Die Passionen der Seele

In this work, Descartes addresses the problem of the interaction between soul and body by means of a theory of affects. In doing so, he responds to the probing questions of Elisabeth of the Palatinate, who, based on her reading of the "Meditations" and the "Principia" dedicated to her, could not see the possibility of such an interaction - like many contemporary interpreters: How can a soul that is by definition incorporeal be in a substantial unity with the human body? It is this question that Descartes seeks to answer in the "Passions of the Soul".