ABSTRACT

The story of the reception of Cartesian physiology in England promises to be both rich and fascinating, but perhaps owing to its complexity and scope it is not particularly well researched and much of the story has yet to be told. Part of the problem is knowing where to start. One could focus on any of the following aspects of Descartes’ physiological thought: the theory of muscle movement, his neurophysiology, the physiology of perception, respiration, the theory of innate heat, embryology or cardiology. Yet given the systematic nature of Descartes’ thought and the interrelated nature of physiological research in England, it is difficult to isolate any one of these for special treatment without impinging on the others. Then there are the wider issues of greater philosophical import, such as the relation between Descartes’ physiology and his psychology, or its relation to his concepts of life, health and death. Equally, one could start with the philosophical, theological, social and even technological conditions that prevailed in England and the extent to which they influenced the circulation and evaluation of Cartesian physiological ideas in the last six decades of the seventeenth century. In short, the number of topics is legion, large tracts of the terrain remain uncharted and a systematic study seems some way off.1