- RENE DESCARTES BIOGRAPHY
- RENE DESCARTES, GENIUS French
Mathematician, Writer, Academic, Scientist and FATHER OF MODERN
PHILOSOPHY who FAMOUSLY DECLARED "I THINK, THEREFORE I AM"!
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- RENE DESCARTES
was born
on March 31, 1596 in La Haye, France. His father was a
member of minor nobility. Descartes was a sickly boy and always
slept until 11:00 AM every morning. Descartes was educated at a
Jesuit college and joined the military in 1618. Descartes
received a law degree at the University of Poitiers. Descartes
actually wrote a music theory book
"Compendium Musicae"
(1618), which explains the dual
relationship between the physical and psychological aspects of
music. But Descartes' REAL goal was to combine mathematics and
logic with philosophy.
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- Descartes had an important
dream on Nov. 10, 1619 in Germany. He saw symbols that he
interpreted as the unity of ALL science, which was different
from Aristotle's
idea that sciences were separated by different objects of study.
Descartes traveled for about 10 years until 1628, where he
settled in Holland. He aimed to explore more scientific
alternatives to philosophy. In 1634, Descartes wrote
"The World"
about speculative physics, but held back his ideas, due to
hearing that
Galileo's
"Dialogue on the Two Great Systems of the Universe"
was condemned by the Catholic
Church (in 1633 Galileo stood trial for HERESY!)
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- Descartes created one of the MOST
FAMOUS declarations in history: "I think, therefore I am" in his
book "Discourse on the Method" (1637). The famous dictum
"Cogito, ergo sum: I think, therefore I am" means when one
questions whether one exists, the actual thought is the
undeniable proof that one DOES exists. This famous phrase
became the basis of Western Philosophy.
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- Descartes included analytic
geometry in his book "Discourse on Method",
which led to calculus. Before
Descartes, philosophy was more based on feelings, but he added
mathematics to philosophy. Descartes is also famous for
explaining "Dualism": Matter meeting
Non-Matter.
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- In 1641, Descartes wrote
"Meditations On First Philosophy",
which is about intellectual
self-discovery and the existence of God and the external world.
Descartes introduced "Cartesian Geometry"
(Analytic Geometry)
which is algebra applied to geometry. Descartes
spent years defending his controversial ideas.
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- In 1649, Descartes moved to
Sweden to tutor Queen Cristina
in philosophy. She demanded that all lessons would begin at 5
AM. Descartes being used to sleeping late and the cold weather
led to contracting pneumonia. Descartes died at the age of 53 on
Feb 11, 1650. Allegedly, Rene Descartes last words were
"So, my soul, it is time to part."
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- Rene Descartes, The Father of Modern
Philosophy's Famous Phrase, "I think, therefore I
am" is one of the MOST BRILLIANT DECLARATIONS in HISTORY.
