- Translator's Note for the Revised Edition
- Translator's Note for the First Edition

□Reflections on the First Philosophy
- To the wisest and most eminent Deans and Doctors of the Sacred Theological Faculty of Paris
- Preface for the Reader
- Summary of the following six reflections
- First Reflection
- Second Reflection
- Third Reflection
- Fourth Reflection
- Fifth Reflection
- Reflection 6

□ Evidence proving the existence of God and the distinction between soul and body according to geometric arrangement

□ Exploring the truth through the light of nature
- Polyander, Epistemon, Eudoxus

□Comments about the program
- A program published recently is as follows: A description of the human mind or rational soul, where it is explained what it is and what it can be.
- Review of the program

□Note
- Reflections on the First Philosophy
- Evidence proving the existence of God and the distinction between soul and body according to geometric arrangement
- The search for truth through natural light
- Comments on the program

□Commentary
- Descartes: The Structure and Idea of ​​Metaphysical Reflection
- Descartes, does his first philosophy prove the existence of God and the immortality of the soul?
- The status of "The Search for Truth by the Light of Nature" in Descartes' philosophy

□References

Meditations on First Philosophy: A must-read classic for understanding Descartes' metaphysics
Revised and expanded edition published after 25 years

Founded in 1966, Munye Publishing, which has been consistently introducing books for over half a century, is publishing a new series called 'Literary and Humanities Classics.'
Among the classics in the fields of philosophy, thought, humanities, and social sciences, we have carefully selected those that are constantly being reinterpreted and recognized for their value even today.

《Reflections on First Philosophy》 is a revised and expanded edition of 《Reflections》, which was first published in Korea in 1997 as a complete translation of the original Latin text, and retains the original title.
This edition includes Meditations on First Philosophy, which contains Descartes' metaphysical thoughts in their entirety; The Quest for Truth by the Light of Nature, which presents Descartes' doubts more clearly; and Notes on the Program, which helps in understanding these works. The revised and expanded edition adds "Grounds for proving the existence of God and the distinction between soul and body according to geometrical arrangement."

Professor Lee Hyeon-bok, an authority on Descartes studies and the translator of this book, improved readability by paraphrasing the first edition, and in this revised and expanded edition, he has almost completely retranslated the entire text to ensure a more faithful translation to the original text.
The 150-page annotation provides detailed explanations of the original text, while comparing and referencing previously published domestic and international translations and research papers on Descartes. The commentary includes three papers by Professor Lee Hyeon-bok, allowing for a three-dimensional and in-depth understanding of Descartes' text.
The text includes various illustrations that provide a glimpse into the times during Descartes's time.

Reflections on First Philosophy
Descartes's reflections through constant doubt opened the door to modern philosophy.

"Meditations on First Philosophy" is a book written by Descartes in the form of an essay in which he asks himself questions and answers, and is considered to contain Descartes' metaphysical thoughts most completely.
Having acquired a method of truth-seeking called "methodological skepticism" in his "Discourse on the Method," published four years earlier, which regards anything even slightly doubtful as false, Descartes embarks on a journey to find absolute truth in earnest in his "Meditations."
Finally, he established the proposition “I think, therefore I am” in the Discourse on the Method as an indisputable truth and established it as the first principle of philosophy.
From this, it is proven that God exists and that the mind is actually distinct from the body, and new foundations for natural science are established.
When "Meditations on First Philosophy" was written, modern science was just beginning to emerge, but the traditional Christian worldview was still alive and well.
In a time when two worldviews clashed violently, Descartes asked the question, “How should humans understand themselves and the world?” and sought an answer.
The method Descartes chose in the process was to doubt everything and ask whether there was anything among them that could serve as a reliable foundation, and also to question what had been considered truth until then.
Descartes is evaluated as having established the modern philosophical subject by shifting the certainty of thought from God to man.
Also, there is a saying that “it is no exaggeration to say that all modern Western philosophy is a refutation of Descartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy,” and Descartes and Meditations on First Philosophy have influenced many later philosophers, including Spinoza, Leibniz, Hume, Kant, and Sartre.


〈Geometric Arrangements Proving the Existence of God and the Distinction Between Soul and Body〉
"Meditations on First Philosophy is a book that is essentially a response," said Jean-Luc Marion, a Descartes scholar.

When Descartes wrote his Meditations on First Philosophy, he had discussions with other scholars in mind, so after he finished his Meditations on First Philosophy, he sent the manuscript to seven scholars of his time and asked them to review its contents.
And when scholars sent him articles refuting his philosophy, he published a response, “Meditations, Refutations of Scholars and Descartes’ Reply,” at the end of the text of the first edition of “Meditations on First Philosophy” in 1941.
This revised and expanded edition includes a translation of Descartes' reply to the second of seven objections sent by scholars, titled "Grounds for Proving the Existence of God and the Distinction between Soul and Body According to Geometrical Arrangements."
Father Marin Mersenne, the author of the second refutation and a point of contact for the intellectuals of the time, asked Descartes to prove the existence of God and the distinction between soul and body, the subjects of the Meditations on First Philosophy, 'according to geometrical arrangements' or 'in a geometrical manner', unlike the way he had attempted to do so in the Meditations on First Philosophy.
Descartes's acceptance of this request, and his very concise explanation of the existence of God and the distinction between soul and body, allows us to look at the subject of the Meditations from a completely new perspective.

The Search for Truth Through the Light of Nature
“The light of nature penetrates even the most sophisticated secrets of science.”

The Enquiry into Truth by the Light of Nature is the only one of Descartes's works written in dialogue form.
In this book, Descartes introduces three characters: Eudoxus, who represents his position; Epistemon, who supports scholastic philosophy; and Polyander, who is ignorant but has a sound mind. Through their conversations, he presents the philosophical ideas and methods he pursues in a concise and persuasive manner using everyday language.
In particular, it depicts the process by which a healthy human being, free from prejudice, as Descartes himself so emphasized, discovers the truth not through the method of the pulpit or religion, that is, the light of grace from heaven, but through the 'light of nature.'
This was like Descartes' declaration that a new discipline suitable for the new era had emerged, going beyond the existing Aristotelian-Scholastic philosophy.
In this book, Descartes repeatedly emphasizes 'doubt' more than in any other work, confirming that the proposition "I doubt, that is, I think, therefore I exist" is necessarily true and explaining that all knowledge is deduced from it.
In this respect, The Search for Truth by the Light of Nature is evaluated as the book in which Cartesian doubt is most clearly revealed.

Notes on the Program
“I would be glad to see that they think so highly of me that they would attack me.

I pray for their healing.”

《Notes on the Program》 is a book in which Descartes criticized Regius, a professor of medicine at Utrecht University, who criticized Descartes' philosophy, annotating each sentence.
Originally, Regius was an ardent follower of Descartes, but later he turned hostile to Descartes as he dreamed of his own philosophy.
Regius published a small booklet under his own name in 1647 entitled "An Account of the Human Mind or Rational Soul, Herein Explained What It Is and What It Can Be," and later published it anonymously as a program or placard that could be easily displayed in public squares or on the streets.
Descartes then considered this an attack by a slanderer to distort his philosophical principles and launched a rebuttal.
Descartes consistently asserts what he argued in Meditations on First Philosophy in his Notes on the Programme, and makes his concept of metaphysics clearer.


An era of chaos without a unified worldview,
Descartes' questions still shine and reflections for our time

The reason we read classics is to ask questions that transcend time and permeate the world we live in, past and present, and to provide answers to those questions.
This book, which contains Descartes' metaphysical thoughts, vividly shows the birth and transformation of modern philosophy while clearly revealing the characteristics and limitations of the era in which Descartes lived, and raises questions about 'I' and 'the world' that are still valid today.
This book, which follows Descartes' journey through the world of metaphysics, following the map of 'perpetual doubt,' allows readers to find answers to the questions Descartes faces and, at times, even refute Descartes' claims along with the scholars of his time.
As readers accompany Descartes on his journey, they will gain an experience that goes beyond simple philosophical reading, with time for deep thought and reflection, something that is required in the modern era.