Descartes (1596-1650)

RenÐ"© Descartes (1596-1650)

RenÐ"© Descartes (1596-1650) is one of the most important Western philosophers of the past few centuries. During his lifetime, Descartes was just as famous as an original physicist, physiologist and mathematician. But it is as a highly original philosopher that he is most frequently read today. He attempted to restart philosophy in a fresh direction. For example, his philosophy refused to accept the Aristotelian and Scholastic traditions that had dominated philosophical thought throughout the Medieval period; it attempted to fully integrate philosophy with the 'new' sciences; and Descartes changed the relationship between philosophy and theology. Such new directions for philosophy made Descartes into a revolutionary figure.

The two most widely known of Descartes' philosophical ideas are those of a method of hyperbolic doubt, and the argument that, though he may doubt, he cannot doubt that he exists. The first of these comprises a key aspect of Descartes' philosophical method. As noted above, he refused to accept the authority of previous philosophers - but he also refused to accept the obviousness of his own senses. In the search for a foundation for philosophy, whatever could be doubted must be rejected. He resolves to trust only that which is clearly and distinctly seen to be beyond any doubt. In this manner, Descartes peels away the layers of beliefs and opinions that clouded his view of the truth. But, very little remains, only the simple fact of doubting itself, and the inescapable inference that something exists doubting, namely Descartes himself.

His next task is to reconstruct our knowledge piece by piece, such that at no stage is the possibility of doubt allowed to creep back in. In this manner, Descartes proves that he himself must have the basic characterisitc of thinking, and that this thinking thing (mind) is quite distinct from his body; the existence of a God; the existence and nature of the external world; and so on. What is important in this for Descartes is, first, that he is showing that knowledge is genuinely possible (and thus that sceptics must be mistaken), and, second, that, more particularly, a mathematically-based scientific knowledge of the material world is possible.

Descartes' work was influential, although his studies in physics and the other natural sciences much less so than his mathematical and philosophical work. Throughout the 17th and 18th Centuries, Descartes' philosophical ghost was always present: Locke, Hume, Leibniz and even Kant felt compelled to philosophical engage (often negatively, of course) with this philosophical giant. For these reasons, Descartes is often called the 'father' of modern philosophy.

This article provides an overview of Descartes' philosophical thought following the order of his most famous and widely-studied book, the Meditations on First Philosophy.

Table of Contents (Clicking on the links below will take you to that part of this article)

Ð'* Life

Ð'* The Discourse on Method and Meditation 1

o Context of Descartes' Method; Clarity and Distinctness

o Religion, Science and Scepticism

o Hyperbolic Doubt

Ð'* Meditation 2

Ð'* Meditation 3

Ð'* Meditation 4

Ð'* Meditation 5

Ð'* Meditation 6

o Review; and the 'Probable' Argument from Imagination

o On the Distinction Between Mind and Body

o The Existence of Extended Bodies; Space

o The Relation Between Mind and Body; Innate Ideas; Interaction

o The Validity of Sense Perception

Life

Descartes was born in a village near Tours in France in 1596. He was educated at a Jesuit college which was firmly grounded in the scholastic tradition, and by no means adverse to the study of either the humanities, or science. At the school he was given privileges similar to those enjoyed by boys of noble birth, but on the grounds of his fragile health. Descartes studied a broad range of subjects, and excelled particularly in mathematics. It is clear he benefited greatly from this Jesuit education, yet Descartes (in common with many intellectuals of his time) was keen to stress the separation of reason and faith. This meant that he could be sceptical concerning the philosophical and theological positions taken by the Church, while maintaining his Catholic faith. After taking a degree in law from Poitier, Descartes enlisted in the Dutch and, later, the Bavarian militaries. By 1619, under the influence of the Dutch mathematician and scientist Beeckman, Descartes began his exceptionally fertile mathematical studies of natural phenomena. Also around 1619, Descartes may have begun the unfinished Rules for the Direction of the Mind which was his first major philosophical treatise on the proper method for pursuing either science or rational theology. Over the next decade, Descartes alternated spending time in Paris with the circle of mathematicians and physicists gathered around the figure of Father Mersenne, and travelling widely. In 1629 Descartes moved to Holland where he lived in seclusion for 20 years, only occasionally returning to France, and changing his residence frequently to preserve his privacy.

The scientific and technical studies of these years resulted in the three texts on optics, meteorology and geometry, which were only published in 1637, and 'The World' which was published posthumously. Nevertheless, Descartes was establishing quite a reputation as a forbidable mathematician. Descartes made a number of important contributions to mathematics and physics, among the most enduring of which was his foundation (with Galileo) of what is now known as analytic geometry. That is, broadly speaking, the use of geometrical analysis to solve complex algebraic problems, and vice versa. It is difficult to overestimate the importance for the history of mathematical physics of this bringing together of the sciences of geometry and algebra.

With the exception of parts of the Rules and a few fragments, most of Descartes' early 'metaphysical' writings are lost. It was after he moved to Amsterdam that Descartes began