2016/08/19 by Minsoo Kang · 1 voice
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Historical Philosophy and Science #Historical and Literary Analyses #Historical and Literary Studies
paper · doi:10.1017/s147924431600024x
openalex publication_date 2016/08/19 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
This article pursues the origin and mutation of a fantastic story concerning an automaton in the shape of a young girl that was supposedly built by René Descartes. In recent decades it has been retold and reimagined so many times that the tale has become an iconic narrative in the context of the reassessment of Descartes's significance in intellectual history. But a close reading of the original story, found in a 1699 work entitled Mélanges d'histoire et de littérature by Vigneul-Marville, reveals an overtly stated agenda of saving the philosopher's moral reputation, which makes most recent interpretations of the story problematic. The vast majority of modern retellings demonstrate no awareness of the content or the significance of the first tale even as it has been used to shed light on Descartes, Cartesian ideas, and early modern thought in general.