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Rene Descartes
Author · 33 books

René Descartes, also known as Renatus Cartesius (Latinized form), was a highly influential French philosopher, mathematician, scientist, and writer. 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. His influence in mathematics is also apparent, the Cartesian coordinate system that is used in plane geometry and algebra being named for him, and he was 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, he goes so far as to assert that he will write on his 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. Descartes was a major figure in 17th century continental rationalism, later advocated by Baruch Spinoza and Gottfried Leibniz, and opposed by the empiricist school of thought consisting of Hobbes, Locke, Berkeley, and Hume. Leibniz, Spinoza and Descartes were all versed in mathematics as well as philosophy, and Descartes and Leibniz contributed greatly to science as well. As the inventor of the Cartesian coordinate system, Descartes founded analytic geometry, the bridge between algebra and geometry, crucial to the invention of calculus and analysis. Descartes' reflections on mind and mechanism began the strain of Western thought that much later, impelled by the invention of the electronic computer and by the possibility of machine intelligence, blossomed into the Turing test and related thought. His most famous statement is: Cogito ergo sum (French: Je pense, donc je suis; English: I think, therefore I am), found in §7 of part I of Principles of Philosophy (Latin) and in part IV of Discourse on the Method (French).

Books

Meditations on First Philosophy book cover

Meditations on First Philosophy

With Selections from the Objections and Replies

1641

Meditations on First Philosophy book cover

Meditations on First Philosophy

1641

The Philosophical Writings of Descartes book cover

The Philosophical Writings of Descartes

Volume 1

1911

The Philosophical Works of Descartes, Volume 2 book cover

The Philosophical Works of Descartes, Volume 2

1934

Descartes book cover

Descartes

An Introduction

2009

The Philosophical Writings of Descartes book cover

The Philosophical Writings of Descartes

The Correspondence

1958

The Works of Rene Descartes book cover

The Works of Rene Descartes

1950

The Essential Descartes book cover

The Essential Descartes

1969

Treatise of Man book cover

Treatise of Man

1972

Discourse on Method, Meditations of First Philosophy & Principles of Philosophy book cover

Discourse on Method, Meditations of First Philosophy & Principles of Philosophy

2012

Rules for the Direction of the Mind book cover

Rules for the Direction of the Mind

1619

Discourse on Method book cover

Discourse on Method

1637

Descartes book cover

Descartes

Selected Philosophical Writings

1927

The Works of Rene Descartes book cover

The Works of Rene Descartes

Discourse On Method, The Meditations, On The First Philosophy, The Principles of Philosophy

2011

O Discurso do Método / As Paixões da Alma book cover

O Discurso do Método / As Paixões da Alma

1637

The Philosophical Writings of Descartes book cover

The Philosophical Writings of Descartes

Volume 2

1641

Philosophical Writings book cover

Philosophical Writings

1969

Principles of Philosophy book cover

Principles of Philosophy

1644

The Passions of the Soul book cover

The Passions of the Soul

1649

Meditations and Other Metaphysical Writings book cover

Meditations and Other Metaphysical Writings

1641

The Meditations and Selections from the Principles book cover

The Meditations and Selections from the Principles

1968

The Geometry of René Descartes book cover

The Geometry of René Descartes

1637

Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy book cover

Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy

1637

Philosophical Essays book cover

Philosophical Essays

1964

The Selections from the Principles of Philosophy book cover

The Selections from the Principles of Philosophy

1647

The Complete Harvard Classics 2021 Edition - ALL 71 Volumes book cover

The Complete Harvard Classics 2021 Edition - ALL 71 Volumes

The Five Foot Shelf & The Shelf of Fiction

1722

Discurso del método. Meditaciones metafísicas. Reglas para la dirección del espíritu. Principios de la filosofía. book cover

Discurso del método. Meditaciones metafísicas. Reglas para la dirección del espíritu. Principios de la filosofía.

2001

The Passions of the Soul and Other Late Philosophical Writings book cover

The Passions of the Soul and Other Late Philosophical Writings

2016

La recherche de la Vérité par la lumièe naturelle - Traduction, introduction et notes par Emmanuel Faye book cover

La recherche de la Vérité par la lumièe naturelle - Traduction, introduction et notes par Emmanuel Faye

1701

Philosophical Essays and Correspondence (Descartes) book cover

Philosophical Essays and Correspondence (Descartes)

2000

The Correspondence of Descartes and Elizabeth book cover

The Correspondence of Descartes and Elizabeth

1989

Discourse on Method and Related Writings book cover

Discourse on Method and Related Writings

1637

Discourse on Method, Optics, Geometry, and Meteorology book cover

Discourse on Method, Optics, Geometry, and Meteorology

1637

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