Descartes, René (1596–1650)

René Descartes is one of the most important figures in the history of philosophy. Many of his [Page 291]ideas—for instance, his demand for a foundation of the sciences on an apodictic principle; his use of mathematics as a paradigm for natural science; his concept of science as a systematic totality; and his first principle of all philosophy, the famous cogito, ergo sum (“I think, therefore I am”)—deeply influenced Western European philosophical and scientific thought. At the same time, Descartes articulated some general problems still contentious in today's philosophical discussions, such as the problem of body and soul, the irreducibility of the first-person perspective, and the problem of the existence of an external world. Descartes also earned much criticism for his dualist conception of human beings as consisting of two real, distinct substances (body and mind/soul) and his mechanistic model of the (animated) body.

René Descartes was born in 1596 in La Haye (today called Descartes), a village near Tours, France. Between 1606 and 1614 he was educated in the Jesuit College of La Flèche. Although this college was grounded on scholastic tradition, especially the philosophy of Aristotle, Saint Thomas Aquinas, and Francisco Suárez, it did not ignore the study of (natural) science. Descartes also came into contact with the works of ancient mathematicians, such as Pappus and Euclid. Deeply inspired by the validity and evidence of mathematical proof, Descartes became dissatisfied with natural philosophy based on Aristotelian principles, such as the doctrine of substantial forms and self-motion of animated bodies as being caused by their souls. He also disagreed with a foundation of philosophy on theological principles and stressed the necessity of a separation of reason and faith.

French mathematician and philosopher René Descartes (1596–1650). His views about knowledge and certainty, as well as his views about the relationship between mind and body, have been very influential over the past several centuries

Source: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-USZ62–613 65

After his time in La Flèche, Descartes studied law in Poitiers. In 1618 he enlisted in the Dutch, and later in the Bavarian, army. One year later, Descartes became acquainted with Isaak Beeckman, a Dutch scientist and mathematician, under whose influence he began working on mathematical studies of natural phenomena. Between 1619 and 1629, Descartes traveled widely and also frequented a circle of mathematicians and physicists gathered around Father Merin Mersenne in Paris. From 1629 on, Descartes lived in different domiciles in Holland for about 20 years. During this time, Descartes was working on optical, meteorological, and geometrical issues. At the same time, his concern was to find the final principles of the sciences and philosophy. In 1637 Descartes published his Discours de la méthode (Discourse on Method); 4 years later his famous Meditationes de primaphilosophia (Meditations onFirstPhilosophy) appeared. The Principia philosophiae (Principles of Philosophy), Descartes' second main work, followed in 1644; his final work, the Les passions de l'âme (Passions of the Soul), was published in 1649. In the same year Descartes moved to Stockholm at the invitation of Queen Christina of Sweden, who employed him as philosophical and mathematical tutor. He died in 1650.

...