Descartes and Vivisection

Rene Descartes (1596-1650) opposed the traditional Scholastic philosophy of the universities, which then harboured an approach rooted in Aristotelianism as interpreted by the Christian Schoolmen. The Scholastics tended to identify their version of Aristotle with the Bible, maintaining that support for their exegesis was to be found in Biblical text. Any refutation of Aristotle was thereby equivalent to blasphemy.
 Descartes was born at La Haye, near Poitiers. His father was one of the lan...