Descartes’s Supposed Libertarianism: Letter to Mesland or Memorandum concerning Petau?

There is a text, almost certainly was written by Descartes, that is typically referred to as a letter of 9 February 1645 from him to the Jesuit, Denis Mesland. In fact, it is a text of very problematic status, discussed here. In addition, it is the fundamental text for libertarian readings of Descartes’s view of the will. The main argument of the paper is that the text grounds no such reading, as becomes clear once the role in it of another Jesuit, Denis Petau, is taken into account.