This article analyses the reasons why Descartes refused to enter into a polemic with Gassendi after the publication of his new objections to Meditations. It argues that Descartes’ irritation was justified because the sensualist limitations of Gassendi’s position made him unable to understand the issues which constituted an important novelty in Descartes’ philosophy. For his part, Descartes is likely to have suspected that Gassendi was not even trying to understand the essence of his philosophy.
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