Ren

Descatres
The Father of Modern
Philosophy

 Frenchphilosophe
r
Mathematician
Writer of the Age
of Reason
"Father of Modern
Philosophy"

"Cogito, ergo sum"

I think, therefore
I am"

Rationalist

-Reliance on reason as
the best guide for belief
and action.

Autobiography of Ren Descatres

Born: March 31,

1596. La Haye
(South of Tours)
Died: 1650

100 years after Christopher Columbus

discovered America. (1492)

70 years after
Ferdinand
Magellan
circumnavigated
the globe. (1522)

50 years after the publication of De

revolutionibus Orbium Celestium by
Nicolaus Copernicus (1543)

MATHEMATIC
S WAS THE
KEY TO
GRASPING
NATURE OF
REALITY.

DESCARTES WORKS
Rules for the Direction of the
Mind
Meditations on First
Philosophy (1641)
Principles of Philosophy
(1644)
Discourse on the Method

The Quest for Certainty

PROBLEM OF
INTELLETUAL
CERTAINTY

Although, he had been educated, as

he says, at one of the most
celebrated schools in Europe, yet he
found himself embarrassed with
many doubts and errors.

-Samuel Enoch Stumpf, Socrates to Sartre and

Beyond: A History of Philosophy. Page 205

its revealed truths were quite

above human intelligence.
-Samuel Enoch Stumpf, Socrates to Sartre and
Beyond: A History of Philosophy. Page 205

No single thing is to be found in it

which is not subject of dispute, and
in consequence which is not
dubious.
-Samuel Enoch Stumpf, Socrates to Sartre and
Beyond: A History of Philosophy. Page 205

Descartes decided, To believe

nothing too certainly of which I
had only been convinced by
example and custom.

November 10, 1619

3 dreams

Quod vitae
sectabor iter?

What road
in life
Est et non shall I
follow?
Yes and
It is or is
No
not

INTERPRETATION

Dictionary- Stood for all sciences

Anthology of the poems- was
philosophy and wisdom
The poem beginning Est et NonThe yes and no of Pythagoras,
represented the truth and falsity in
the sciences
The ode of Quod vitae sectabor
iter?- spoke of his future life
The Melon- charms of solitude
- John Cottingham, Descartes.

Descartes was determined to discover the

basis of intellectual certainty in his own
reason.
-Samuel Enoch Stumpf, Socrates to Sartre and
Beyond: A History of Philosophy. Page 206

HIS GOAL?
System of thought whose various principles
were not only true but connected in such a
clear way that we could move easily from
one true principle to another.
-Samuel Enoch Stumpf, Socrates to Sartre and Beyond: A
History of Philosophy. Page 206

Conform to a rational
scheme.

Direct our reason in order to discover

these truths of which we are ignorant.
So, his first task was to work out his
rational scheme- his method.
-Samuel Enoch Stumpf, Socrates to Sartre and
Beyond: A History of Philosophy. Page 206

INTUITION and
DEDUCTION

MATHEMATICS
best example of clear and precise
thinking But mathematics is not
itself thee method, but merely exhibits
the method Descartes was searching
for.
-Samuel Enoch Stumpf, Socrates to Sartre and
Beyond: A History of Philosophy. Page 207

INTUITION and
DEDUCTION
certain routes to knowledge

INTUITION- gives us foundational

concepts it gives us clear notions but
also some truths about reality. Ex. I
think, that I exist. FORMULA: A=B and
C, Then A=C
We grasp a simple truth completely
and immediately.

DEDUCTION- draws more information

from our intuitions. Descartes
describes it, All necessary inference
from the facts that are known with
certainty.
We arrive at truth by a process,
Continuous and uninterrupted

TRUTH

SYLLOGISM

 Syllogism- Involves the

relationship of concepts to each
other.
Deduction- Involves the
relationship of truths to each
other.

Conclusions were drawn

syllogistically from premises
that were either untrue or
based only on authority.

If we start with facts, we are guaranteed the

truth of our conclusion through proper
deduction. He wanted to rest knowledge on a
starting point that had absolute certainty in
individuals own mind. Knowledge requires
the use, 1st principles are given by intuition
alone while the remote conclusions are
furnished only by deduction.

This is the key of DESCARTES

METHOD

-Samuel Enoch Stumpf, Socrates to Sartre and

Beyond: A History of Philosophy. Page 208

RULES OF METHOD
(RULES FOR THE DIRECTION OF THE MIND)

CLEAR AND ORDERLY

PROCEDURE FOR THE
OPERATION OF THE MIND

We must begin with a

SIMPLE and ABSOLUTELY
CLEAR TRUTH and must
move step by step without
losing CLARITY and
CERTAINTY along the way.

RULES FOR THE

DIRECTION OF THE MIND

21 RULES

4 main rulesor the 4precepts

Never accept anything exceptclear
and distinct ideas.
Divide each probleminto as many
parts areneededto solve it.
Order your thoughtsfrom the
simple to the complex.
Alwayscheck thoroughlyfor
oversights.
-www.philosophybasics.com/philosophers_desca
rtes.html

WAX ARGUMENT

Nothing but my understanding

alone which does conceive it
solely an inspection by the mind.

-Rene Descartes

METHODIC DOUBT
(Discourse on the method)
he now tries to doubt
everything.

AWAKE OR ASLEEP?

I have learned that my senses

sometimes mislead me. But surely
arithmetic, geometry, or sciences that
deal with things must contain some
certainty, for whether I am awake or
asleep, two and three together always
make number five. -Rene Descartes

"Cogito, ergo sum"

I think, therefore
I am"

Je pense donc Je
sui

How can one know that

anything, including oneself,
actually exists rather than
being some sort of dream or
phantasm?

I may doubt that my body exists or

that I am awake, or, in short that all is
illusion or false. Nevertheless one
thing remains about which I can have
no doubt at all, that I am.
-Samuel Enoch Stumpf, Socrates to Sartre and Beyond: A
History of Philosophy. Page 210

The act of thinking is proof of

Individual existence.
Paul Kleinman, Philosophy 101. Page 112

 To say, I think, therefore I am is to

affirm my existence.
-Samuel Enoch Stumpf, Socrates to Sartre and Beyond: A
History of Philosophy. Page 210

What is required in a proposition for it

to be true and certain?
What is there about the proposition I
think, therefore I am that makes
certain?

He came to the conclusion that I might

assume as general rule that the things
which we conceive clearly and
distinctly are all true

He came to the conclusion that I might

assume as general rule that the things
which we conceive clearly and
distinctly are all true

THE IDEA OF GOD

Descartes holds that:

1. Ideas have causes
2. The cause must have at least as
much reality as the effect.
3. He is infinite and imperfect.
Therefore, he concluded, that his idea
of a perfect being and infinite being
comes from outside himselffrom a
perfect Being who exists, from God.

That some of our ideas are so

clear and distinct, that we
immediately perceive what they
imply.
-Samuel Enoch Stumpf, Socrates to Sartre and Beyond: A
History of Philosophy. Page 212

GOD

PERFE
CT
BEING

HOW ABOUT THE

OTHER PHYSICAL
THINGS?

EXTENDED
SUBSTANCE

GOD

PHYSIC
AL
THINGS

GOD
self

PHYSIC
AL
THINGS

The relationship of
the Mind and Body

Dualism- The notion

that there are two
different kinds of
substances in nature.

Substance (by its

attribute)- Thought &
extension.
So, there must be two
different substances:
1. The Spiritual
2. The physical (mind &
body)

An existent thing which

requires nothing but itself
to exist.
He consider each
substance as thoroughly
INDEPENDENT TO ONE
ANOTHER.

Descartes believed the

rational mind was in the
control of the body, but
that the body could
influence the mind to act
irrationally such as when
one performs an act of

DESCARTES ILLUSTRATION OF
DUALISM