''Principia philosophiae cartesianae'' (''PPC''; "The Principles of Cartesian Philosophy") or ''Renati Descartes principia philosophiae, more geometrico demonstrata'' ("The Principles of René Descartes' Philosophy, Demonstrated in Geometrical Order") is a philosophical work of

Baruch Spinoza Baruch (de) Spinoza (24 November 163221 February 1677), also known under his Latinized pen name Benedictus de Spinoza, was a philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin, who was born in the Dutch Republic. A forerunner of the Age of Enlightenmen ...

published in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

in 1663. In the preface to this work, Ludovic Meyer explains that it is a reconstruction of

René Descartes René Descartes ( , ; ; 31 March 1596 – 11 February 1650) was a French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician, widely considered a seminal figure in the emergence of modern philosophy and Modern science, science. Mathematics was paramou ...

' '' Principles of Philosophy ''in the Euclidean or "geometric" fashion''. ''In the appendix, a series of non-geometric prose passages entitled ''Metaphysical Thoughts'' 'Cogitata Metaphisica'' Spinoza explicates Descartes' views on traditional metaphysical topics (including

essence Essence () has various meanings and uses for different thinkers and in different contexts. It is used in philosophy and theology as a designation for the property (philosophy), property or set of properties or attributes that make an entity the ...

existence Existence is the state of having being or reality in contrast to nonexistence and nonbeing. Existence is often contrasted with essence: the essence of an entity is its essential features or qualities, which can be understood even if one does ...

idea In philosophy and in common usage, an idea (from the Greek word: ἰδέα (idea), meaning 'a form, or a pattern') is the results of thought. Also in philosophy, ideas can also be mental representational images of some object. Many philosophe ...

potential Potential generally refers to a currently unrealized ability. The term is used in a wide variety of fields, from physics to the social sciences to indicate things that are in a state where they are able to change in ways ranging from the simple r ...

necessity Necessary or necessity may refer to: Concept of necessity * Need ** An action somebody may feel they must do ** An important task or essential thing to do at a particular time or by a particular moment * Necessary and sufficient condition, in l ...

, contingency, duration, and

time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

) while furtively interpolating some of his own.

English translations

Unlike other works by

Spinoza Baruch (de) Spinoza (24 November 163221 February 1677), also known under his Latinized pen name Benedictus de Spinoza, was a philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin, who was born in the Dutch Republic. A forerunner of the Age of Enlightenmen ...

(see the corresponding section in that article), this text has only rarely been translated into English. * 1985 by Edwin Curley, in the first volume of ''The Collected Works of Spinoza'' (Princeton University Press). * 1998 by Samuel Shirley, with an Introduction and notes by Steven Barbone y Lee Rice (Hackett Publications). Later added to the edition of Spinoza's ''Complete Works'' in one volume, with introduction and notes by Michael L. Morgan (also Hackett Pbs).

References

Works by Baruch Spinoza Modern philosophical literature Metaphysics literature Books about René Descartes {{metaphysics-book-stub