Philosophical Works: reading level, length and free edition

Name: Philosophical Works
Author: René Descartes

Philosophical Works by René Descartes is a philosophy in English, in English translation. Our team rates it C1. It runs to 96,801 words with 5,326 different word forms, about 8–16 h of reading at 200 to 100 words per minute, and it is free from Standard Ebooks.

By the Readlang Mobile team (an independent app, not affiliated with readlang.com). Updated 31 October 2026.

Author: René Descartes
Language: English
Level: C1
Form: philosophy
Words: 96,801
Different word forms: 5,326
Forms for 95% / 98%: 1,962 / 3,390
Reading time: 8–16 h
Free edition: Standard Ebooks

Is Philosophical Works right for your level?

To recognise 95% of the running words in Philosophical Works, you need its 1,962 most frequent word forms; for 98%, the share at which most readers manage a novel without a dictionary, 3,390. The median English C1 book in our table needs 4,633 forms for 95%, so by this measure the book is easier than most for its level: number 1 of 11, easiest first.

A word form is any spelling that appears in the text, so “walk” and “walked” count twice, and names count too. These numbers are a guide to how much vocabulary the book asks for, not a test. The level itself was set by hand by our team. Before you commit, read one page of the free edition and count the words you do not know: the one-page test takes two minutes.

Which words should you know before you start?

These are the words that Philosophical Works uses most often but that are not among the 2,000 most common word forms across all 309 English books in our library; the number is how many times each appears. Names of people and places are left out. Learning a handful of them first makes the opening chapters easier.

substance 131
conceive 109
possess 91
corporeal 86
perception 77
extension 75
perfection 70
faculty 62
distinctly 62
mode 55
truths 54
extended 54
contained 53
exists 53
modes 52

How does it begin?

If this Discourse appear too long to be read at once, it may be divided into six Parts: and, in the first, will be found various considerations touching the Sciences; in the second, the principal rules of the Method which the Author has discovered;

From the Standard Ebooks edition, which is in the public domain. If this paragraph already feels slow, try a book one level lower.

How long does it take to read?

Hours to read *Philosophical Works* (96,801 words) at four reading speeds.
Words	100 wpm	150 wpm	200 wpm	250 wpm
96,801	16 h	11 h	8 h	6.5 h

Learners reading a book at their level often manage 100 to 150 words per minute, and readers in their first language 200 to 250. Where these speeds come from, and a calculator for your own: How long does it take to read a book?

Where can you read it for free?

The free edition is from Standard Ebooks, a volunteer project that proofreads and typesets public-domain books. Standard Ebooks releases its editions into the public domain in the United States under CC0 1.0; you can download it as EPUB, Kindle (AZW3) or KEPUB without signing up.

To read it with a translation over every word you tap, open it in Readlang Mobile on iPhone or iPad.