René Descartes: Life, Philosophy, and Enduring Legacy
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René Descartes: A Philosophical Pioneer
Early Life and Education
René Descartes was born on March 31, 1596, in La Haye, Touraine, France. He grew up in a family of minor nobility, the third son of Joachim Descartes and Jeanne Brochard, a lawyer, who died when he was a year old.
He trained at the Jesuit college of La Flèche between 1606 and 1614, where he studied the science and philosophy of his era. He then began his law studies at the University of Poitiers. In 1618, he began serving as a volunteer in the army of Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange, and in 1619, for the Duke of Bavaria. However, he soon left his military career to pursue philosophy, his true vocation.
Later Life and Demise
In 1628, Descartes traveled to Holland, where he lived until 1649. From there, he went to Sweden, summoned by Queen Christina, a great admirer of his work. He died there a few months later, on February 11, 1650, a victim of a lung disease. His body was later repatriated to Paris in 1666.
Philosophical and Scientific Contributions
Descartes left an extraordinary legacy. He is considered the father of mechanism and applied mathematics to both science and philosophy. He also created the deductive method, analytic geometry, and, among other things, introduced a coordinate system, famously called Cartesian in his honor.
The Founder of Rationalism
He was the founder of rationalism. His work marked a before and after in the history of thought, profoundly influencing subsequent generations and paving the way for a modern conception of the world.
The Principle of Doubt and "Cogito, Ergo Sum"
With his famous phrase, "I think, therefore I am" (Latin: "Cogito, ergo sum"), he posited this as true evidence of the existence of the self, a certainty upon which he based all his work. Descartes is often considered the "philosopher of doubt" because he believed that, in investigation, one must refuse to confirm anything that could possibly be doubted.
Key Philosophical Works
Among his principal writings include:
- Discourse on Method (1637), accompanied by three smaller tracts: Dioptric, Meteorology, and Geometry
- Meditations on First Philosophy (1641)
- Principles of Philosophy (1644)
- Treatise on the Passions (1649)
- Treatise of Man and the Formation of the Fetus (1668)
- Rules for the Direction of the Mind (1701)
Enduring Influence and Legacy
In summary, Descartes is widely considered the father of modern philosophy. Indeed, the major philosophers who succeeded him have been devoted to studying his theories, both to develop his results and to refute them.