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Descartes, better known by the Latinized name of Cartesius, is the founder of European rationalism. His famous phrase “I think, then I am”.
Biography of Rene Descartes
Rene was born on March 31, 1596 in the small French town of La-et-en-Touraine (now Descartes) and was the third child of loving parents from a noble family. The boy’s mother, Jeanne Brochard, died suddenly, a year later.
Father, Joaquim Descartes served as a judge. Business practically did not leave him time to deal with his sons, and this difficult concern was taken over by his grandmother. Little Rene was often ill, but was incredibly curious. His father called him a little philosopher.
The clever boy received his initial systematic knowledge at the Jesuit College from Jean François. There he made friends with the future famous mathematician, physicist and philosopher M. Mersenn. After graduating from college, Rene studied law in Poitiers and then moved to Paris.
In 1617 he entered the military service, here he met the physicist I. Beckman. Takes part in the famous siege of La Rochelle.
Rene Descartes (1596-1650)
Rene Descartes’ philosophy
Descartes creates a philosophical doctrine underlying the idea that the principles of mechanics are identical to the structure of nature.
Mechanical machines and the creations of nature differ only in quantitative terms: “natural instruments are smaller and invisible to the eye and this forces us to find and discover them in nature.”
According to the Cartesians, feelings cannot tell us the truth: it is only possible through our deliberate reasoning.
René’s theories are used by many followers in Europe. In France, the new doctrine is being established in extracurricular circles. The Sorbonne opposes the ideas of Descartes: as early as 1671, she tried to impose the teachings of Aristotle as the only valid philosophical system.
Founded several years ago, the French Academy of Sciences supports the ideas of the Cartesians. As Permanent Secretary of the Academy, Bernard Le Bouyer de Fontenelle (1657-1757) presents Descartes’s teachings in the form of secular lectures, in accordance with the spirit of the era and his notable fondness for theatrical performance.
The scientist himself repeatedly emphasizes that he reacted as a curious but distrustful spectator, looking at the stage of the “world theater”. The essence of natural phenomena, he said, is comparable to technology that operates behind the scenes on the world stage.
Natural phenomena can be explained by “observing the movement, size, shape and arrangement of material particles.”
Despite the persecution, Cartesian ideas soon achieved unprecedented success and spread throughout Europe. Such success would be inexplicable if the new philosophy were not the expression of a new, modern world – the Renaissance.
In the era of newly created production (the beginning of industrialization), Descartes with his “technical” concepts becomes a popular philosopher. As a scientist, Descartes knows the latest scientific discoveries.
He formulates the principles of the method of achieving progress, equipping his followers with the necessary mathematical tools. Descartes develops physics, biology and psychophysiology.
Does this mean that René Descartes has completely abandoned the old philosophy? On the contrary, his thoughts sparkle like sparks between science and metaphysics.
But the metaphysics of the Cartesians contains new, original aspects: it minimizes the role of God in the creation of the world and convinces us that we can know the reality in which the ghosts of scholasticism have disappeared.
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