Many scholars of the history of philosophy rightly consider Rene Descartes the founder of Western modern philosophy. What is Rene Descartes famous for? The biography and the main ideas of this physicist, mathematician, scientist are described in the article below.
Childhood and adolescence
Rene Descartes was born into an impoverished noble family and was the youngest of three sons. He was raised by a maternal grandmother, since his father, Joachim Descartes, worked as a judge in another city, and his mother, Jeanne Brochard, died when Rene was not yet two years old. The boy received religious education at the Jesuit school of La Flash. From childhood, he was very curious and began to get involved in mathematics early. In 1616, Rene Descartes received a bachelor's degree.
Rene Descartes. Biography. Dutch period
After graduating from university, the future scientist went to war. During the time spent in military service, he visited several hot spots of that time: the siege of La Rochelle, the revolution in Holland, the battle for Prague in the Thirty Years War. Upon returning to his homeland, Descartes almost immediately had to leave for Holland, since in France the Jesuits accused him of heresy for free thought.
In Holland, the scientist lived for 20 years. During these years of scientific research Descartes created and published several works that became fundamental in his philosophy.
- The World (1634)
- The Discourse on Method (1637)
- “Reflections on the first philosophy ...” (1641)
- The Origin of Philosophy (1644)
The society was divided into two parts: those whom he delighted, and those whom shocked Rene Descartes with his discoveries.
A short biography of the scientist is replete with discoveries and works, but very little is known about his personal life. Descartes was not married. It is only known that in 1635 his daughter Francine was born. Her mother was a servant of a scientist. Rene Descartes was very attached to the baby and was inconsolable for a long time when she suddenly died of scarlet fever at the age of 5 years. Being a strange and reserved person, the philosopher turned out to be a caring and gentle father.
Holland's church elite could not accept the scientist’s free-thinking ideas. He was persecuted all his life. The Dutch period is no exception. In France, Cardinal Richelieu allowed his tuds to be printed, but the Protestant theologians of the Netherlands cursed him.
Swedish period
In 1649, Rene Descartes at the urgent invitation of the Swedish Queen Christina, driven by the Dutch Inquisition, moved to Stockholm. In 1649 his work Passion of the Soul was published.
Life at court was also not easy: although the queen was supportive of the scientist, she too often burdened him with mental work. At the same time, the philosopher's health (already poor) was even more shaken in the harsh northern climate. Relations with the scientist with the church deteriorated completely.
According to the official version, Rene Descartes died on February 11, 1650, having contracted pneumonia. There is an assumption that he was poisoned. After 17 years, the remains of the great philosopher were transported from Sweden at the request of France and reburied in the chapel of the Saint Germain Abbey.
The meaning of the philosophy of Descartes - the founder of rationalism
The founder of rationalism is considered to be Rene Descartes. The main ideas in the field of philosophy can be summarized as follows.
- The scientist put forward a hypothesis about the main modes and attributes of a substance.
- Descartes proved that reason plays a major role in cognition.
- He is the author of the theory of dualism, with the help of which the materialistic and idealistic directions of philosophy are reconciled.
- Descartes put forward the theory of "innate ideas."
Doctrine of substance
In the process of studying the problem of being, its essence, the concept of substance was formulated, the author of which is Rene Descartes. The main ideas of the scientist are based on this concept.
A substance is everything that exists and at the same time does not need anything other than itself for its existence. This quality is possessed only by the eternal, indispensable, omnipotent Lord. He is the cause of everything and the source. God, being the Creator, also created the world from substances that possess the same quality: they exist and do not need anything other than themselves to exist. The created substances are self-sufficient in relation to each other, and secondary in relation to the Lord.
Descartes divides the created substances into material (things) and spiritual (ideas). Material secondary substances are characterized by extension (measures of length). They are divisible ad infinitum. Spiritual created substances, according to the idea of a philosopher, have a sign of thinking. They are indivisible.
Man rises above everything else in nature that he consists of two substances: material and spiritual. Thus, man is dualistic. Material and spiritual substances in it are equivalent. So saw the "crown of creation" Rene Descartes. The scientist's views on dualism have solved the eternal question of philosophy about what is primary: matter or consciousness.
Proof of the primacy of the mind
"I think, therefore, I exist" - the author of this famous aphorism is Rene Descartes. The main discoveries of the philosopher are based on the postulate of the primacy of reason.
Any thing can be doubted, therefore, doubt exists realistically and does not need proof. Doubt is a property of thought. Doubting, a person thinks. Therefore, man really exists, as he thinks. Thinking is the work of the mind, therefore it is reason that lies at the basis of being.
Descartes deduction
The scientist suggested using the deduction method not only in mathematics and physics, but also in philosophy. “To turn knowledge from handicrafts to industrial production” is the task that Rene Descartes set himself. The country in which he lived (especially the Jesuits) did not accept his teachings.
Here are the main postulates of this epistemological method:
- rely in research only on absolutely reliable knowledge and judgments that are not in doubt;
- to divide a difficult problem into parts;
- move from proven and known to unproven and unfamiliar;
- observe a strict sequence, prevent loss of links in the logical chain.
The doctrine of "innate ideas"
Of great importance in the development of philosophy was the doctrine of "innate ideas," also authored by Rene Descartes. The main ideas and postulates of the theory read:
- most of the knowledge is achieved through deduction, but there is knowledge that does not require evidence - "innate ideas";
- they are divided into concepts (for example, soul, body, God, etc.) and judgments (for example, the whole is larger than the part).
Rene Descartes. Biography: interesting facts
- For 20 years of living in Holland, Rene Descartes managed to live in all its cities.
- I.P. Pavlov considered Rene Descartes to be the founder of his research, therefore he erected a monument to the philosopher in front of his laboratory.
- With Descartes’s light hand, the Latin letters A, B and C denote constant values, and the last letters of the Latin alphabet indicate variables.
- On the moon there is a crater named after the great scientist.
- The Swedish Queen Christina wanted Rene Descartes to do with her every morning. The biography of the scientist contains information that for this he had to get up at five in the morning.
- During the reburial of the remains of the philosopher, a missing skull was discovered, which no one could explain.
- Despite the fact that pneumonia is still considered the official version of the scientist’s death, many believe that he was killed. In the 1980s, evidence was found of Rene Descartes poisoning with arsenic.