During the years immediately following the condemnation of Galileo, Descartes held fast to his initial view that the cardinals had made a mistake, though one that was potentially dangerous for himself. His fundamental idea was that the decision involved a misunderstanding of the role of the Bible as a source of scientific knowledge. He also argued that he was not bound to accept the Roman decision as a matter of faith, and he hoped that it would be reversed in due course so that he could publish his World without fear of censure. He had to concede, however, that as long as there was no change of mind about Galileo by the church, the World would remain ‘out of season’ (i. 324). Descartes' refusal to publish The World was therefore not as definitive as it seemed to people like Mersenne, to whom he wrote: ‘If the reasons that prevent me from publishing it were to change, I could make a different decision without thereby being fickle’ (i. 367). We know now, in retrospect, that there was no change in Rome's censure, and that there was none either in Descartes' decision. His first book remained unpublished throughout his lifetime.

In these circumstances, the next-best option was to consider ways in which parts of his work that were not theologically sensitive could be released to the public.