Meditationes de prima philosophia (1641) - Page 13

A decorative woodcut headpiece featuring symmetrical floral scrolls, foliage, and a central figure or mask. Below, a decorative woodcut initial 'T' framed by laurel branches and fruit.

TO THE MOST WISE

AND ILLUSTRIOUS MEN,

THE SACRED FACULTY

OF THEOLOGY OF PARIS,

The Dean and the Doctors.

RENÉ DESCARTES SENDS GREETINGS.

original: "Renatus Des-Cartes, S. D." — S. D. stands for "Salutem Dicit," a formal greeting.

So just a cause impels me to offer this writing to you, and I am confident that you will also have so just a reason to undertake its defense once you understand the purpose of my project, that I can recommend it here in no better way than by briefly stating what I have aimed for in it. The text provided ends mid-sentence; Descartes is beginning to explain that his work provides philosophical proofs for the existence of God and the immortality of the soul.