Rene Descartes Accomplishments

In order to understand Descartes’ way of thinking, it is crucial to note his education. He received a sufficient education in mathematics and science which led to his rejection of scholastic philosophy. He was not only taught about old philosophers such as Plato and Epictetus, but there was a recent philosopher [according to his time] named Montaigne who was a

In Rene Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes does and experiment with wax to try to prove that things actually exist in this world. This essay is going to prove how we can tell that things actually exist and what can perceive the wax.

At the time of the Royal Society which Descartes was a member of, the researchers and philosophers were trying to understand everything about the world, something which actually is impossible to do. Renee Descartes

As a botanist he was able to depict the pictures of plants clearly which lead to identifying various species.More than 350 years later Charles Darwin declared humans and apes are related which was an idea Leonardo Da Vinci had earlier. This information enabled science to understand the human body and its relation to its environment as well as medicinal homeopathic remedies used today.

French Philosopher, Rene Descartes, is a well-known mathematician, and a scientist who is known as the father of modern philosophy due to his great contribution to the Western philosophy by his writings which are greatly studied to this day around the world. His work, “Mediation of First Philosophy” is the standard text at most of the university philosophy departments around the globe. Descartes being one of the key figures in the scientific revolution has had influence and significant impact in mathematics is equally appraisable and therefore he is credited as the father ofanalytical geometry, which is understood to be the bridge between algebra and

Descartes proposed to rebuild science on a solid foundation by doubting everything that could be doubted and then proving some things on the basis of what cannot be doubted. Descartes breaks down the notion that all knowledge comes from the senses and that mental state must in some way resemble what they are about. He develops an entirely new conception of mind, matter, ideas, and a great deal else besides. Descartes focused on what he considered to be the very foundation: the idea that sense perception conveys accurate information. I will be discussing the arguments Descartes developed to illustrate this point.

One cannot work without the other. If Descartes inner circle grew faster than the outside circle – all of the society on the outside would be effected by the intellectual radical changes in the fields of math, philosophy or even psychology, the outer circle or naturalistic society would certainly punish him or shun his theories as fast as the words came out. Descartes personal life played a dramatic and drastic role simultaneously, he lived a very secret and dark world within himself, he was not in strong health and preferred to sleep late in the morning, and while having these attributes which he kept all his life, the gift of his creative thinking (mind) impacted his thought process the rest of his days. Descartes life was that of pure and simple pleasures. He had lost the love of life, his daughter Francine at the age of 5, which caused him to be inconsolable and would have a profound toll on his mind and body. He became a recluse by moving so many times to have a strong desire for

René Descartes was born in 1596, in La Haye, France. He was the youngest of three children, and his mother, Jeanne Brochard, died only a year after his birth, and his father, Joachim Descartes, sent them to live with their grandmother and great-uncle. Even after Joachim remarried a few years later, they remained there. Although Joachim may not have been a major presence in his children’s lives, he placed great value on education, and René was sent to the Jesuit College of Henri IV in La Fleche, a neighboring province, at age eight. He remained there for seven years, learning primarily about rhetoric, logic, and mathematics. At that time, the “mathematical arts” included everything from music, astronomy,

His goal is the betterment of the human condition. A useful metaphor for explaining the Cartesian system is the ‘tree of knowledge’.[3] According to Descartes the roots of knowledge are metaphysics, to which he applies himself in the Meditations. From the metaphysics grow the physics; for they are justified by the metaphysics; the physics are the trunk of the tree. From the physics branch off mechanics, medicine and morals, the fruits of which take the form of utility, that is, applied science, medicine, and applied ethics (on an interpersonal, or international level). The development of these fruits leads to the improvement of the human condition: freedom from pain, sickness and suffering through medicine, reduction of stresses on the body and freedom from physical labour through applied science (which makes our work easier), and freedom from anxiety and mental strain through the development of applied ethics (which helps us to avoid and resolve conflicts on many levels).

René Descartes was a French philosopher and also mathematician. His method of doubt led him to the famous "cogito ergo sum" when translated means "I am thinking, therefore I exist". This cogito was the foundation for Descartes' quest for certain knowledge. He explored doubt and how we can prove our own existence, by taking the first steps of scepticism. His book "Meditations On First Philosophy", was written in six parts. Each representing the six days that God took to create the world. Not to upset the Church, Descartes would need to prove the existence of God, and the soul. Within Descartes' argument, we find some important areas. Two, which require focus, are his

With the emergence of the scientific revolution in the 17th century, views of society and nature were transformed throughout Europe. There were great developments in mathematics, physics, astronomy, biology, and chemistry. The world and its views were changing, and with that change, came a new change in thought, a new change in philosophy. Apart from ancient Greek philosophy, which was centered on finding order in a vast variety of things by searching for a fundamental amalgamating principle, Descartes sought to establish order via some fundamental division. Descartes understands and expresses that what we know about our mind is more definite than what we know about the world outside our mind. Descartes’

The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries witnessed a colossal transition in the scientific view of the universe. During this period a profound rethinking of scientific theory as well as moral and religious matters took place. Traditional ideas were reconsidered by religious thinkers. Philosophers began applying rational scientific thought to problems that they considered. The main concept of the Scientific Revolution was to "question everything". The Scientific Revolution was an elaborate movement. Many brilliant people with a wealth of new ideas contributed to this movement. The French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist Rene Descartes was one of these people.

Upon talking about the history of modern philosophy, one of the most important philosophers, who is considered as the father of the philosophy in this period, is Descartes. He was a pioneer for the movement of the new trend of philosophy and became a break between the medieval philosophy and the modern philosophy. Being educated in the environment of medieval philosophy, specifically in the school of Jesuits, Descartes received the system of scholastic philosophy as his foundation for making a new start into the history of philosophy. In his life, Descartes tried to establish a system of philosophy which was suitable to the development of society and science. To do that, he did not collapse pre-philosophical systems, but somehow he ignored their values. In his Meditations he says “Once in my life I had to raze everything to the ground and begin again from the original foundations, if I wanted to establish anything firm and lasting in the sciences.” Therefore, he just could begin a new system of philosophy which, he thought, would be a certain and firm foundation to get knowledge. However, to build up the principles for this foundation, Descartes had to use the concept of God in his arguments. The existence of God became an important means for the construction of his new philosophical system. Hence, I will emphasize on the importance of God in this paper by discovering the role of God as a means in Descartes’ main points of reasoning, particularly God with the method of

While numerous philosophers have debated how to quantify personal identity, It is my contention that Rene Descartes presents the best argument .This essay will examine the strengths and weaknesses within his theory. This essay will also also compare Descartes argument to Rick Parfit and David Humes individual interpretations of what personal identity is. Lastly, this essay will examine the weaknesses within Descartes argument and the points some have contention with.

In an event of chance, Descartes stumbled upon Isaac Beeckman, head of the Dutch College at Dort, who would translate a sign off the streets. This sign was in actuality a challenge to anyone to solve a geometrical problem (Wilkins, D.). Within a few hours, with help from Descartes’ respect and appreciation of mathematics, he found a solution and a friendship was formed between Beeckman and Descartes. This unexpected turn of events fueled Descartes’ contempt of his life in the army; but due to family influence and tradition, he remained a soldier until 1621 (Wilkins, D.). Descartes was 25 years old.