How to Journal Like Descartes
Our Descartes Read-Along + Categorizing His Notebook Method
René Descartes is one of the most important figures in the whole of Western thought—especially Western philosophy. I love Descartes. Many hate Descartes. So we’re going to read Descartes’s A Discourse on the Method (Of Correctly Conduction One’s Reason and Seeking Truth in the Science) in our next Parker’s Ponderings read-along.
It’s a very short book (with a very long full title) so we’re going to buzz through it in just three weeks. But, while it is short, Descartes does take us super deep—yet he does so without overly technical jargon—it’s a great read, really!
I’m going to write at least 3 companion essays to the Discourse to help you get the most out of the reading. I’ll be using the Oxford World’s Classics edition but if you have a different one then feel free to use what you have. If you want to pick up the same edition as me, use my affiliate link to further support my work: Amazon Affiliate Link to A Discourse on the Method
Here’s the read-along schedule:
Reading/Companion Essay Schedule
Oct 23rd - Essay on Part 1 & 2
Oct 30th - Essay on Part 3 & 4
Nov 6th - Essay on Part 5 & 6
Nov 8th (Saturday) @ 3pm central time - Book Club Zoom Call
The Book Club Zoom calls are just for paid subscribers so make sure to upgrade to a paid subscription in you want in on the live call or access to the recordings of past calls.
As a promotion for this latest read-along, Leuchtturm1917 sent me 10 notebooks to give away. I picked 8 winners from my paid subscribers and 2 winners from the giveaway comment section. I’ve messaged all the for addresses and will get those in the mail next week. Thanks for the support!
Why’d I pick a notebook giveaway to promote the Descartes read-along? Well, because Descartes used a notebook to do his philosophical and mathematical work and to take his scientific notes as well as analyze three of his most important dreams. So, it seems fitting that we use a notebook to take our notes on Descartes work.
So, congrats to the notebooks winners and if you’re reading this, please come join us for the read along. All the companion essays are free for everyone, but again those zoom calls are just for paid subscribers.
Now, I want to say a bit about how Descartes kept his notebook, his Pensées or Cogitationes Privatae—which was probably inspired by Isaac Beeckman’s Journael or Tafelboeckje—and how you can go about journaling like Descartes, but that’ll be for the paid subscribers as well. This article is a first stab at the content for my forthcoming book, Journal Like a Philosopher, and I like to give my paid subs a first peek and opportunity to give feedback. I will also include lots of pictures from my own notebook, of the same style that Descartes kept, to help you get a picture of how you can keep one too. So please do upgrade and support my work. I’ll see you on the other side of the pay wall, thanks for all the support!
So, Descartes was a notebook enjoyer. I couldn’t be more pleased! What kind of notebook method did he utilize? Well, The Cambridge Descartes Lexicon calls it a kind of diary, but that’s not quite right—at all. Descartes’s notebook was much more like the