Introduction to Plato and Descartes
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Descartes
René Descartes, alongside Kant, is arguably the most important thinker in modern philosophy. Living in the 17th century and dividing his time between France, Holland, and Sweden, Descartes is considered the founder and greatest exponent of Rationalism. A fundamental concern of his thought was the construction of a robust philosophical method.
The basis of the Cartesian method, which, when applied to metaphysics, forms the foundation of knowledge, lies in mathematics (Descartes dedicated part of his work to this field). He concluded that only what can be reduced to mathematical motions can be truly understood. This highlights the importance Descartes placed on reason (as opposed to tradition, experience, or faith), which he identified... Continue reading "Introduction to Plato and Descartes" »