ABSTRACT
In early modern Europe it was a common perception that men and women had different bodily qualities: men's bodies were hot and dry, while women were cold and moist; men were strong and active, while women were weak and passive. A woman's mind was especially susceptible to impressions from outside: it was credulous, changeable, and fickle. According to René Descartes, error is the result of a dysfunctional relationship between the two mental faculties of the will and the understanding. The understanding is a passive faculty of perceiving ideas in the mind, whereas the will is an active faculty of affirming or denying, rejecting or accepting, whatever is presented to it. To demonstrate this point, Francois Poullain highlights the fact that uneducated women often show more common sense than learned men. In their everyday lives, he says, ordinary women give countless examples that they are capable of reasoning about complicated things.
