Sublime
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RENE DESCARTES (1596-1650) is usually considered the founder of modern philosophy, and, I think, rightly.
Bertrand Russell • History of Western Philosophy
Descartes’ cogito, as it has come to be called, made mind more certain for him than matter and led him to the conclusion that the two were separate and fundamentally different. The Cartesian division between mind and matter has had a profound effect on Western thought. It has taught us to be aware of ourselves as isolated egos existing “inside” our
... See moreFritjof Capra • The Systems View of Life
Discourse on Method.
William B. Irvine • A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy
Having now secured a firm foundation, Descartes sets to work to rebuild the edifice of knowledge. The I that has been proved to exist has been inferred from the fact that I think, therefore I exist while I think, and only then. If I ceased to think, there would be no evidence of my existence. I am a thing that thinks, a substance of which the whole
... See moreBertrand Russell • History of Western Philosophy
Descartes was a proponent of the mechanistic model of the universe—a view that the universe is controlled by predictable laws.
Joe Dispenza • Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself: How to Lose Your Mind and Create a New One
While we might never have read—or even heard of—seventeenth-century French philosopher René Descartes, many of us unwittingly share his definition of the essence of the human person as res cogitans, a “thinking thing.”
James K. A. Smith • You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit
For Descartes, truth was a matter of life and death. He perfectly embodies this singular and powerful aspect of mathematical psychology: his relationship to the truth is physical, almost carnal: I constantly felt a burning desire to learn to distinguish the true from the false, to see my actions for what they were, and to proceed with confidence th
... See moreDavid Bessis • Mathematica
French philosopher and scientist René Descartes described it as systematically doubting everything you can possibly doubt, until you’re left with unquestionable truths.
Ozan Varol • Think Like a Rocket Scientist: Simple Strategies You Can Use to Make Giant Leaps in Work and Life
“My candour will be appreciated by everyone” What the Rules didn’t make explicit, however, was that Descartes was confronted with a major problem. This problem is central to his philosophy, and yet he was never able to resolve it: he had tried this method himself, he knew that it worked, but he could never explain why. It’s a problem that all mathe
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