John Smith Gallery

Rene Descartes (1596-1650). Compendium musicæ. Utrecht, 1640. [D.20.52]

Smith’s Discourses reveal the strong influence on him of the French philosopher and mathematician Descartes. Descartes’ early treatise on music formed the bases of his new philosophical method, the development of which would occupy him for the rest of his life. Through his use of numbers Descartes identified philosphical continuities between platonic music theory of the Renaissance and elements of the new sciences. It seems not unlikely that Smith would have perceived similar continuities in the role played by Platonism in his own agenda to rationalise religion.