René Descartes
Personal Information
Description
René Descartes, also known as Renatus Cartesius, was a French philosopher, mathematician, physicist, and writer who spent most of his adult life in the Dutch Republic. 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 to this day. In particular, his Meditations on First Philosophy continues to be a standard text at most university philosophy departments. Descartes' influence in mathematics is also apparent; the Cartesian coordinate system—allowing geometric shapes to be expressed in algebraic equations—was named after him. He is credited as the father of analytical geometry. Descartes was also 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, Descartes goes so far as to assert that he will write on this 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.
Books
Meditations on First Philosophy - in Which the Existence of God and the Immortality of the Soul Are Demonstrated
The book is made up of six meditations, in which Descartes first discards all belief in things which are not absolutely certain, and then tries to establish what can be known for sure. The meditations were written as if he was meditating for 6 days: each meditation refers to the last one as "yesterday." However, Descartes did not take 6 days to complete this work, it actually took several years.
Descartes
Review: 'This new translation is designed as a replacement for the old but still widely used translation by Elizabeth Haldane and G. R. T. Ross ... Unlike the Haldane and Ross edition which was translated from a composite text based on both the French and Latin editions, the present translation is made from the Latin text alone, with significant changes in the French edition indicated in the footnotes. This is clearly much more satisfactory. The translation is generally accurate, and is neither excessively free nor excessively literal ... There is little doubt that this will become the standard translation of Descartes' philosophical writings, and it deserves a warm welcome.' French Studies Basics: Based on the new two volume Cambridge edition of the Philosophical Writings, this anthology of essential texts contains the most important and widely studied of the writings.
Essays
Opera philosophica
Discourse on the method of rightly conducting the reason, and seeking the truth in the sciences ..
The Meditations, and selections from the Principles, of René Descartes (1596-1650)
A Discourse On The Method Of Correctly Conducting Ones Reason And Seeking Truth In The Sciences
Régles utiles et claires pour la direction de l'esprit en la recherche de la vérité
xvi, 345 p. ; 25 cm
A discourse on method ; Meditations on the first philosophy ; Principles of philosophy
Discourse on method and related writings
René Descartes was a central figure in the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century. In his Discourse on method he outlined the contrast between mathematics and experimental sciences, and the extent to which each one can achieve certainty. Drawing on his own work in geometry, optics, astronomy, and physiology, Descartes developed the hypothetical method that characterizes modern science, and this soon came to replace the traditional techniques derived from Aristotle. Many of Descartes' most radical ideas--such as the disparity between our perceptions and the realities that cause them--have been highly influential in the development of modern philosophy.