ABSTRACT
The last chapter of the book is concerned first with the relation between Cartesian generosity and “the highest and most perfect morality” (CSM 1, 186) that constitutes the crown of the famous tree of philosophy in the French preface to the Principles of Philosophy. In contrast to an influential reading, it is argued that the virtue of generosity corresponds to the highest and most perfect morality of the earlier preface to the Principles. The chapter is then concerned with the relation between Cartesian generosity and the moral code (the morale par provision) that Descartes in part 3 of the Discourse on the Method tells his readers that he decided to live by during the time of his systematic doubt. It is argued that there is important continuity between these.
