How long does it take to read Descartes?
Selected Philosophical Writings
Descartes by René Descartes takes about 4 hours 57 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.
About 4 hours 57 minutes
A weekend read
First published 1909. 270 pages, about 74,250 words.
10 days at 30 minutes a day
Estimate based on 275 words per page.
At other speeds
| Slow, 150 words a minute | 8 hours 15 minutes |
| Average, 250 words a minute | 4 hours 57 minutes |
| Fast, 400 words a minute | 3 hours 6 minutes |
The page count is the median across 17 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.
About the book
Review: 'This new translation is designed as a replacement for the old but still widely used translation by Elizabeth Haldane and G. R. T. Ross ... Unlike the Haldane and Ross edition which was translated from a composite text based on both the French and Latin editions, the present translation is made from the Latin text alone, with significant changes in the French edition indicated in the footnotes. This is clearly much more satisfactory. The translation is generally accurate, and is neither excessively free nor excessively literal ... There is little doubt that this will become the standard translation of Descartes' philosophical writings, and it deserves a warm welcome.' French Studies Basics: Based on the new two volume Cambridge edition of the Philosophical Writings, this anthology of essential texts contains the most important and widely studied of the writings.
Subjects: Correspondence, Philosophers, French, Psychology, French Philosophers, Collected works, Philosophy
More by René Descartes
A Discourse on Method 3.1 h 
Meditations on First Philosophy 3.5 h 
The Principles of Philosophy 4.1 h Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy, 4Th Ed 2.2 h 
The Passions of the Soul 3.0 h 
Discourse on the Method for Conducting One's Reason Well and for Seeking Truth in the Sciences 48 min 
