Most notably, it set forth the principle that in the absence of external forces, an object's motion will be uniform and in a straight line.

The work provides a systematic statement of his metaphysics and natural philosophy, and represents the first truly comprehensive, mechanistic account of the universe.

Descartes asked Abbot Claude Picot to translate his Latin Principia Philosophiae into French.

Descartes describes philosophy as like a tree, whose roots are metaphysics, its trunk physics, and the branches are the rest of the sciences, mainly medicine, mechanics, and morals that is the last level of wisdom.

There are four parts: A copy of Descartes' Principia philosophiae dated 1656 is owned by the Tom Slick rare book collection at the Southwest Research Institute in Texas.

C. Landolfi, Giuseppa Eleonora Barbapiccola: Opere scelte, Mirista-moderna, Salerno 2024) D. Reidel, a Dutch publisher, released an English edition of Principia philosophiae in 1983 (ISBN 90-277-1451-7), translated by Valentine Rodger and Reese P. Miller with explanatory notes.