René Descartes

Author profile

born

in La Haye en Touraine (now Descartes), France

March 31, 1596

died

February 11, 1650

gender

male

website

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/descartes/

genre

Philosophy, Science

influences

Plato, Aristotle, Alhazen, Averroes, Avicenna, al-Ghazali, Anselm, St....more

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René Descartes, also known as Renatus Cartesius (latinized form), was a highly influential French philosopher, mathematician, scientist, and writer. He has been dubbed the "Father of Modern Philosophy," and much of subsequent Western philosophy is a response to his writings, which continue to be studied closely. His influence in mathematics is also apparent, the Cartesian coordinate system that is used in plane geometry and algebra being named for him, and he was one of the key figures in the Scientific Revolution.

Descartes frequently sets his views apart from those of his predecessors. In the opening section of the Passions of the Soul, a treatise on the Early Modern version of what are now commonly called emotions, he goes so far as to as...more René Descartes, also known as Renatus Cartesius (latinized form), was a highly influential French philosopher, mathematician, scientist, and writer. He has been dubbed the "Father of Modern Philosophy," and much of subsequent Western philosophy is a response to his writings, which continue to be studied closely. His influence in mathematics is also apparent, the Cartesian coordinate system that is used in plane geometry and algebra being named for him, and he was one of the key figures in the Scientific Revolution.

Descartes frequently sets his views apart from those of his predecessors. In the opening section of the Passions of the Soul, a treatise on the Early Modern version of what are now commonly called emotions, he goes so far as to assert that he will write on his topic "as if no one had written on these matters before". Many elements of his philosophy have precedents in late Aristotelianism, the revived Stoicism of the 16th century, or in earlier philosophers like St. Augustine. In his natural philosophy, he differs from the Schools on two major points: First, he rejects the analysis of corporeal substance into matter and form; second, he rejects any appeal to ends — divine or natural — in explaining natural phenomena. In his theology, he insists on the absolute freedom of God’s act of creation.

Descartes was a major figure in 17th century continental rationalism, later advocated by Baruch Spinoza and Gottfried Leibniz, and opposed by the empiricist school of thought consisting of Hobbes, Locke, Berkeley, and Hume. Leibniz, Spinoza and Descartes were all versed in mathematics as well as philosophy, and Descartes and Leibniz contributed greatly to science as well. As the inventor of the Cartesian coordinate system, Descartes founded analytic geometry, the bridge between algebra and geometry, crucial to the invention of calculus and analysis. Descartes' reflections on mind and mechanism began the strain of Western thought that much later, impelled by the invention of the electronic computer and by the possibility of machine intelligence, blossomed into the Turing test and related thought. His most famous statement is: Cogito ergo sum (French: Je pense, donc je suis; English: I think, therefore I am), found in §7 of part I of Principles of Philosophy (Latin) and in part IV of Discourse on the Method (French).(less)

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Average rating: 3.63 · 26,039 ratings · 597 reviews · 134 distinct works · Similar authors

	Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy 3.56 of 5 stars 3.56 avg rating — 10,688 ratings — published 1637 — 39 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Meditations on First Philosophy: In Which the Existence of God and the Distinction of the Soul from the Body Are Demonstrated by René Descartes, Donald A. Cress (Translator) 3.65 of 5 stars 3.65 avg rating — 7,691 ratings — published 1641 — 121 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Discourse on Method by René Descartes, Donald A. Cress (Translator) 3.66 of 5 stars 3.66 avg rating — 5,970 ratings — published 1637 — 203 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Philosophical Writings of Descartes: Volume 1 by René Descartes, Robert Stoothoff (Editor) 4.01 of 5 stars 4.01 avg rating — 551 ratings — published 1911 — 3 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Selected Philosophical Writings by René Descartes, John Cottingham (Editor), Dugald Murdoch (Editor) 3.7 of 5 stars 3.70 avg rating — 220 ratings — published 1988 — 2 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Meditations and Other Metaphysical Writings by René Descartes, Desmond M. Clarke (Translator) 3.45 of 5 stars 3.45 avg rating — 175 ratings — published 1999 — 6 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Passions of the Soul by René Descartes, Stephen Voss (Translator) 3.59 of 5 stars 3.59 avg rating — 115 ratings — published 1649 — 10 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Philosophical Writings of Descartes: Volume 2 4.02 of 5 stars 4.02 avg rating — 56 ratings — 2 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Rules for the Direction of the Mind by René Descartes, Laurence J. Lafleur (Translator) 3.8 of 5 stars 3.80 avg rating — 69 ratings — published 1619 — 16 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Geometry of Rene Descartes by René Descartes, Marcia L. Latham (Translator), David Eugene Smith (Translator) 3.95 of 5 stars 3.95 avg rating — 39 ratings — published 1637 — 6 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Quotes by René Descartes

“Cogito ergo sum. (I think, therefore I am.)”
― René Descartes

tags: latin, life-and-living, mottos, thinking

290 people liked it

“The reading of all good books is like conversation with the finest men of past centuries.”
― René Descartes

tags: books, reading

227 people liked it

“If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things.”
― René Descartes

tags: doubt, truth

225 people liked it

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René Descartes

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