Character
"In a book about their relationship, Leon Petit claims that Descartes and Elisabeth were in love with one another . Genevieve Rodis-Lewis is inclined to agree, though in her opinion it was not a sexual passion."
In her correspondence with Descartes she poses one of the most critical questions regarding his philosophy of Dualism - which states that mind and body are separate entities - namely that if mind and body are two separate entities then how do they interact with each other? Descartes never provided a satisfying answer to this question.
She is described as a woman of utmost intelligence speaking six languages and having an aptitude for mathematics and art. Additionally, she was a very gifted painter, among her other talents.
Read more about this topic: Elisabeth Of The Palatinate
Famous quotes containing the word character:
“When needs and means become abstract in quality, abstraction is also a character of the reciprocal relation of individuals to one another. This abstract character, universality, is the character of being recognized and is the moment which makes concrete, i.e. social, the isolated and abstract needs and their ways and means of satisfaction.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)
“Man was born to live with his fellow human beings. Separate him, isolate him, his character will go bad, a thousand ridiculous affects will invade his heart, extravagant thoughts will germinate in his brain, like thorns in an uncultivated land.”
—Denis Diderot (1713–1784)
“The best bribe which London offers to-day to the imagination, is, that, in such a vast variety of people and conditions, one can believe there is room for persons of romantic character to exist, and that the poet, the mystic, and the hero may hope to confront their counterparts.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)