"Moreover, as we said, we should not contemplate, in one and the same visual or mental gaze, more than two of the innumerable different dimensions which it is possible to depict in the imagination."
— Descartes, René (1596-1650)
Author
Place of Publication
Amsterdam
Publisher
P. and J. Blaeu
Date
w. 1628, published in 1684, 1701
Metaphor
"Moreover, as we said, we should not contemplate, in one and the same visual or mental gaze, more than two of the innumerable different dimensions which it is possible to depict in the imagination."
Metaphor in Context
Rule Sixteen
As for things which do not require the immediate attention of the mind, however necessary they may be for the conclusion, it is better to represent them by very concise symbols rather than by complete figures. It will thus be impossible for our memory to go wrong, and our mind will not be distracted by having to retain these while it is taken up with deducing other matters.
Moreover, as we said, we should not contemplate, in one and the same visual or mental gaze, more than two of the innumerable different dimensions which it is possible to depict in the imagination. It is therefore important to retain all the others in such a way that they readily come to mind whenever we need to recall them. It seems that memory has been ordained by nature for this very purpose. But because memory is often unreliable, and in order not to have to squander one jot of our attention on refreshing it while engaged with other thoughts, human ingenuity has given us that happy invention - the practice of writing. Relying on this as an aid, we shall leave absolutely nothing to memory but put down on paper whatever we have to retain, thus allowing the imagination to devote itself freely and completely to the ideas immediately before it. We shall do this by means of very concise symbols, so that after scrutinizing each item (in accordance with Rule Nine), we may be able (in accordance with Rule Eleven) to run through all of them with the swiftest sweep of thought and intuit as many as possible at the same time
(Rule 16, p. 66-7)
As for things which do not require the immediate attention of the mind, however necessary they may be for the conclusion, it is better to represent them by very concise symbols rather than by complete figures. It will thus be impossible for our memory to go wrong, and our mind will not be distracted by having to retain these while it is taken up with deducing other matters.
Moreover, as we said, we should not contemplate, in one and the same visual or mental gaze, more than two of the innumerable different dimensions which it is possible to depict in the imagination. It is therefore important to retain all the others in such a way that they readily come to mind whenever we need to recall them. It seems that memory has been ordained by nature for this very purpose. But because memory is often unreliable, and in order not to have to squander one jot of our attention on refreshing it while engaged with other thoughts, human ingenuity has given us that happy invention - the practice of writing. Relying on this as an aid, we shall leave absolutely nothing to memory but put down on paper whatever we have to retain, thus allowing the imagination to devote itself freely and completely to the ideas immediately before it. We shall do this by means of very concise symbols, so that after scrutinizing each item (in accordance with Rule Nine), we may be able (in accordance with Rule Eleven) to run through all of them with the swiftest sweep of thought and intuit as many as possible at the same time
(Rule 16, p. 66-7)
Categories
Provenance
Past Masters
Citation
Reading Descartes, René. The Philosophical Writings of Descartes, trans. John Cottingham, Robert Stoothof, and Dugald Murdoch (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1985).
See Opuscula posthuma, physica et mathematica (Amsterdam: P. and J. Blaeu, 1701).
Not published in Descartes' lifetime. Dutch translation in 1684; published in Latin in 1701.
See Opuscula posthuma, physica et mathematica (Amsterdam: P. and J. Blaeu, 1701).
Not published in Descartes' lifetime. Dutch translation in 1684; published in Latin in 1701.
Date of Entry
10/01/2003
Date of Review
06/09/2009
