contained in addition the Seventh Set of Objections together with Descartes' Replies, and also the Letter to Dinet (all in Latin). The terms ‘Objections’ and ‘Replies’ were suggested by Descartes himself, who asked that his own comments should be called ‘Replies’ rather than ‘Solutions’ in order to leave the reader to judge whether his replies contained solutions to the difficulties offered (letter to Mersenne, 18 March 1641).

The volume containing the French translation of the Meditations (by de Luynes), which appeared in 1647, also contained a French version of the first six sets of Objections and Replies by Descartes' disciple Claude Clerselier (1614–84).