The Art of Philosophy: The Curious Case of Descartes's Fabulous "World"

In 1633, the condemnation of Galileo by the Catholic Church really scared Descartes. He decided not to publish his first book, The World. After Descartes’s death, a friend prepared the work for publication, he realized that something was missing: pictures! This lecture—a combination of philosophy, history of science and art history—will tell the story of the strange and frustrating search for illustrations for what can rightly be called “the book that made philosophy modern”.