Final Blog Post: Sydney Harris

René Descartes

French Philosopher

          René Descartes was born in La Haye on March 31, 1596. His parents were Joachim Descartes and Jeanne Brochard. Descartes' mother died in May, the same year, following his birth. His father was a lawyer and a magistrate, having little to no time for his family. Descartes' siblings, Pierre and Jeanne were raised by their grandmother in La Haye.  At the age of eight, Descartes was sent to Jesuit college of La Flèche, which he studied there for about eight years. He then entered into the University of Poitiers, where he received his Baccalaureate and License in Canon & Civil Law. 

      Descartes had a wide range of interests throughout his life. He was a philosopher, mathematician, biologist, astronomer, and a scientist. Descartes is famous for discovering an important connection between geometry and algebra, allowing him to solve geometrical problems and algebraic equations. He provided proof of many mathematical and scientific notions, which is now being taught. Descartes extensively contributed to philosophy and shared his written works, Meditations de Prima Philosophia and Discourse on Method, in which he explored the limits of what he could possibly know. He is also famous for his saying, "I think... therefore, I am."  He is considered the father of modern philosophy due to him basing his principles solely on logic.
In reference to the book, A Little History on Philosophy, Descartes didn't like to believe anything without some sort of examination. Of course, it would be extremely difficult to live if trust wasn't embedded, however Descartes believed it was worth trying to know for certain. In order to do this he developed a method known as, the Method of Cartesian Doubt. The Method of Doubt was a way of differentiating through problems into minuscule issues.
Within this method, he showed tactics of skepticism. This is a video going into more detail about the Method of Doubt.

Descartes touches on the point of the accuracy of our senses. Deciding whether our senses our reliable was not hard to determine. Descartes emphasizes how inaccurate our senses can be. We could misjudge a situation and see things different than what it actually is, therefore he rejects senses as a possible source of certainty. Interesting enough, Descartes did not trust that he was not always dreaming. He creates this test "Could I be dreaming?" to make matter of the point that our thoughts could deceive one into believing that they're facing reality/experiences but actually not.

“I suppose therefore that all things I see are illusions; I believe that nothing has ever existed of everything my lying memory tells me. I think I have no senses. I believe that body, shape, extension, motion, location are functions. What is there then that can be taken as true? Perhaps only this one thing, that nothing at all is certain.” -René Descartes

      Descartes points out the accuracy of knowing   one's existence, which was the beginning of what is known as Cartesian Dualism. Cartesian Dualism is the idea that the mind is separate from the body and interacts with it. Descartes believed the mind is able to generate reactions in the body, due to the interaction at a point in the brain. He created logical skepticism to determine the nature of his existence, in which he based his truth and existence on his thoughts/being able to think.

To support this argument, Descartes mentions the existence of God. He convinced himself that God is real, which is proof that he exists. He also suggests that the God's existence is real because 'he' has left an idea embedded in people's minds, without the idea of God, we wouldn't know he existed.

René Descartes had a tremendous impact on modern philosophy. He produced and created different outlooks as a reference for people to base their opinions/ beliefs on. He implemented tactics that were completely different from other philosophers and gave perspectives on more in depth scale. Descartes developed concepts that influenced people to search for a better understanding of dealing with their own issues and philosophy. He practiced the act of solitude to discover more concepts by solo thinking. He has spent a lifetime, attempting to discover the truth and reality of why people and other living/ non-living things exist. Due to his extreme dedication to new findings, he has created many pathways for new discoveries.

Sources:
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/descartes/
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rene-Descartes/Meditations
https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/descartes/1639/meditations.htm
https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/36556.Ren_Descartes


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