Rene Descartes

Philosophy: Famous Philosophers: Rene Descartes

Discussion of Philosophy & Metaphysics of Rene Descartes
'I Think Therefore I Exist'

Pictures / Quotes / Quotations Rene Descartes
'A Discourse on Method Meditations and Principles'

I think, hence I am, was so certain and of such evidence, that no ground of doubt, however extravagant, could be alleged by the sceptics capable of shaking it, I concluded that I might, without scruple, accept it as the first principle of the philosophy of which I was in search.
(Rene Descartes)

Several years have now elapsed since I first became aware that I had accepted, even from my youth, many false opinions for true, and that consequently what I afterwards based on such principles was highly doubtful: and from that time I was convinced of the necessity of undertaking once in my life to rid myself of all the opinions I had adopted, and of commencing anew the work of building from the foundation, if I desired to establish a firm and abiding superstructure in the sciences.
(Rene Descartes).

Introduction - Rene Descartes

Rene Descartes is one of the most elegant writers of philosophy. He is also one of the most important of the western philosophers due to his determination to find a certain foundation for philosophy / truth that could not be assaulted by the skeptics!

His solution? That it is impossible to doubt that you are thinking (you must think to doubt) thus we can be certain that a thinking mind exists.

However, it is strange that Descartes did not further pursue this line of reasoning, as he would then have really solved the problems of philosophy / knowledge.

The reasoning is simple.

1. 'Cogito Ergo Sum' - I think therefore I exist (a thinking thing exists).

2. I think I exist as a material body in space and that I can see and interact with other material things in the space around me, including other thinking things (other humans).

3. Thus three things seem to exist in an interconnected way;

i) Many thinking minds (of which I am certain of my own)
ii) Many material things (people, cars, trees, houses, earth, sun, stars, ...)
iii) One common Space (that these minds and material things exist in)

From this there is only one way to describe reality if we abide by the rules of simplicity (Occam's Razor) and metaphysics (necessary connection). i.e. There are many minds and material things - but they all seem to exist in one common space. This leads to a simple deduction of the wave structure of matter in Space which then deduces the fundamentals of physics (without any opinions), i.e. Quantum Theory, Albert Einstein's Relativity and Cosmology. The main philosophy page is also very good.

This Rene Descartes page is incomplete and will not be written up until July, 2007 (I am re-reading his 'Meditations' at the moment).
Please see links to articles at the top of the page that explain and solve numerous problems of knowledge from the foundation of the Wave Structure of Matter. i.e. By simplifying and uniting the current paradigm of the motion of matter 'particles' and 'fields' in 'Space-Time' to the Wave Motion of Space.

Geoff Haselhurst (June, 2007)

I Think Therefore I Exist - Rene Descartes

I think, hence I am, was so certain and of such evidence, that no ground of doubt, however extravagant, could be alleged by the sceptics capable of shaking it, I concluded that I might, without scruple, accept it as the first principle of the philosophy of which I was in search. (Rene Descartes)

To be completed - I am re-reading Descartes 'Meditations' at the moment to collect quotes. The essay should be finished by early 2008. It will be good!

On Rene Descartes Matter, Mind and God

To begin, a summary of his central ideas.

Descartes main interest was in the development of science, and he had very clear ideas about the proper direction for this development. Mathematics, and in particular geometry, seemed to him to provide the model for scientific procedure. He thought that the fundamental method in science was the deductive method of geometry, which he conceived of as rigorous reasoning from self-evident axioms; and he thought that the subject-matter of all the physical sciences must be fundamentally the same as the subject-matter of geometry, and hence that, from the point of view of science in general, the only important characteristics of things in the physical world were the spatial characteristics which geometry studies. It is not the holding of these beliefs which makes Descartes a metaphysician. It is rather the dramatic expression they receive in his doctrines about the essential nature of knowledge and existence.

He offers a picture of a world in which the only realities, apart from God, are purely material substance with none but spatial characteristics, and pure thinking substances whose being essentially consists in the ability to grasp self-evident axioms and their deductive consequences. Knowledge is nothing but the results of exercising this ability. ...
Thus Descartes teaches, on the one hand, that it is only through our confidence in God's veracity that we can have reason to believe in the existence of material things; and on the other that it is only through our willfulness that we ever believe what is false. (Encyclopedia of Western Philosophy)

Rene Descartes

René Descartes, also known as Cartesius, was a French philosopher, mathematician and part-time mercenary. He is equally notable for both his groundbreaking work in philosophy and mathematics. As the inventor of the Cartesian coordinate system, he formulated the basis of modern geometry (analytic geometry), which in turn influenced the development of modern calculus.

Descartes, sometimes called the Founder of Modern Philosophy and the Father of Modern Mathematics, ranks as one of the most important and influential thinkers in modern western history. He inspired both his contemporaries and later generations of philosophers, leading them to form what we know today as continental rationalism, a philosophical position in 17th and 18th century Europe.
In Meditations on First Philosophy (1641), Descartes attempts to arrive at a fundamental set of principles that one can know as true without any doubt. To achieve this, he employs a method called Methodological Skepticism: he doubts any idea that can be doubted. Initially, Descartes arrives at only a single principle: if I am being deceived, then surely "I" must exist. Most famously, this is known as cogito ergo sum, ("I think, therefore I am"). Therefore, Descartes concludes that he can be certain that he exists. But in what form? You perceive your body through the use of the senses; however these are unreliable (he uses the changing characteristics of wax by a flame as an example and dreams - one's senses perceive things that seem real, but do not actually exist). So Descartes concludes that at this point, he can only say that he is a thinking thing. Thinking is his essence as it is the only thing about him that cannot be doubted. (Edited from Wikipedia)

Related Links - Rene Descartes

http://descartes.cyberbrahma.com/vortex.html - Vortex Theory of Rene Descartes, the 17th Century French Philosopher and Mathematician.

To be completed

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