Unmoved: A Rejoinder to Emily Thomas

The texts of Descartes cited by Emily Thomas do not show the motion recognized by him to be real, that is, mind-independent. Other realist commentators whom she enlists in support of her cause turn out to offer not much at all. Crucial to the debate is the concept of a superficies, the modal being which is the surface shared by the body said to move and the surrounding body or bodies with respect to which its motion is defined. No realist interpretation of Cartesian motion has come to terms with it; most just ignore it or pay it little heed.