Philosophy Book
Chapter Fourteen: Rene Descartes
Brief Biography of Rene Descartes: Summary of Ideas, Portrait & Quotes

This webpage contains a brief overview of the recently published book 'Philosophical Sketches'. Below you will find a short Chapter summary on Rene Descartes, the book cover and back page text, links to other book chapters, and introduction. You can buy this book online at our Cafepress Philosophy Book Shop (Book Details: 90 pages, 30 full page portraits, 8.5 inches by 11 inches, $19.50 USD)
Hope you find it interesting,
Geoff Haselhurst & Karene Jade Howie

Chapter Fourteen: 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. ... (see book for more)

I think, hence I am, was so certain and of such evidence, that no ground of doubt, however extravagant, could be alleged by the skeptics 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.

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)

Philosophical Sketches
The Life and Ideas of Thirty Famous Philosophers who Changed the World

A lively and concise journey through the central ideas of thirty famous philosophers. From ancient Indian, Greek and Chinese Philosophy to modern Western Philosophy, this book explores the changing foundations of human knowledge and their effect on how we think and live.
Includes full page portraits, brief biographies and selected quotes from some of the greatest minds of human history on the universal subjects of Truth, Reality, Nature, Cosmos, Wisdom, Morality, Mind, Education, Politics, Art, Religion & God.
Written for the lay person, while remaining true to the original ideas, this is an engaging account of the Metaphysical foundations of Philosophy that is both illuminating and thought provoking. (Cover Photograph: Plato & Aristotle - The School of Athens by Raphael)

Philosophy Book
Philosophical Sketches: Chapter Headings & Content Summary

Lao Tzu	Buddha	Confucius	Heraclitus	Socrates	Plato
Aristotle	Zeno	Cicero	Marcus Aurelius	Leonardo da Vinci	Niccolo Machiavelli
Michel de Montaigne	Rene Descartes	Thomas Hobbes	Benedictus de Spinoza	John Locke	Gottfried Leibniz
George Berkeley	Voltaire	David Hume	Jean Jacques Rousseau	Immanuel Kant	Arthur Schopenhauer
Henry David Thoreau	Leo Tolstoy	Friedrich Nietzsche	Sigmund Freud	Mohandas Gandhi	Albert Einstein

Publisher / Online Bookstore Details

Space and Motion Publications
Online print on demand publishers of books on;
Philosophy, Physics, Metaphysics, Truth, Reality, Evolution, Ecology, Nature, Education, Politics, Fine Art, Erotic Art, Nature, Cosmos, Wisdom, Morality, Mind, Religion & God.
http://www.spaceandmotion.com/books/online-book-publishing.htm

Related Pages: Rene Descartes

We also have a nice philosophy web page on Rene Descartes;

http://www.spaceandmotion.com/Philosophy-Rene-Descartes-Philosopher.htm