Annals of Neurosciences, Vol 16, No 1 (2009)
Annals of Neurosciences, Volume 16, Issue 1 (January), 2009
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RENE DESCARTES (1595-1650)“I am thinking therefore I exist.” |
doi : 10.5214/ans.0972.7531.2009.160107
Rene Descartes was a famous French scientist, mathematician and philosopher. He was the first major philosopher in the modern era to make a serious effort to defeat skepticism. His views about knowledge and certainty, as well as his views about the relationship between mind and body have been very influential over the last three centuries. Descartes was born at La Haye (now called Descartes), and educated at the Jesuit College of La Flche between 1606 and 1614. Descartes later claimed that his education gave him little of substance and that only mathematics had given him certain knowledge. In 1618 he went to Holland to serve in the army of Prince Maurice of Nassau, in travelled to Germany with that army. On the night of Nov ember 10, he had a series of dreams which he interpreted as signs that he would found a universal science. His first substantial work was the Regulae or Rules for the Direction of Mind written in 1628-9 but not published until 1701. This work shows Descartes interest in method which he shared with many sixteenth and seventeenth century scientists. Descartes was clearly convinced that the discovery of the proper method is the key to scientific advance. In November 1628 Descartes was in Paris, where he made himself famous in a confrontation with Chandoux. Chandoux claimed that science could only be based on probablities. This view reflected the dominance in French intellectual circles of Renaissance skepticism. This skeptical view was rooted in the religious crisis in Europe resulting from the Protestant Reformation and had been deepened by the publication of the works of Sextus Empiricus and reflections on disagreements between classical authors. It was strengthend again by considerations about the differences in culture between New World cultures and that of Europe, and by the debates over the new Copernican system. Descartes attacked this view, claiming only that certainty could serve as a basis for knowledge, and that he himself had a method for attaining such certainty. In the same year Descartes moved to Holland where he remained with only brief interruptions until 1649.
In Holland Descartes produced a scientific work called Le Monde or The World which he was about to publish in 1634. At the point, however, he learned that Galileo had been condemned by the Church for teaching Copernican ism. Descarte s’ book was Copernican to the core, and he therefore had it supressed. In 1638 Descartes published a book containing three essays on mathematical and scientific subjects and the Discourse on Method. These works were written in French (rather th an Latin) and were aimed at the educated world rather than simply academics.
Descartes’ death in Stockholm of pneumonia, has regularly been attributed to the rigours of the Swedish climate and the fact that Descartes was sometimes required to give the Queen lessons as early as five in the morning. However unpleasant these conditions may have been, it seems plain that Descartes acquired his fatal malady as a result of nursing his friend the French ambassador (who had pneumonia) back to health.
Descartes Time Line
1596 31 March: born at La Haye near Tours
1616 Descartes takes doctor of law at University of Poitiers
1619 He travels in Germany; on 10 November in Ulm has dream of a unified scientific system based on mathematics
1628 (or 29) He composes Rules for the Direction of Mind (which was first published in 1701);
1628 In November Descartes distinguished himself in a confrontation with Chandoux, who claimed that all science is based on probability while Descartes claimed that only certainty could be the basis of human knowledge and that he had a method for attaining certainty. Following this, Descartes was encouraged by Cardinal Berulle to develop his system.
1633 The condemnation of Galileo leads Descartes to abandon plans to publish The World
1635 The birth of Descartes’ natural daughter, named Francine, baptized 7 August (died 1640)
1637 Descartes publishes Discourse on Method, with Optics, Meterology and the Geometry
1641 Meditations on First Philosophy published together with the first six sets of Objections and Replies
1642 Second edition of the Meditations published along with all seven sets of objections and replies. Descartes meets Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia
1643 Cartesian philosophy condemned at the University of Utrecht; Descartes’ long correspondence with the Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia begins.
1644 Visits Fra nee: The Principles of Philosophy published.
1647 Descartes is awarded a pension by the King of France; he publishes Comments on a Certain Broadsheet, begins work on The Description of the Human Body
1648 He is interviewed by Frans Burman at Egmond-Binnen which leads to the publication of Conversations with Burman
1649 He goes to Sweden on invitation of Queen Christina; the Passions of the Soul published
1650 11 February: dies in Stockholm
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