The Good Life and the Body
Elisabeth on Descartes' Three Rules for Living
Keywords:
Descartes, Elisabeth of Bohemia, ethics, body, the good lifeAbstract
The letter correspondence between Elisabeth and Descartes is well known for its discussion of the mind–body problem, yet in addition, a considerable part of the correspondence discusses how to live well and to reach the ‘good life’. Descartes’s neo-Stoic (or rationalistic) position on this topic is reflected in the three rules for living that he advises Elisabeth to follow, especially when she faces great challenges in life, though Elisabeth is sceptical to Descartes’s advice. This paper shows how Elisabeth’s scepticism is founded on considerations of the ethical significance of the body. According to Elisabeth, the body and certain states of it are necessary for living well. Aside from the basic philosophical interest in this view and the arguments Elisabeth provides for it, her view contributes to and informs a very old discussion in ethics about the conditions for living well. In relation to Elisabeth’s contribution, this article ends by suggesting that her contribution could reasonably be seen as philosophy and that she could plausibly be attributed the status of philosopher herself.
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