User:Goclenius/René Descartes

René Descartes
Era	17th century (Early modern)
Region	Western Philosophers
School	Cartesianism, Continental rationalism
Main interests	Metaphysics, Epistemology, Science, Mathematics
Notable ideas	Cogito ergo sum, method of doubt, Cartesian coordinate system, Cartesian dualism, ontological argument for God's existence; regarded as a founder of Modern philosophy

For other things named Descartes, see Descartes (disambiguation).

This article is part of the René Descartes series.

René Descartes (IPA: /deˈkaʁt/, March 31 1596 – February 11 1650) is generally acknowledged to be among the canonical figures of Western philosophy. By way of the Discourse on method (1637) and the Meditations (1641), he became one of the founders of modern philosophy; by way of the Essays published with the Discourse, and the Principles of philosophy (1644), he helped to establish a new, mechanistic physics. His work in geometry and algebra is fundamental to what became analytic and algebraic geometry. In a more general way, he is often credited with putting subjectivity and the problem of the mind’s relation to the external world at the center of philosophical inquiry, thus opening the way to Hume’s skepticism and to the critical philosophy of Kant.

In philosophy, Descartes’ modern reputation rests on three points: the cogito, radical doubt and its resolution, and the mind-body distinction. In the last thirty years, philosophers and historians have taken a renewed interest in Descartes’ natural philosophy and in his last work, the Passions of the soul (1649).

The cogito—in brief, the argument that even in doubting everything I can be certain that I exist and that I am a thinking thing—makes the thinking subject the foundation of all our knowledge. The primacy of the subject, combined with the view that our only access to any object of knowledge is by way of ideas or representations, raises a disturbing possibillity: if we have no independent means of checking the truth of my ideas, those ideas might fail, without our having any means of correction, to represent the world as it is; they might even fail to correspond to any really existing thing other than themselves. Thus is raised the spectre of radical doubt.

Radical doubt is in the Meditations presented through the hypothesis of a evil genius who, though not God himself, has all the powers he needs to deceive the meditator in every way possible. Under this hypothesis, the meditator might be having all those experiences for which we think having external senses and a brain are requisite, even though neither those senses, nor the brain, nor any body, actually exists. Descartes’ solution is to appeal to the veracity of God, whose existence and attributes can be proved even in the situation of radical doubt.

That solution was generally not accepted. The chief objection, already raised by Arnauld, is that it is circular. On the one hand, Descartes relies on the veracity of God to establish the truth of clear and distinct ideas; on the other hand, he seems to base his knowledge of the divine attributes on the clarity and distinctness of his idea of God. The skeptical problem thus remains.

Descartes argues that there is a “real distinction” between mind and body—that it is possible for each to exist without the other. His position is a version of dualism. Even before 1700 Spinoza and Locke noted that Descartes has not shown that thought and extension are contrary attributes, and that Descartes has not succeeded in showing that those two attributes could not belong to a single underlying substance. A further objection, first raised by Gassendi, is that if mind and body are fundamentally different kinds of substance, then it is difficult to understand how they could interact. It is especially difficult if, as in Descartes’ physics, the model of causal interaction is the impact of one body upon another. Yet Descartes not only grants but insists that mind and body do interact.

Recent philosophy of mind for the most part rejects substance dualism. But it has tended, in keeping with the cogito, to take self-awareness or consciousness as the mark of the mental. Descartes’ mind-body problem then becomes the problem of explaining how consciousness, as the paradigmatic mental property, could be realized in a physical system like the brain.

Descartes’ natural philosophy has sometimes been treated as a mere precursor to Newton’s, a failed “philosophical romance”. But since the 1970s it has come to be seen, despite its errors, as one of the first systematic attempts to base the explanation of natural phenomena on a few fundamental laws from which those phenomena are to be demonstrated. Together with the Epicurean atomism of Gassendi and the discoveries of Galileo, Cartesian physics was the vehicle by which what Boyle was to call the “mechanical philosophy” became the dominant model for the natural sciences in the seventeenth century.

The Passions of the soul offers what would now be called an ethics of virtue. It classifies the passions or emotions and describes their typical causes and effects, including their correlates in the body. On that basis Descartes shows how we can master our passions so as to free the will from their influence, allowing it to be guided instead by the good as discerned by reason. In keeping with his Stoic sources, Descartes holds that the only events truly under our control are our thoughts, and that achieving autonomy in our volitions or acts of will is the only good of which we can be certain. The highest virtue is générosité, the esteem we have for ourselves in recognizing that we have free will and that we have done our best to bring about the good.

Among those philosophers immediately influenced by Descartes’ work are Malebranche, Spinoza, and Leibniz. Locke, though often contrasted with Descartes, was likewise indebted to him in many respects. Newton’s early papers show that he read and responded to Descartes’ physics. Descartes, along with Malebranche, Spinoza, and Leibniz, is often called a “rationalist”. The rationalists are contrasted with another group, the empiricists, consisting of Hobbes, Locke, Berkeley, and Hume. Recent historians, taking issue with the presuppositions underlying the contrast, tend to reject those labels in favor of chronological or national designations (“Seventeenth Century”, “Scottish”).

Life

The following is a brief chronology. Fuller accounts can be found at Descartes’ Life and in the main articles referred to below.

Series summary: Descartes’ Life

From 1596 to 1639

Main articles: Descartes’ Life from 1596 to 1629, Descartes’ Life from 1630 to 1639.

Childhood and schooling

• 1596: Descartes is born on 31 March to Joachim and Jeanne Descartes.
  • 1597: Jeanne dies in April.
  • 1606: Descartes is sent to the Collège Henri IV at La Flèche.
  • 1614: After leaving La Flèche, Descartes lives in solitude for some time. In 1615 he enters the University of Poitiers to study law.
  • 1616: Descartes receives his degree in law.

Travels, mathematico-physics, the Rules

• 1618: Descartes leaves to join the army of Maurice of Nassau, commander of the military forces of the Netherlands.
  • 1618: In November, Descartes meets Isaac Beeckman. The two collaborate on projects in “mathematico-physics”.
  • 1619: On 2 Jan, Descartes presents the Compendium musicæ to Beeckman as a New Year’s gift.
  • 1619: On 10 November, Descartes has a series of three dreams, which he interprets as a guide to the future.
  • 1619–1620: At Ulm, Descartes probably meets with the mathematician Faulhaber and exchanges ideas about geometry and algebra. He was probably briefly interested in Rosicrucianism around this time.
  • 1621–1625: Travels in Germany, Italy, Bohemia. He meets Marin Mersenne and members of his circle in Paris.
  • 1623: Descartes sells his inherited estates to his older brother Pierre. The proceeds are sufficient for him to live independently of family and patrons.
  • 1625–1628: Descartes stays in Paris, collaborates with Mydorge on optical investigations, and works on the Rules for the direction of the mind, parts of which may date back to 1619. In 1629, if not sooner, he abandons it.

Natural philosophy, the Discourse

• 1629: Descartes departs for the Netherlands, where he would spend most of the rest of his life.
  • 1629–1633: Descartes works on natural philosophy, writing The world and the "Treatise on man.
  • 1633: Upon learning of the condemnation of Galileo, Descartes abandons the two works.
  • 1634: Relations with a servant maid named Hélène result in the birth of a daughter, Francine, in the summer of 1635. Since only one letter survives concerning his daughter and Hélène, everything else is conjecture.
  • 1637: The Discourse and the Essais are published.
  • 1638: Controversy with Johan Stampioen, a Dutch mathematician.
  • 1639: In January Descartes writes to Mersenne that he is undertaking a program of study that will occupy him for the rest of the winter. In December he mentions an “Essay on Metaphysics” which he has sent to Mersenne.

From 1639 to 1650

Main article: Descartes’ Life from 1639 to 1650

The Meditations, correspondence with Elisabeth

• 1640: In May, Descartes tells Mersenne he will have his essay printed—a few copies to circulate among friends—in Leiden. In December, he sends the manuscript of the Meditations to Mersenne, with the intention of receiving objections to which he will then respond; the Meditations, the objections, and Descartes’ replies will then be published together. The first edition of the Meditations is published in August 1641.
  • 1640: In September, his daughter Francine dies of a fever.
  • 1640: Descartes begins thinking about a Cartesian textbook that would replace the philosophy of Aristotle with his own in the schools of the Jesuits.
  • 1641: The acrimony of the exchange between Descartes and Gassendi in the Fifth Objections and Replies leads to a breach in their relations. A further exchange occurs when Gassendi publishes his Disquisitio metaphysica in 1644.
  • 1641–1643: Descartes is embroiled in several disputes: with Gisbert Voëtius and Martinus Schoock at Utrecht (one result is the Epistle to Voëtius); with Pierre Bourdin after their exchange in the Seventh Objections and Replies. Descartes criticizes both Voëtius and Bourdin in his Letter to Dinet.
  • 1643: Princesss Elisabeth writes Descartes a letter with questions about the mind-body union. This is the beginning of an extensive correspondence in which Descartes acts as a philosophical advisor to Elisabeth.

The Principles, last visits to Paris

• 1644: The Principles of philosophy is published. A French translation, with a letter-preface to Princess Elisabeth, appears in 1647. Descartes travels to Paris and meets Pierre Chanut, the French ambassador to Sweden, and Claude Clerselier, who would become the editor of his literary remains.
  • 1646: Descartes responds to Gassendi’s Disquisitio in a letter to Clerselier, published with the French translation of the Meditations in 1647.
  • 1647: Descartes visits Paris for the last time. He is reconciled with Hobbes and Gassendi, and visits Pascal twice. He witnesses a demonstration of Pascal’s calculating machine.
  • 1648: On 16 April, Descartes answers questions about “difficulties” in his published works. The notes from this conversation became the Conversation with Burman, which was first published only in 1896.
  • 1648: A further visit to Paris to collect a pension awarded him by Cardinal Mazarin ends abruptly when, during a brief popular uprising (the “Fronde”) against Mazarin, Descartes leaves Paris, fearing the outbreak of civil war and perhaps also his implication in a conspiracy against Mazarin.

Sweden, the Passions, last days

• 1649: Descartes accepts an invitation by Queen Christina to move to Stockholm. He arrives in October. Letters from the next few months indicate increasing disillusionment with his situation.
  • 1649: In November, the Passions of the soul is published.
  • 1650: On 2 February Descartes catches cold; on 11 February, between 3 and 4 in the morning, he dies. His body is buried the same day in Stockholm.

Views, arguments, achievements

Note. The abbreviation ‘AT’ stands for Adam and Tannery’s standard edition of Descartes’ works.

Reception

Descartes in literature, the arts, and popular culture

Main article: Descartes (Influence). Notes and references will be found there.

Chronology of Descartes’ works

• 1618. Compendium Musicae. A treatise on music theory and the aesthetics of music written for Descartes' early collaborator Isaac Beeckman.
• 1626–1628. Regulae ad directionem ingenii (Rules for the Direction of the Mind). Incomplete. First published posthumously in Dutch translation in 1684. The best critical edition, which includes the Dutch translation, is edited by Giovanni Crapulli (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1966).
• 1630–1633. Le Monde (The World) and L'Homme (Man). Descartes' first systematic presentation of his natural philosophy. Man was first published in Latin translation in 1662; The World in 1664.
• 1637. Discours de la méthode (Discourse on Method). An introduction to the Essais, which include the Dioptrique, the Météores and the Géométrie.
• 1637. La Géométrie (Geometry). Descartes' major work in mathematics. There is an English translation by Michael Mahoney (New York: Dover, 1979).
• 1641. Meditationes de prima philosophia (Meditations on First Philosophy), also known as Metaphysical Meditations. In Latin; a French translation, probably done without Descartes' supervision, was published in 1647. Includes six Objections and Replies. A second edition, published the following year, included an additional objection and reply.
• 1644. Principia philosophiae (Principles of Philosophy). A Latin textbook at first intended by Descartes to replace the Aristotelian textbooks then used in universities. A French translation, Principes de philosophie by Claude Picot, under the supervision of Descartes, appeared in 1647 with a letter-preface to Queen Christina of Sweden.
• 1647. Notae in programma (Comments on a Certain Broadsheet). A reply to Descartes' one-time disciple Henricus Regius.
• 1648. The Description of the Human Body. Published posthumously with some notes on the generation of the fetus in 1664.
• 1648. Responsiones Renati Des Cartes… (Conversation with Burman). Notes on a Q&A session between Descartes and Frans Burman on 16 April 1648. Rediscovered in 1895 and published for the first time in 1896. An annotated bilingual edition (Latin with French translation), edited by Jean-Marie Beyssade, was published in 1981 (Paris: PUF).
• 1649. Les passions de l'âme (Passions of the Soul). Dedicated to Princess Elizabeth of Bohemia.
• 1657. Correspondance. Published by Descartes' literary executor Claude Clerselier. The third edition, in 1667, was the most complete; Clerselier omitted, however, much of the material pertaining to mathematics.

See also

• Dualistic interactionism
• Baruch Spinoza
• Asteroid 3587 Descartes, named after the philosopher
• Defect (geometry)
• Analytic geometry
• Cartesian coordinate system
• Folium of Descartes

References

Works of Descartes

Collected editions

Adam, Charles (?!?). Œuvres de Descartes. Paris: Vrin. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |year= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

This is the standard edition, usually cited as ‘AT’.

Alquié, Ferdinand (?!?). Œuvres de Descartes. Paris: Garnier. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)

A three-volume edition that contains not only the major works in French, but the Latin Meditations and a good portion of the Correspondence. With helpful notes and introductions by Alquié.

Cottingham, John (1984–1991). The philosophical writings of Descartes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

This is the standard English translation, often cited as ‘CSM’. Vol. 1 contains the Meditations with the Objections and Replies. Vol. 2 contains the other major works (the Principles, The world, and the Optics are not translated in their entirety). Vol. 3 is a revised edition of Kenny’s translation of selections from the correspondence.

Single works

Costabel, Pierre (1987). Rene Descartes: Exercises pour les elements des solides. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France. ISBN 2-13-040099-X.

Biographies

Baillet, Adrien (1692). Vie de Monsieur Descartes. ?!?: ?!?. English translation: Baillet, Adrien (1693). Life of Monsieur Descartes, containing the history of his philosophy and works. London: R. Simpson.

The earliest biography regarded as having documentary value. It is, however, a defense of Descartes. Baillet’s claims, where they are not corroborated by other sources, should be treated with caution.

Gaukroger, Stephen (1995). Descartes: an intellectual biography. Oxford: Clarendon.

Includes a detailed treatment of Descartes’ natural philosophy.

Rodis-Lewis, Geneviève (1995). Descartes. Paris: Calmann-Lévy. (Eng. trans. Jane Marie Todd, Descartes. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. 1998.

A sympathetic summation by the doyenne of Descartes studies in France.

Watson, Richard A (2002). Cogito, ergo sum: the life of René Descartes. Boston: David Godine.

Firmly sets Descartes in his place and time.

Other works

Ayers, Michael. “Theories of knowledge and belief”. In Garber and Ayers 2002, 2:1003–1061.

Boyer, Carl (1985). A History of Mathematics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0691023913.

Cottingham, John (1992). The Cambridge Companion to Descartes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521366968.

Garber, Daniel (1992). Descartes' Metaphysical Physics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226282198.

Garber, Daniel (2002). The Cambridge history of seventeenth-century philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

Kucklick, Bruce. “Seven philosophers and how they grew”. In Rorty, Richard (1984). Philosophy in history. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

Gaukroger, Stephen (1995). Descartes: An Intellectual Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198239947.

Keeling, S. V (1968). Descartes. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Sorrell, Tom (1987). Descartes. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0192876368.