DESCARTES - OVERVIEW

<BODY> <TABLE width=400 BORDER=0 CELLSPACING=2 CELLPADDING=1> <TR> <TD><IMG SRC="1101a.jpg" WIDTH="120" HEIGHT="120" ALT="Descartes" align=top></TD> <TD><CENTER><FONT SIZE=5><B><FONT SIZE=6>DESCARTES</FONT><BR> THE RATIONALIST<P> ( 1596 - 1650 )</B></FONT><BR><BR> Cogito ergo sum "I think, therefore I am."</CENTER></TD> </TR> </TABLE> <FONT SIZE=4><B>Overview</B></FONT><P> Regarded as the founder of modern philosophy, René Descartes applied the newly developed scientific method to philosophy. He conceived of a new approach which could bring together all of human knowledge and make philosophy a universal science based in reason. Descartes' <A HREF="../t03/g043.html" TARGET="_top">rationalism</A> was applied not only to the nature of the physical universe but also to the nature of the human soul and to the existence of God.<P> Descartes made a clear distinction between Body, which is composed of the same sort of atomic matter as all else on earth, and <A HREF="../t03/g033.html" TARGET="_top">Mind</A>, which has no physical substance. Descartes conceived of these as as two separate but interacting entities. It is Mind that distinguishes man as a rational being from all other life on earth. Through a process of reasoning which involved a systematic stripping away of all doubts, Descartes proves to himself and others that he must exist because he is a rational being - "I think, therefore I am." He uses the same thought processes to prove the existence of God.<P> Descartes' God presides over a mechanical universe which he has created and organised according to strict scientific laws. It is the task of science to find out what these laws are.<P> <B>MAJOR WORKS</B><BR> <ul> <li>"Discourse on Method" (1637) <li>"Meditations on First Philosophy" (1641) <li>"Principles of Philosophy" (1644) </ul> <BR clear=left><BR> <HR width=100%> <A HREF="http://www.creatorix.com.au"><IMG SRC="../creatorix.gif" WIDTH="85" HEIGHT="40" BORDER="0" ALT="Creatorix" align=right></A> </BODY>