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René Descartes is one of the formative figures in Western philosophy, logic and mathematics. His famous statement: ‘I think, therefore I am’, has become perhaps the most famous phrase in all of philosophy. Descartes’s ground-breaking writings attempted to establish unshakeable foundations of knowledge, and set a trend for subsequent Western philosophy, which has endlessly critiqued and expanded upon his ideas.
Ross Burman: Descartes: An Introduction
Rene Descartes has often been described…
Descartes left the army and returned to Paris…
Introduction to Discourse on the Method
Discourse on the Method
'I esteemed eloquence highly.'
'It is true, however, that it is not customary…'
'But the chief ground of my satisfaction with this method…'
'Having thus provided myself with these maxims…'
'After this, I inquired in general…'
Introduction to Meditations on the First Philosophy
Meditation I - Of the Things which We May Doubt
'Let us suppose, then, that we are dreaming…'
'Nevertheless, the belief that there is a God…'
Introduction to Meditation II
Meditation II – Of the Nature of the Human Mind
'What then did I formerly think I was?'
'The question now arises, am I aught besides?'
'From this I begin to know what I am…'
'But meanwhile, I feel greatly astonished…'
Introduction to Meditation III
Meditation III – Of God: That He Exists
'But when I considered any matter in arithmetic…'
'What I have here principally to do…'
'Now it is manifest by the natural light…'
'But among these my ideas…'
'There only remains, therefore, the idea of God…'
'Yet, on looking more closely into the matter…'
'All that is here required therefore…'
'There remains only the inquiry as to the way…'
Introduction to Meditation IV
Meditation IV – Of Truth and Error
'And there would remain no doubt on this head…'
'Considering this more attentively…'
'From all this I discover, however…'
'And finally, I ought not also to complain…'
Introduction to Meditation V
Meditation V – Of Material Things
'But now, if because I can draw from my thought…'
'But indeed, whatever mode of probation I in the end adopt…'
Introduction to Meditation VI
Meditation VI – Of the Existence of Material Things
'But I am accustomed to imagine many other objects…'
'But afterward, a wide experience by degrees…'
'Moreover, I find in myself diverse faculties of thinking…'
'Besides this, nature teaches me that my own body…'
'But I have already sufficiently considered how it happens…'
'To commence this examination accordingly…'
'Whence it is quite manifest…'
Introduction to Principles of Philosophy
Principles of Philosophy (Selections)
Why we may doubt of sensible things.
Why we may also doubt of mathematical demonstrations.
That we possess a free will.
That we cannot doubt of our existence…
That we hence discover the distinction…
How we can know our mind more clearly than our body.
How it happens that every one does not come…
In what sense the knowledge of other things…
That we may validly infer the existence of God…
That necessary existence is not in the same way comprised…
That we are not the cause of ourselves…
That God is not corporeal…
That in passing from the knowledge of God…
That we must believe all that God has revealed…
That we must examine…
That God is not the cause of our errors.
That, consequently, all which we clearly perceive…
That our errors are, in respect of God…
That there are only two modes of thinking in us…
That we never err, unless…
That the will, as well as the understanding…
That the will is of greater extension…
That our errors cannot be imputed to God.
That the chief perfection of man…
That the liberty of our will is self-evident.
That it is likewise certain that God…
How the freedom of our will may be reconciled…
How, although we never will to err…
That we shall never err…
What constitutes clear and distinct perception.
It is shown from the example of pain…
That to correct the prejudices of our early years…
What substance is…
That the term 'substance'…
That of every substance there is one principal attribute…
How we may have clear and distinct notions…
The grounds on which the existence of material things…
How we likewise know that the human body…
That the perceptions of the senses…
That the nature of body…
That the truth regarding the nature of body…
How thought and extension may be distinctly known…
How these may be likewise distinctly conceived…
What are modes…
How our sensations, affections…
That we are frequently deceived in our judgements…
Rene Descartes has often been described…