Observations placeholder
Descartes, Rene - The earth and heavens are formed of the same matter
Identifier
018573
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
A description of the experience
Rene Descartes – Key Philosophical Writings
it is thus not difficult to infer from all this, that the earth and heavens are formed of the same matter, and that even were there an infinitude of worlds, they would all be formed of this matter; from which it follows that there cannot be a plurality of worlds, because we clearly perceive that the matter whose nature consists in its being an extended substance only, now occupies all the imaginable spaces where these other worlds could alone be, and we cannot find in ourselves the idea of any other matter................ There is thus but one matter in the whole universe, and we know this by the simple fact of its being extended.