Descartes in 90 minutes by Paul Strathern is a book about the life and work of the philosopher, mathematician and scientist, Rene Descartes. Descartes is considered one of the most important thinkers of the Renaissance, and his work had a profound influence on the development of modern philosophy and science. The book begins with a brief biography of Descartes, followed by a discussion of his major philosophical works. The last part of the book is devoted to a discussion of Descartes’ work in mathematics and science.
Biography
Descartes was born in France in 1596. He was educated at the Jesuit College of La Fleche, where he showed a great aptitude for mathematics and science. After graduation, he entered the army and served in the Low Countries. In 1618, he returned to France and began to pursue a life of philosophy and science. In 1619, he met the Dutch physicist and mathematician, Isaac Beeckman, with whom he had a long and fruitful collaboration. In 1628, he published his first major philosophical work, Meditations on First Philosophy, in which he argues for the existence of God and the immortality of the soul. In 1637, he published his most famous work, Discourse on Method, in which he sets out his philosophical method and argues for the existence of a material world.
In 1641, he published his major work on physics, Principles of Philosophy. In 1649, he returned to France and died in 1650. Discourse on Method is considered one of the most important philosophical works of the Modern era. In it, Descartes sets out his method of doubt, which he uses to question all his beliefs. He then argues that the only belief that cannot be doubted is that he exists. From this, he argues that he can know that God exists and that the soul is immortal. The work had a profound influence on the development of modern philosophy and science.
Major Works
Descartes is best known for his philosophical work, Meditations on First Philosophy, in which he argues for the existence of God and the immortality of the soul. This work is considered one of the most important philosophical works of the Modern era. His other works include: Principles of Philosophy, in which he sets out his philosophical method. He also published The World and the Light in 1641. His work on physics, Principles of Philosophy, is considered his most important work.
Discourse on Method is the best-known work of the seventeenth century philosopher and mathematician.
What did Descartes argue exactly? In Meditations, he argues that the only thing that can be known for certain is that he exists. From this, he argues that he can know that God exists and that the soul is immortal. Let us trace his line of reasoning:
First, he argues that the only thing that can be known for certain is that he exists. Since he cannot doubt his own existence, it must be true that he exists. From this, he argues that he can know that God exists. He reasons that if he did not exist, then God would not exist either. Therefore, since he exists, God must exist. Why does Descartes say that God must exist? Because, he argues, if God did not exist, then he would not exist either. Therefore, since he exists, God must exist. This is a valid argument, but it is not conclusive. The existence of God is a matter of faith, not reason. It is possible that God does not exist, despite the evidence that Descartes presents.
There are many philosophers who believe that the existence of God cannot be proven. Descartes himself considered the existence of God to be a matter of faith, not reason. He makes this clear in his book, The World and the Light: “For I see no other means of establishing the certainty of the existence of an intelligent being, than by supposing that this being has made everything, both what exists and what does not exist, known to us.” There is much debate over the existence of God, and it is not a question that can be answered by reason alone. However, Descartes’s argument is a strong one, and it is one that has influenced many philosophers and scientists.
For example, Isaac Newton believed that the existence of God was proven by Descartes’s argument. Newton was a very influential physicist and mathematician who developed the theory of gravity. His work on physics had a profound impact on the development of modern science. Newton believed that Descrates’s argument proved the existence of God because it showed that it was impossible for the universe to exist without a creator. Other thinkers influenced by this argument include Gottfried Leibniz and Voltaire. Voltaire was a French philosophe who wrote a scathing critique of Descartes’s Meditations.
In his work, Voltaire argued that the existence of God could not be proven by reason. However, he did not deny the existence of God outright. He was, in fact, a deist. He believed that God existed, but he did not believe that God could be known through reason alone.
Leibniz also believed in the existence of God, but he also did not believe that God could be known through reason alone. He was a theist, which is a belief that God exists and can be known through faith. Leibniz was a very influential philosopher and mathematician who developed the theory of calculus. He also believed that the universe was created by God and that everything in the universe has a purpose.
Why did all these thinkers maintain that faith was necessary, and where did they get such an idea from? Descartes argued that reason could not discover God, and so faith was the only way to know for certain that God existed. Leibniz argued that reason could not prove the existence of God, but that did not mean that faith was not necessary. He argued that everything in the universe had a purpose, which pointed to an intelligent creator.
Voltaire, in his critique of Descartes, points out that the only way to know for certain that God exists is to have faith. At some point all thinkers conclude that there is a limit to reason. That is, reason can take us only so far. It cannot take us all the way to certainty. Even Descartes, who argues that reason is the only way to know for certain that God exists, admits that there is a limit to reason. He argues that reason can take us only so far as to the existence of God.
Ultimately, the human mind is limited in its ability to know anything for certain. We can only conjecture about what exists and what has a purpose. Even the great thinkers of history have admitted that there are some things that we cannot know through reason alone. We must have faith in order to or irrational. Rather, it is an acknowledgement of the limitations of human reason. In an age where technology has advanced to the point where we can explore and understand the universe, we must remember that reason cannot take us all the way to knowledge.
Rather, reason itself is an acknowledgement of the limitations of human reason. We believe in things that we cannot see or prove. This is a reality that we must face, and it is one that we must learn to accept. We must be willing to admit that there are things that we cannot know, and that is why we must also have faith. Without faith, we would be lost in an endless cycle of doubt.
In other works, Descartes gives us an answer to the problem of evil.
If there was no evil in the world, there would be no way to understand or appreciate good. In his book, The Principles of Moral Philosophy, Descartes argues that evil is needed in order to understand the concept of good. He states that without evil, we would be unable to understand the concept of good because good would be nonexistent as a comparison. Rather, evil is the presence of something that is bad as a counterpoint to something that is good.
In other words, evil is the presence of something that is bad in comparison to something that is good. This gives us a way to understand good, since we can see how good can exist despite the presence of evil. We can understand good because we can see how evil can be defeated. We can understand evil because we can see how good can exist.
Let us try to imagine a universe without evil. In such a universe, there would be no contrast between good and evil. Everything would be equally good or equally evil. There would be no way to understand or appreciate good because there would be no idea of what it is to be good. Rather, everything would be identical and there would be no way to compare one thing to another. This would be a world without faith and without doubt.