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{{Infobox Philosopher
| region = Western Philosophy
| era = [[17th-century philosophy]]
| color = #B0C4DE
| image_name = Frans Hals - Portret van René Descartes.jpg
| image_caption = René Descartes. Portrait by [[Frans Hals]], 1648.
| name = René Descartes

| birth = [[March 31]], [[1596]]<br>[[La Haye en Touraine]] [now Descartes], [[Indre-et-Loire]], [[France]]
| death = {{Death date and age|1650|2|11|1596|3|31}}<br>[[Stockholm]], [[Sweden]]
| school_tradition = [[Cartesianism]], [[Rationalism]], [[Foundationalism]]
| main_interests = [[Metaphysics]], [[Epistemology]], [[Science]], [[Mathematics]]
| influences = [[Plato]], [[Aristotle]], [[Ibn al-Haytham|Alhazen]], [[Avicenna]], [[al-Ghazali]], [[Anselm of Canterbury|Anselm]], [[St. Augustine]], [[Thomas Aquinas|Aquinas]], [[William of Ockham|Ockham]], [[Francisco Suárez|Suarez]], [[Marin Mersenne|Mersenne]], [[Sextus Empiricus]], [[Michel de Montaigne]], [[Duns Scotus]] {{Fact|date=January 2008}}
| influenced = [[Baruch Spinoza|Spinoza]], [[Thomas Hobbes|Hobbes]], [[Antoine Arnauld|Arnauld]], [[Nicolas Malebranche|Malebranche]], [[Blaise Pascal|Pascal]], [[John Locke|Locke]], [[Gottfried Leibniz|Leibniz]], [[Henry More|More]], [[Immanuel Kant|Kant]], [[Edmund Husserl|Husserl]], [[Léon Brunschvicg|Brunschvicg]], [[Slavoj Žižek|Žižek]], [[Noam Chomsky|Chomsky]], [[Jason Stanley|Stanley]]
| notable_ideas = [[Cogito ergo sum]], [[Methodic Doubt|method of doubt]], [[Cartesian coordinate system]], [[Cartesian dualism]], [[ontological argument]] for existence of God; regarded as a founder of [[Modern philosophy]]
}}
'''René Descartes''' (French {{IPA2|ʁəne de'kaʁt}} [[Latin]]:Renatus Cartesius) ([[March 31]], [[1596]] &ndash; [[February 11]], [[1650]]), also known as ''Renatus Cartesius'' ([[Latinisation|latinized]] form), was a highly influential [[French philosophy|French philosopher]], [[mathematician]], scientist, and writer. He has been dubbed the "Father of Modern Philosophy" and the "Father of Modern Mathematics" {{Fact|date=March 2008}} and much of subsequent Western philosophy is a reaction to his writings{{Fact|date=March 2008}}, which continue to be studied closely, even to the present day{{Fact|date=March 2008}}. His influence in mathematics is also apparent, the [[Cartesian coordinate system]] that is used in plane geometry and algebra being named for him, and he was one of the key figures in the [[Scientific Revolution]]{{Fact|date=March 2008}}.

Descartes frequently sets his views apart from those of his predecessors. In the opening section of the ''[[Passions of the Soul]]'', a treatise on the [[Early Modern]] version of what are now commonly called emotions, he goes so far as to assert that he will write on his topic "as if no one had written on these matters before". Many elements of his philosophy have precedents in late [[Aristotelianism]], the revived [[Stoicism]] of the 16th century, or in earlier philosophers like [[Augustine of Hippo|St. Augustine]]. In his natural philosophy, he differs from the [[Scholasticism|Schools]] on two major points: first, he rejects the analysis of [[corporeal substance]] into matter and form; second, he rejects any appeal to [[Teleology|ends]]—divine or natural—in explaining natural phenomena. In his [[theology]], he insists on the absolute freedom of God’s act of creation.

Descartes was a major figure in [[17th century]] continental [[rationalism]], later advocated by [[Baruch Spinoza]] and [[Gottfried Leibniz]], and opposed by the [[empiricist]] school of thought consisting of [[Thomas Hobbes|Hobbes]], [[John Locke|Locke]], [[George Berkeley|Berkeley]], and [[David Hume|Hume]]. Leibniz, Spinoza and Descartes were all versed in mathematics as well as philosophy, and Descartes and Leibniz contributed greatly to science as well. As the inventor of the [[Cartesian coordinate system]], Descartes founded [[analytic geometry]], the bridge between algebra and geometry, crucial to the invention of [[calculus]] and [[Mathematical analysis|analysis]]. Descartes' reflections on mind and mechanism began the strain of [[Western thought]] that much later, impelled by the invention of the [[electronic computer]] and by the possibility of [[machine intelligence]], blossomed into the [[Turing test]] and related thought. His most famous statement is: ''[[Cogito ergo sum]]'' ({{lang-fr|Je pense, donc je suis}}; {{lang-en|I think, therefore I am}}), found in §7 of part I of ''[[Principles of Philosophy]]'' (Latin) and in part IV of ''[[Discourse on the Method]]'' (French).

== Biography ==
[[Image:DescartesGraduationRegistry.JPG|thumb|left|Graduation registry for Descartes at the [[Prytanee|Collège Royal Henry-Le-Grand]], [[La Flèche]], 1616.]]
Descartes was born in [[La Haye en Touraine]] (now Descartes), [[Indre-et-Loire]], [[France]]. When he was one year old, his mother Jeanne Brochard died of [[tuberculosis]]. His father Joachim was a judge in the High Court of Justice. At the age of eight, he entered the [[Society of Jesus|Jesuit]] [[Prytanee|Collège Royal Henry-Le-Grand]] at [[La Flèche]]. After graduation, he studied at the [[University of Poitiers]], earning a ''[[Baccalauréat]]'' and ''License'' in [[law]] in 1616, in accordance with his father's wishes that he should become a lawyer.

Descartes never actually practiced law, however, and in 1618, during the [[Thirty Years' War]], he entered the service of [[Maurice of Nassau]], leader of the United Provinces of [[Netherlands]]. His reason for becoming a mercenary was to see the world and to discover the truth.

{{cquote|I entirely abandoned the study of letters. Resolving to seek no knowledge other than that of which could be found in myself or else in the great book of the world, I spent the rest of my youth travelling, visiting courts and armies, mixing with people of diverse temperaments and ranks, gathering various experiences, testing myself in the situations which fortune offered me, and at all times reflecting upon whatever came my way so as to derive some profit from it. (Descartes, ''Discourse on the Method'')}}

On [[November 10]], [[1618]], while walking through [[Breda]], Descartes met [[Isaac Beeckman]], who sparked his interest in mathematics and the new physics, particularly the problem of the fall of heavy bodies. On [[November 10]], [[1619]], while travelling in Germany and thinking about using mathematics to solve problems in physics, Descartes had a dream through which he "discovered the foundations of a marvelous science".<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|year=1911|title=René Descartes|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica|url=http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Rene_Descartes|accessdate=2007-08-15}}</ref> This became a pivotal point in young Descartes' life and the foundation on which he developed analytic geometry. He dedicated the rest of his life to researching this connection between mathematics and nature. Descartes also studied [[Augustine of Hippo|St. Augustine's]] concept of [[free will]], the belief that our will is essentially equal to God's will; that is, that we are naturally independent of God's will.

In 1622 he returned to [[France]], and during the next few years spent time in [[Paris]] and other parts of Europe. He arrived in La Haye in 1623, selling all of his property, investing this remuneration in [[Bond (finance)|bonds]] which provided Descartes with a comfortable income for the rest of his life. Descartes was present at the [[siege of La Rochelle]] by Cardinal [[Armand Jean du Plessis, Cardinal Richelieu|Richelieu]] in 1627.

He returned to the [[Dutch Republic]] in 1628, where he lived until September 1649. In April 1629 he joined the [[University of Franeker]] and the next year [[Leiden University]]. In October 1630 he had a fall-out with Beeckman, whom he accused of plagiarizing some of his ideas (though the situation was more likely the reverse). In [[Amsterdam]], he had a relationship with a servant girl, Helène Jans, with whom he had a daughter, Francine, who was born in 1635 in [[Deventer]], at which time Descartes taught at the [[Utrecht University]]. Francine Descartes died in 1640 in [[Amersfoort]].

While in Holland he changed his address frequently, living among other places in [[Dordrecht]] (1628), [[Franeker]] (1629), Amsterdam (1629-30), [[Leiden]] (1630), Amsterdam (1630-2), [[Deventer]] (1632-4), Amsterdam (1634-5), [[Utrecht (city)|Utrecht]] (1635-6), Leiden (1636), [[Egmond]] (1636-8), [[Santpoort]] (1638-1640), Leiden (1640-1), Endegeest (a castle near [[Oegstgeest]]) (1641-3), and finally for an extended time in [[Egmond-Binnen]] (1643-9).

Despite these frequent moves he wrote all his major work during his 20 plus years in Holland, where he managed to revolutionize mathematics and philosophy. In 1633, [[Galileo Galilei|Galileo]] was condemned by the [[Roman Catholic Church]], and Descartes abandoned plans to publish ''[[The World (Descartes)|Treatise on the World]]'', his work of the previous four years. "Discourse on the Method" was published in 1637. In it an early attempt at explaining reflexes mechanistically is made. Descartes also lays out four rules of thought, meant to ensure that our knowledge rests upon a firm foundation.

[[Image:René Descartes i samtal med Sveriges drottning, Kristina.jpg|thumb|René Descartes with Queen [[Christina of Sweden]].]]
Descartes continued to [[René Descartes#References|publish works]] concerning both mathematics and philosophy for the rest of his life. In 1643, Cartesian philosophy was condemned at the [[Utrecht University|University of Utrecht]], and Descartes began his long correspondence with [[Elisabeth of Bohemia, Princess Palatine|Princess Elizabeth of Bohemia]]. In 1647, he was awarded a pension by the [[King of France]]. Descartes was interviewed by [[Frans Burman]] at [[Egmond-Binnen]] in 1648.

René Descartes died on [[February 11]], [[1650]] in [[Stockholm]], [[Sweden]], where he had been invited as a teacher for Queen [[Christina of Sweden]]. The cause of death was said to be [[pneumonia]] — accustomed to working in bed until noon, he may have suffered a detrimental effect on his health due to Christina's demands for early morning study (the lack of sleep could have severely compromised his immune system). Others believe that Descartes may have contracted pneumonia as result of nursing a French ambassador, Dejion A. Nopeleen, ill with the aforementioned disease, back to health.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl302/philosophers/descartes.html|title=Rene Descartes|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070522055107/http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl302/philosophers/descartes.html|archivedate=2007-05-07|accessdate=2007-08-15}}</ref>

In 1663, the [[Pope Alexander VII|Pope]] placed his works on the [[Index Librorum Prohibitorum|Index of Prohibited Books]].

[[Image:DescartesAshes.jpg|thumb|The tomb of Descartes (middle, with detail of the inscription), in the church of [[Saint-Germain-des-Prés]], [[Paris]].]]
As a [[Roman Catholic]] in a [[Protestant]] nation, he was interred in a graveyard mainly used for unbaptized infants in [[Adolf Fredrikskyrkan]] in Stockholm. Later, his remains were taken to France and buried in the church of [[Sainte-Geneviève-du-Mont]] in [[Paris]]. His memorial erected in the 18th century remains in the Swedish church.

During the [[French Revolution]], his remains were disinterred for burial in the [[Panthéon, Paris|Panthéon]] among the great French thinkers. The village in the [[Loire Valley]] where he was born was renamed ''La Haye - Descartes'' in 1802, which was shortened to "Descartes" in 1967. Currently his tomb is in the church of [[Saint-Germain-des-Prés]] in Paris; his brain, however, resides in the [[Musée de l'Homme]].

== Philosophical work ==
Descartes is often regarded as the first modern thinker to provide a philosophical framework for the [[natural sciences]] as these began to develop. In his ''[[Discourse on the Method]]'' he attempts to arrive at a fundamental set of principles that one can know as true without any doubt. To achieve this, he employs a method called hyperbolical/metaphysical doubt, sometimes also referred to as [[methodological skepticism]]: he rejects any idea that can be doubted, and then reestablishes them in order to acquire a firm foundation for genuine knowledge.<ref>{{cite web|first=Copenhaver|last=Rebecca|title=Forms of skepticism|url=http://www.lclark.edu/~rebeccac/forms.html|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20050108095032/http://www.lclark.edu/~rebeccac/forms.html|archivedate=2005-01-08|accessdate=2007-08-15}}</ref>

Initially, Descartes arrives at only a single principle: thought exists. Thought cannot be separated from me, therefore, I exist (''Discourse on the Method'' and ''Principles of Philosophy''). Most famously, this is known as ''[[cogito ergo sum]]'' (Latin: "I think, therefore I am"), or more aptly, "''[[Dubito, ergo cogito, ergo sum]]''" (Latin: "I doubt, therefore I think, therefore I am"). Therefore, Descartes concluded, if he doubted, then something or someone must be doing the doubting, therefore the very fact that he doubted proved his existence.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ten books: Chosen by Raj Persaud|publisher=The [[British Journal of Psychiatry]]|url=http://bjp.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/181/3/258}}</ref>

[[Image:Descartes3.jpg|thumb|René Descartes at work.]]
Descartes concludes that he can be certain that he exists because he thinks. But in what form? He perceives his body through the use of the senses; however, these have previously been proven unreliable. So Descartes concludes that the only indubitable knowledge is that he is a ''thinking thing''. Thinking is his essence as it is the only thing about him that cannot be doubted. Descartes defines "thought" (''cogitatio'') as "what happens in me such that I am immediately conscious of it, insofar as I am conscious of it". Thinking is thus every activity of a person of which he is immediately [[Consciousness|conscious]].

To further demonstrate the limitations of the senses, Descartes proceeds with what is known as the ''Wax Argument''. He considers a piece of wax; his senses inform him that it has certain characteristics, such as shape, texture, size, color, smell, and so forth. When he brings the wax towards a flame, these characteristics change completely. However, it seems that it is still the same thing: it is still a piece of wax, even though the data of the senses inform him that all of its characteristics are different. Therefore, in order to properly grasp the nature of the wax, he cannot use the senses. He must use his mind. Descartes concludes:

{{cquote|Thus what I thought I had seen with my eyes, I actually grasped solely with the faculty of judgment, which is in my mind.}}

In this manner, Descartes proceeds to construct a system of knowledge, discarding [[perception]] as unreliable and instead admitting only [[deductive reasoning|deduction]] as a method. In the third and fifth ''[[Meditations on First Philosophy|Meditation]]'', he offers an [[ontological proof]] of a [[benevolent]] [[God]] (through both the [[ontological argument]] and [[trademark argument]]). Because God is benevolent, he can have some faith in the account of reality his senses provide him, for God has provided him with a working mind and [[sensory system]] and does not desire to deceive him; however, this is a contentious [[argument]], as his very notion of a benevolent God from which he developed this argument is easily subject to the same kind of doubt as his perceptions. From this supposition, however, he finally establishes the possibility of acquiring knowledge about the world based on deduction ''and'' perception. In terms of [[epistemology]] therefore, he can be said to have contributed such ideas as a rigorous conception of [[foundationalism]] and the possibility that [[reason]] is the only reliable method of attaining knowledge.

In Descartes' system, knowledge takes the form of ideas, and philosophical investigation is the contemplation of these ideas. This concept would influence subsequent [[internalism|internalist]] movements as Descartes' epistemology requires that a connection made by conscious awareness will distinguish knowledge from falsity. As a result of his [[Cartesian doubt]], he viewed rational knowledge as being "incapable of being destroyed" and sought to construct an unshakable ground upon which all other knowledge can be based. The first item of unshakable knowledge that Descartes argues for is the aforementioned ''cogito'', or thinking thing.

Descartes also wrote a response to [[External world skepticism#Motivations for external world skepticism|skepticism about the existence of the external world]]. He argues that [[sensory perception]]s come to him involuntarily, and are not willed by him. They are external to his senses, and according to Descartes, this is evidence of the existence of something outside of his mind, and thus, an external world. Descartes goes on to show that the things in the external world are material by arguing that God would not deceive him as to the ideas that are being transmitted, and that God has given him the "propensity" to believe that such ideas are caused by material things.

Descartes was also renowned for his work in producing the Cartesian Theory of Fallacies. This can be most easily explored using the statement: "This statement is a lie." While it is most commonly referred to as a [[paradox]], the Cartesian Theory of Fallacies states that at any given time a statement can be both true and false simultaneously due to its contradictory nature. The statement is true in its fallacy. Thus, Descartes developed the Cartesian Theory of Fallacies, which greatly influenced the thinking of the time. Many would-be philosophers were trying to develop inexplicable statements of seeming fact, however, this laid rumors of such a proposition impossible. It must be noted however that many philosophers believe that when Descartes formulated his Theory of Fallacies, he intended to be lying, which embodies the theory in and of itself.

== Dualism ==
Descartes suggested that the body works like a [[machine]], that it has the material properties of extension and motion, and that it follows the laws of physics. The [[mind]] (or [[soul]]), on the other hand, was described as a nonmaterial entity that lacks extension and motion, and does not follow the laws of physics. Descartes argued that only humans have minds, and that the mind interacts with the body at the [[pineal gland]]. This form of [[dualism]] proposes that the mind controls the body, but that the body can also influence the otherwise rational mind, such as when people act out of passion. Most of the previous accounts of the relationship between mind and body had been uni-directional.

Descartes suggested that the [[pineal gland]] is "the seat of the soul" for several reasons. First, the soul is unitary, and unlike many areas of the brain the pineal gland appears to be unitary (microscopic inspection reveals it is formed of two hemispheres). Second, Descartes observed that the pineal gland was located near the [[ventricular system|ventricles]]. He believed the [[cerebrospinal fluid|animal spirits]] of the ventricles acted through the nerves to control the body, and that the pineal gland influenced this process. Finally, Descartes incorrectly believed that only humans have pineal glands, just as, in his view, only humans have minds. This led him to the belief that animals cannot feel pain, and Descartes' practice of [[vivisection]] (the dissection of live animals) became widely practiced throughout Europe until the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]].

Cartesian Dualism set the agenda for philosophical discussion of the [[mind-body problem]] for many years after Descartes' death. The question of how a nonmaterial mind can influence a material body, without invoking supernatural explanations, remains an [[wikt:enigma|enigma]] to this day.

Modern scientists have criticized Cartesian dualism, as well as its influence on subsequent philosophers. Neurologist [[Antonio Damasio]], for example, termed it ''[[Descartes' Error]]''. See [[Dualism (philosophy of mind)#Arguments against dualism|Arguments against dualism]].

== Mathematical legacy ==
Descartes' theory provided the basis for the calculus of [[Isaac Newton|Newton]] and [[Gottfried Leibniz|Leibniz]], by applying [[infinitesimal calculus]] to the [[tangent line problem]], thus permitting the evolution of that branch of modern mathematics.<ref>{{cite book|first=Jan|last=Gullberg|year=1997|title=Mathematics From The Birth Of Numbers|location=|publisher=W. W. Norton|id=ISBN 0-393-04002-X}}</ref> This appears even more astounding considering that the work was just intended as an ''example'' to his ''Discours de la méthode pour bien conduire sa raison, et chercher la verité dans les sciences'' (''Discourse on the Method to Rightly Conduct the Reason and Search for the Truth in Sciences'', better known under the shortened title ''Discours de la méthode'').

[[Descartes' rule of signs]] is also a commonly used method to determine the number of positive and negative zeros of a polynomial.

Descartes created [[analytic geometry]], and discovered an early form of the law of conservation of momentum. He outlined his views on the universe in his [[Principles of Philosophy]].

Descartes also made contributions to the field of [[optics]]. He showed by using geometric construction and the [[law of refraction]] (also known as Descartes' law) that the angular radius of a rainbow is 42 degrees (i.e. the angle subtended at the eye by the edge of the rainbow and the ray passing from the sun through the rainbow's centre is 42°).<ref>{{cite book|last=Tipler|first=P. A. and G. Mosca|year=2004|title=Physics For Scientists And Engineers|location=|publisher=W. H. Freeman|id=ISBN 0-7167-4389-2}}</ref> He also independently discovered the [[law of reflection]], and his essay on optics was the first published mention of this law.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|year=2008|encyclopedia=Encarta|url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761555262/Rene_Descartes.html#s3|title=René Descartes|publisher=Microsoft|accessdate=2007-08-15}}</ref>

One of Descartes most enduring legacies was his development of [[Cartesian geometry]] which uses algebra to describe geometry. He also invented the notation which uses [[superscript|superscripts]] to indicate powers or exponents, for example the 2 used in x² to indicate squaring.

== Writings by Descartes ==
* 1618. ''Compendium Musicae''. A treatise on music theory and the aesthetics of music written for Descartes' early collaborator Isaac Beeckman.
* 1626–1628. ''Regulae ad directionem ingenii'' (''[[Rules for the Direction of the Mind]]''). Incomplete. First published posthumously in 1684. The best critical edition, which includes an early Dutch translation, is edited by Giovanni Crapulli (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1966).
* 1630–1633. ''Le Monde'' ([[The World (Descartes)|''The World'']]) and ''L'Homme'' (''Man''). Descartes' first systematic presentation of his natural philosophy. ''Man'' was first published in Latin translation in 1662; ''The World'' in 1664.
* 1637. ''Discours de la méthode'' (''[[Discourse on the Method]]''). An introduction to the ''Essais'', which include the ''Dioptrique'', the ''Météores'' and the ''Géométrie''.
* 1637. ''[[La Géométrie]]'' (''Geometry''). Descartes' major work in mathematics. There is an English translation by Michael Mahoney (New York: Dover, 1979).
* 1641. ''Meditationes de prima philosophia'' (''[[Meditations on First Philosophy]]''), also known as ''Metaphysical Meditations''. In Latin; a French translation, probably done without Descartes' supervision, was published in 1647. Includes six [[Meditations on First Philosophy#Objections and replies|Objections and Replies]]. A second edition, published the following year, included an additional objection and reply, and a ''Letter to Dinet''.
* 1644. ''Principia philosophiae'' (''[[Principles of Philosophy]]''), a Latin textbook at first intended by Descartes to replace the Aristotelian textbooks then used in universities. A French translation, ''Principes de philosophie'' by Claude Picot, under the supervision of Descartes, appeared in 1647 with a letter-preface to [[Queen Christina of Sweden]].
* 1647. ''Notae in programma'' (''Comments on a Certain Broadsheet''). A reply to Descartes' one-time disciple Henricus Regius.
* 1647. ''[[The Description of the Human Body]]''. Published posthumously.
* 1648. ''Responsiones Renati Des Cartes…'' (''Conversation with Burman''). Notes on a Q&A session between Descartes and Frans Burman on [[16 April]] [[1648]]. Rediscovered in 1895 and published for the first time in 1896. An annotated bilingual edition (Latin with French translation), edited by Jean-Marie Beyssade, was published in 1981 (Paris: PUF).
* 1649. ''Les passions de l'âme'' (''[[Passions of the Soul]]''). Dedicated to Princess Elizabeth of Bohemia.
* 1657. ''Correspondence''. Published by Descartes' literary executor Claude Clerselier. The third edition, in 1667, was the most complete; Clerselier omitted, however, much of the material pertaining to mathematics.

== References ==
'''Collected works'''
* 1983. ''Oeuvres de Descartes'' in 11 vols. Adam, Charles, and Tannery, Paul, eds. Paris: Librairie Philosophique J. Vrin.

'''Collected English translations'''
* 1988. ''The Philosophical Writings Of Descartes'' in 3 vols. Cottingham, J., Stoothoff, R., Kenny, A., and Murdoch, D., trans. Cambridge University Press.

'''Single works'''
* 1618. ''Compendium Musicae''.
* 1628. ''[[Rules for the Direction of the Mind]]''.
* 1637. ''[[Discourse on the Method]]'' ("Discours de la Methode"). An introduction to ''Dioptrique'', ''Des Météores'' and ''La Géométrie''. Original in French, because intended for a wider public.
* 1637. ''[[La Géométrie]]''. Smith, David E., and Lantham, M. L., trans., 1954. ''The Geometry of René Descartes''. Dover.
* 1641. ''[[Meditations on First Philosophy]]''. Cottingham, J., trans., 1996. Cambridge University Press. Latin original. Alternative English title: ''Metaphysical Meditations''. Includes six ''Objections and Replies''. A second edition published the following year, includes an additional ‘’Objection and Reply’’ and a ''Letter to Dinet''. [http://www.wright.edu/cola/descartes/intro.html HTML Online Latin-French-English Edition]
* 1644. ''Les Principes de la philosophie''. Miller, V. R. and R. P., trans., 1983. ''Principles of Philosophy''. Reidel.
* 1647. ''Comments on a Certain Broadsheet''.
* 1647. ''[[The Description of the Human Body]]''.
* 1648. ''Conversation with Burman''.
* 1649. ''[[Passions of the Soul]]''. Voss, S. H., trans., 1989. Indianapolis: Hackett. Dedicated to Princess Elizabeth of Bohemia.

'''Music'''
* Thrice - Album : The Alchemy Index, Water

'''Secondary literature'''
* {{cite book|last=Keeling|first=S. V.|year=1968|title=Descartes|location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press|id=ISBN }}
* {{cite book|last=Boyer|first=Carl|year=1985|title=A History of Mathematics|location=Princeton, NJ |publisher=Princeton University Press|id=ISBN 0-691-02391-3}}
* {{cite book|last=Clarke|first=Desmond|year=2006|title=Descartes: A Biography|location=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|id=ISBN 0-521-82301-3}}
* Farrell, John. “Demons of Descartes and Hobbes.” ''Paranoia and Modernity: Cervantes to Rousseau'' (Cornell UP, 2006), chapter seven.
* {{cite book|last=Sorrell|first=Tom|year=1987|title=Descartes|location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press.|id=ISBN 0-19-287636-8}}
* {{cite book|last=Costabel|first=Pierre|year=1987|title=René Descartes - Exercices pour les éléments des solides |location=Paris|publisher=Presses Universitaires de France|id=ISBN 2-13-040099-X}}
* {{cite book|last=Cottingham|first=John |year=1992|title=The Cambridge Companion to Descartes|location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press|id=ISBN 0-521-36696-8}}
* {{cite book|last=Garber|first=Daniel|year=1992|title=Descartes' Metaphysical Physics|location=Chicago |publisher=University of Chicago Press|id=ISBN 0-226-28219-8}}
* {{cite book|last=Gaukroger|first=Stephen|year=1995|title=Descartes: An Intellectual Biography|location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press|id=ISBN 0-19-823994-7}}
* {{cite book|last=Garber|first=Daniel|coauthors=Michael Ayers|year=1998|title=The Cambridge History of Seventeenth-Century Philosophy |location=Cambridge | publisher=Cambridge University Press| id=ISBN 0-521-53721-5}}
* {{cite book|last=Melchert|first=Norman|year=2002|title=The Great Conversation: A Historical Introduction to Philosophy|location=New York |publisher=McGraw Hill|id=ISBN 0-19-517510-7}}
* {{cite book|last=Grayling|first=A.C.|year=2005|title=Descartes: The Life and times of a Genius|location=New York |publisher=Walker Publishing Co., Inc.|id=ISBN 0-8027-1501-X}}
*{{cite book|last=Schäfer|first=Rainer|year=2006|title=Zweifel und Sein - Der Ursprung des modernen Selbstbewusstseins in Descartes' cogito| location=Wuerzburg|publisher=Koenigshausen&Neumann|id= ISBN 3-8260-3202-0}}

== Notes ==
{{reflist}}

== See also ==
<div style="-moz-column-count:3; column-count:3;">
* [[Dualistic interactionism]]
* [[Cartesian diver]]
* [[Balloonist theory]]
* [[Baruch Spinoza]]
* [[3587 Descartes]], asteroid
* [[Defect (geometry)]]
* [[Analytic geometry]]
* [[Self-organization]]
* [[Cartesian coordinate system]]
* [[Folium of Descartes]]
* [[Cartesian Circle]]
* [[Descartes' rule of signs]]
</div>

== External links ==
{{wikisource author}}
{{wikiquote}}
{{commons|René Descartes}}
'''General'''
* [http://gutenberg.net/etext/59 ''Discourse on the Method''] at [[Project Gutenberg]]
* [http://gutenberg.net/etext/4391 Selections from the ''Principles of Philosophy''] at [[Project Gutenberg]]
* [http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Descartes.html Detailed biography of Descartes]
* {{ws|"[[s:Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/René Descartes|René Descartes]]" in the 1913 ''Catholic Encyclopedia''}}
* [http://www.earlymoderntexts.com/f_descarte.html Easily readable versions of ''Meditations'', ''Discourse on the Method'', and the Objections to ''Meditations'' and Descartes's Replies]
* [http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/modlangfrench/20/ René Descartes (1596–1650)] Published in ''Encyclopedia of Rhetoric and Composition'' (1996)

'''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'''
* [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/descartes-epistemology/ Descartes' Epistemology]
* [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/descartes-ethics/ Descartes' Ethics]
* [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/descartes-works/ Descartes' Life and Works]
* [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/descartes-modal/ Descartes' Modal Metaphysics]
* [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/descartes-ontological/ Descartes' Ontological Argument]
* [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pineal-gland/ Descartes and the Pineal Gland]
* [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/descartes-physics/ Descartes' Physics]
* [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/descartes-ideas/ Descartes's Theory of Ideas]

<!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]] -->

{{Persondata
|NAME=Descartes, René
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Cartesius
|SHORT DESCRIPTION=French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist
|DATE OF BIRTH=[[31 March]] [[1596]]
|PLACE OF BIRTH=[[La Haye en Touraine]], [[Indre-et-Loire]], [[France]]
|DATE OF DEATH=[[11 February]] [[1650]]
|PLACE OF DEATH=[[Stockholm]], [[Sweden]]
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Descartes, René}}
[[Category:1596 births]]
[[Category:1650 deaths]]
[[Category:17th century mathematicians]]
[[Category:17th century philosophers]]
[[Category:Christian philosophers]]
[[Category:French Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:Consciousness researchers and theorists]]
[[Category:Early modern philosophers]]
[[Category:French mathematicians]]
[[Category:French philosophers]]
[[Category:History of neuroscience]]
[[Category:Humor theorists]]
[[Category:Philosophers of mind]]
[[Category:Language creators]]
[[Category:People from Indre-et-Loire]]
[[Category:Rationalists]]
[[Category:Roman Catholic philosophers]]
[[Category:University of Poitiers alumni]]
[[Category:René Descartes|*]]
[[Category:17th century French writers]]
[[Category:Deaths from pneumonia]]

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Revision as of 14:40, 19 March 2008

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