XLII explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Free Will to Avoid Error

  Descartes distinguishes between willing to be deceived and willing to assent to opinions that contain error, emphasizing the role of will in judgment.

Characters to notice

• Narrator

  Explains the paradox of error arising from the will despite no one wishing to be deceived.

• René Descartes

  Authorial voice presenting the argument about will and error.

Key passages

• “But now since we know that all our errors depend upon our will, and as no one wishes to deceive himself, it may seem wonderful that there is any error in our judgments at all.”

  Since we know that errors come from our will and nobody wants to be fooled, it seems puzzling that we ever make mistakes.

  Descartes sets up the paradox of error given the will's role and the universal desire for truth.

• “For though there is no one who expressly wishes to fall into error, we will yet hardly find anyone who is not ready to assent to things in which, unknown to himself, error lurks; and it even frequently happens that it is the desire itself of following after truth that leads those not fully aware of the order in which it ought to be sought for, to pass judgment on matters of which they have no adequate knowledge, and thus to fall into error.”

  Although nobody explicitly wants to be wrong, almost everyone is willing to agree to things that secretly contain error; often the very desire for truth, when not guided by proper method, causes people to judge without sufficient knowledge and thereby make mistakes.

  Descartes explains that error arises from a well-intentioned but misguided will to judge prematurely.