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Descartes

René Descartes
Frans Hals - Portret van René Descartes.jpg
Portrait after Frans Hals, 1648
Born (1596-03-31)31 March 1596
La Haye en Touraine, Kingdom of France
Died 11 February 1650(1650-02-11) (aged 53)
, Sweden
Nationality French
Education Collège Royal Henry-Le-Grand
(1607–1614)
Alma mater University of Poitiers
University of Franeker
Leiden University
Era 17th-century philosophy
Region Western Philosophy
School Rationalism
Founder of Cartesianism
Main interests
Metaphysics, epistemology, mathematics, physics, cosmology
Notable ideas
Cogito ergo sum, method of doubt, method of normals, Cartesian coordinate system, Cartesian dualism, foundationalism, ontological argument for the existence of God, mathesis universalis, folium of Descartes, Dream argument, Evil demon
Signature
Firma Descartes.svg

René Descartes (/ˈdˌkɑːrt/;French: [ʁəne dekaʁt]; Latinized: Renatus Cartesius; adjectival form: "Cartesian"; 31 March 1596 – 11 February 1650) was a French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist. Dubbed the father of modern western philosophy, much of subsequent Western philosophy is a response to his writings, which are studied closely to this day. He spent about 20 years of his life in the Dutch Republic.

Descartes's Meditations on First Philosophy continues to be a standard text at most university philosophy departments. Descartes's influence in mathematics is equally apparent; the Cartesian coordinate system—allowing reference to a point in space as a set of numbers, and allowing algebraic equations to be expressed as geometric shapes in a two- or three-dimensional coordinate system (and conversely, shapes to be described as equations)—was named after him. He is credited as the father of analytical geometry, the bridge between algebra and geometry, used in the discovery of infinitesimal calculus and analysis. Descartes was also one of the key figures in the scientific revolution.


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