In the Discourse on Method, just as he begins the anecdote of the stove-heated room, Descartes draws a comparison between cities that have grown haphazardly from villages and those that have been laid out anew on a plan. The former, he says, "are usually badly constructed in comparison with" the latter. A very Cartesian thought. But my question is: what new towns might Descartes have in mind? I know there is an impulse toward _planning_ ideal cities in the period; but which of them, if any, got built? Or would Descartes be thinking of planned medieval towns, such as the French Aigues-Mortes? JD Fleming
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James Dougal Fleming
Associate Professor and Undergraduate Chair
Department of English
Simon Fraser University
778-782-4713
"decorum toward mimesis against nature for understanding"
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