Descartes and the Princess of Bohemia  

It is important to mention the influence of Princess Elizabeth of Bohemia on Descartes. She had read the copy of Meditations and was interested in discussing this book with Descartes. Her question was: “How can the human soul, which is only a thinking substance, determine the movements of animal spirits in order to perform a voluntary action?” Descartes in his reply, suggested, that one might think of the mind as causing the human body to move without being itself another body that moves by impact. As a result, he again gives importance to the principles of metaphysics as they provide us with knowledge of God and of our soul. He also underlines the importance of imagination and experience of every individual which again contributes to the understanding of the world outside. 


In another conversation between Descartes and Elizabeth, which again happened through letters, we see that Elizabeth started sharing herself and her personal features. Once Descartes heard from Pallot that the princess was suffering from a fever and a dry cough and since, she had asked Descartes for an advice on ‘conservation of her health’, he felt emboldened enough to inquire about the details of her sickness. While acknowledging that he is not a physician, he says that the most usual cause of a low fever is sadness. This thought had important implications as we see a psychosomatic diagnosis being offered here. In fact, psychosomatic problems have become a serious area of concern today, with immense scope for further research. Descartes then appeals to his assumption about mind-body interaction to suggest a remedy, in the course of which he makes one of the first references to the passions, a topic that later emerges as central to his philosophy. He recommends that Elizabeth use her mind to overcome the baneful effects of negative emotions and that she rally her mental strength to combat an illness that results from an underlying mental state.