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Descartes: The Life and Times of a Genius
Scientist, mathematician, traveler, soldier―and spy―Rene Descartes was one of the founders of the modern world. His life coincided with an extraordinary time in the first half of the miraculous seventeenth century, replete with genius in the arts and sciences, and wracked by civil and international conflicts across Europe. But at his birth in 1596 the world was still dominated by medieval beliefs in phenomena such as miracles and spontaneous generation. It was Descartes who identified the intellectual tools his peers needed to free themselves from the grip of religious authority and in doing so he founded modern philosophy.
In this new biography, A. C. Grayling tells the story of Descartes' life, and places it in his tumultuous times―with the unexpected result that an entirely new aspect of the story comes to light.
In this new biography, A. C. Grayling tells the story of Descartes' life, and places it in his tumultuous times―with the unexpected result that an entirely new aspect of the story comes to light.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
10 people are currently reading
317 people want to read
About the author
A.C. Grayling
95 books670 followersAnthony Clifford "A. C." Grayling is a British philosopher. In 2011 he founded and became the first Master of New College of the Humanities, an independent undergraduate college in London. Until June 2011, he was Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck, University of London, where he taught from 1991. He is also a supernumerary fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford.
He is a director and contributor at Prospect Magazine, as well as a Vice President of the British Humanist Association. His main academic interests lie in epistemology, metaphysics and philosophical logic. He has described himself as "a man of the left" and is associated in Britain with the new atheism movement, and is sometimes described as the 'Fifth Horseman of New Atheism'. He appears in the British media discussing philosophy.
He is a director and contributor at Prospect Magazine, as well as a Vice President of the British Humanist Association. His main academic interests lie in epistemology, metaphysics and philosophical logic. He has described himself as "a man of the left" and is associated in Britain with the new atheism movement, and is sometimes described as the 'Fifth Horseman of New Atheism'. He appears in the British media discussing philosophy.
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
September 12, 2021
More about his life than about his Philosophy. If you want that read Gaukroger or Clarke. Apart from the ludicrous allurement that Descartes was spy the book does contain some interesting parts about his private life. As such I would say that all three biographies together give a nice picture about this interesting man.
July 14, 2014
This book started a little slow. A lot of historical detail about the Hapsburgs and their enemies. Too many names and dates and battlefields to remember. But it got better about a third of the way through.
Much of the beginning was devoted to Grayling's provocative thesis that Descartes was a secretly a spy. But the case he makes for this is weak and circumstantial. Given that he could not really support his thesis persuasively, the author ought merely to have mentioned it as a possibility, presented the supporting evidence briefly, and moved on to the established facts of Descartes' life and thought...
Descartes was a complicated person. Not really a good man. He convinced himself that only human beings had souls, and that therefore all other animals were really just machines. So it was okay to perform experiments on them without any anesthetics, or to kick them, etc... Just as we wouldn't worry about kicking a vacuum cleaner. He once reportedly threw a cat out of a multistory building just to see what would happen. And he had a nasty split with his friend and mentor over a minor disagreement. It seems to have been all Descartes' fault. His conduct here, an elsewhere was unbecoming a philosopher.
I've heard it argued that he was secretly an atheist, and many in his own day suspected him of it. But he seems to have been a sincere Catholic with a special affection for the Jesuits, despite the tensions between his philosophy and that espoused by the Church. One of the merits of this book is that it establishes fairly convincingly that Descartes was sincere in his religion, whatever the apparent tension between his own beliefs and the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church.
Descartes also failed ever to resolve fundamental problems in his own metaphysics. Above all, if the body and soul are separate, how do they interact? Evidently, he gave up trying to answer this question, and just decided it was one of the unresolvable mysteries of the universe. But given that he could not answer, it's hard to see why he was so convinced his own view was superior to that of the great philosophers and theologians whose work he so disdained--men like Plato, Aristotle, Augustine and Thomas. The great thinkers at least wrestled more seriously with such deep metaphysical problems than Descartes ever did, whether or not their answers were conclusive.
These caveats aside, though, this book reminds me just what a great and innovative thinker Descartes was. It's true that some his geometrical work was anticipated by Viete, and that some of his philosophical ideas were taken without attribution from others. It's also true that his physics were quickly outmoded and his optical ideas proved incorrect. But Descartes can claim more than any other thinker to have generated a revolution in thought that separated the modern world from the classical one, as this book makes clear.
So the novice who wants an introduction to Descartes' thought or the seasoned Cartesian who wants to learn more about the man and is thought, might want to look here.
Much of the beginning was devoted to Grayling's provocative thesis that Descartes was a secretly a spy. But the case he makes for this is weak and circumstantial. Given that he could not really support his thesis persuasively, the author ought merely to have mentioned it as a possibility, presented the supporting evidence briefly, and moved on to the established facts of Descartes' life and thought...
Descartes was a complicated person. Not really a good man. He convinced himself that only human beings had souls, and that therefore all other animals were really just machines. So it was okay to perform experiments on them without any anesthetics, or to kick them, etc... Just as we wouldn't worry about kicking a vacuum cleaner. He once reportedly threw a cat out of a multistory building just to see what would happen. And he had a nasty split with his friend and mentor over a minor disagreement. It seems to have been all Descartes' fault. His conduct here, an elsewhere was unbecoming a philosopher.
I've heard it argued that he was secretly an atheist, and many in his own day suspected him of it. But he seems to have been a sincere Catholic with a special affection for the Jesuits, despite the tensions between his philosophy and that espoused by the Church. One of the merits of this book is that it establishes fairly convincingly that Descartes was sincere in his religion, whatever the apparent tension between his own beliefs and the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church.
Descartes also failed ever to resolve fundamental problems in his own metaphysics. Above all, if the body and soul are separate, how do they interact? Evidently, he gave up trying to answer this question, and just decided it was one of the unresolvable mysteries of the universe. But given that he could not answer, it's hard to see why he was so convinced his own view was superior to that of the great philosophers and theologians whose work he so disdained--men like Plato, Aristotle, Augustine and Thomas. The great thinkers at least wrestled more seriously with such deep metaphysical problems than Descartes ever did, whether or not their answers were conclusive.
These caveats aside, though, this book reminds me just what a great and innovative thinker Descartes was. It's true that some his geometrical work was anticipated by Viete, and that some of his philosophical ideas were taken without attribution from others. It's also true that his physics were quickly outmoded and his optical ideas proved incorrect. But Descartes can claim more than any other thinker to have generated a revolution in thought that separated the modern world from the classical one, as this book makes clear.
So the novice who wants an introduction to Descartes' thought or the seasoned Cartesian who wants to learn more about the man and is thought, might want to look here.
October 27, 2023
I won't attempt a review, except to day that I enjoyed reading the book. It is very well written.
April 10, 2015
Grayling's account of the life of Descartes is an engaging and accessible read. If anything, it is a little too short and light, and left me wanting more. As a professional philosopher, Grayling is well placed to treat of Descartes' contribution to Western thought, but he eschews deep technical analysis in favour of true biography - an account of the events of Descartes' outward life. An interesting life it appears to have been, as well. Set against the events of the Reformation and the 30 Years' War, Grayling makes the intriguing suggestion that Descartes, Jesuit-educated and a Catholic to the end, was for part of his life travelling as a Jesuit spy. This is not as dramatic as it may sound, as any multilingual and educated person of the time might have been called upon to provide intelligence about countries he passed through at the time. Descartes was certainly involved with the military and present at the Battle of White Mountain, very roughly contemporaneous with the Defenestration. At any rate, the question adds an air of mystery and adventure which engages the reader's attention.
This was an interesting review of the legacy of a thinker whose name I knew well while studying sciences at school and university. I found it useful to be reminded all these years later of the range of his contributions. Reading Damasio on cognition I had come to focus on Descartes' name as the heuristic for an error - Cartesian Dualism, the long-discredited notion that the mind and the body are of different stuff, one mechanistic and the other a ghost, or "soul", in the mechanism. Of course, his contribution to our thought was greater by far and he is one of the pivotal philosophers and mathematicians of early modernity. Not for nothing do we plot most of our graphs using "Cartesian" coordinates. Without Descartes' approach of reducing our reasoning to only that which absolutely cannot be doubted - "Cogito ergo sum" - could the modern conception of scepticism, or even the Scientific Revolution itself, have taken the shape they did? Perhaps the idea was in the air and would have emerged anyway, but it was Descartes who formalised and published it. Could the idea of understanding reality only in terms of naturalistic processes have been wrested from the grip of the religious establishment without him? In the context of the Reformation, perhaps this was inevitable, but it was Descartes who formulated the idea so as not to threaten orthodoxy and provoke a backlash. (Ironically, given the outcome.) He is one of the architects of the modern mind.
Descartes life took him to all the key countries of Reformation Europe save Spain and Poland, as far as I can ascertain. He lived for some time on what must have seemed enemy territory, in Reformed Amsterdam. As a result of his sympathies, probably, he avoided his native France for much of his life, perhaps exiled as a persona non grata. At the end, his great works behind him and on the search for royal preferment, he travelled to Sweden and the court of Christina. There, in unaccustomed cold and required to rise at 5 AM in contradiction of his lifetime habits, he caught a fever and died at the all-too-young age of 54. Christina converted to Catholicism and abdicated soon after, possibly a last legacy of the great thinker.
Grayling is sufficiently sympathetic to convey sorrow at this end to a life of achievements, but does not elide Descartes' somewhat difficult character. I appreciated his balance here, as it is tempting for a biographer to become partisan and Grayling adroitly evades this trap. Descartes was quick to take offence at differences of opinion and seems to have been a bitter and rather vindictive party to such disputes. One might choose to offer him some slack on account of his genius, but this aspect of his character cannot be denied. It is a flaw, and not a particularly humanising one. Grayling simply gives an account of the exchanges and makes no apology.
All in all, this was a great life and Graylings is a fine introduction. Quickly and easily readable and quite non-technical, with a hint of the mystery novel about it.
This was an interesting review of the legacy of a thinker whose name I knew well while studying sciences at school and university. I found it useful to be reminded all these years later of the range of his contributions. Reading Damasio on cognition I had come to focus on Descartes' name as the heuristic for an error - Cartesian Dualism, the long-discredited notion that the mind and the body are of different stuff, one mechanistic and the other a ghost, or "soul", in the mechanism. Of course, his contribution to our thought was greater by far and he is one of the pivotal philosophers and mathematicians of early modernity. Not for nothing do we plot most of our graphs using "Cartesian" coordinates. Without Descartes' approach of reducing our reasoning to only that which absolutely cannot be doubted - "Cogito ergo sum" - could the modern conception of scepticism, or even the Scientific Revolution itself, have taken the shape they did? Perhaps the idea was in the air and would have emerged anyway, but it was Descartes who formalised and published it. Could the idea of understanding reality only in terms of naturalistic processes have been wrested from the grip of the religious establishment without him? In the context of the Reformation, perhaps this was inevitable, but it was Descartes who formulated the idea so as not to threaten orthodoxy and provoke a backlash. (Ironically, given the outcome.) He is one of the architects of the modern mind.
Descartes life took him to all the key countries of Reformation Europe save Spain and Poland, as far as I can ascertain. He lived for some time on what must have seemed enemy territory, in Reformed Amsterdam. As a result of his sympathies, probably, he avoided his native France for much of his life, perhaps exiled as a persona non grata. At the end, his great works behind him and on the search for royal preferment, he travelled to Sweden and the court of Christina. There, in unaccustomed cold and required to rise at 5 AM in contradiction of his lifetime habits, he caught a fever and died at the all-too-young age of 54. Christina converted to Catholicism and abdicated soon after, possibly a last legacy of the great thinker.
Grayling is sufficiently sympathetic to convey sorrow at this end to a life of achievements, but does not elide Descartes' somewhat difficult character. I appreciated his balance here, as it is tempting for a biographer to become partisan and Grayling adroitly evades this trap. Descartes was quick to take offence at differences of opinion and seems to have been a bitter and rather vindictive party to such disputes. One might choose to offer him some slack on account of his genius, but this aspect of his character cannot be denied. It is a flaw, and not a particularly humanising one. Grayling simply gives an account of the exchanges and makes no apology.
All in all, this was a great life and Graylings is a fine introduction. Quickly and easily readable and quite non-technical, with a hint of the mystery novel about it.
August 28, 2016
Because I often read non-fiction books in the genre of history and science, I tend to come across the mention of Rene Descartes on many occasions. That being the case, I decided to read this book to learn a little about him, since I didn't know much. After reading this book, I feel like I have accomplished the goal of knowing a little. It would have been nice to have gotten a better idea after 250 pages. There was a lot in this book on the nature of what was going on in the European world during the life of Descartes, and how these events affected and shaped him. And there was some discussion of Descartes' philosophy and scientific ideas. But I never really felt I got the whole picture of what made this man a genius and how he still affects philosophy today. Philosophy is a bit of a mystery to me anyway, and most of Descartes' science was challenged and replaced by Newton, so I still feel I'm missing some pieces of Descartes' contributions to history. This book didn't quite get me there.
August 14, 2011
closest to an actual biography.. worth a read
October 1, 2015
Such a boring and slow book on a subject that should have been interesting.
June 11, 2019
I was attracted to read this because it was sitting in the library at home and was by A. C. Grayling someone who I know and respect from his work with Humanist UK. As a engineer or scientist I have been much affected by Descartes but probably did often know how or why. It is extraordinary how we have become so specialised in the 21st century and I consider myself a generalist. Descartes was a man of huge capacity to tackle a wide variety of subjects and was perhaps the first to give us the basis of the modern methods of science that has given us the huge advances of modern science and society. This book took you through his extraordinary life and his travels. The exciting premise that Descartes might have been a spy for the Church of Rome is an intriguing one that fits some the the evidence quite well. It is also quite extraordinary how Descartes keep his faith so strong throughout his life never questioning the divinity of God or the right of the Catholic church to rule us. He is connected to in some way to Rosicrucianism which is perhaps his way of squaring the circle of belief. His contribution to philosophy is also enormous with his early work on the connection or not of mind and body.
A good read that is worth the effort of understanding some of our scientific past.
A good read that is worth the effort of understanding some of our scientific past.
February 18, 2023
This was a fast and fun read. A. C. Grayling is a British philosopher who is currently at St. Anne's, Oxford, though at the time of writing taught at Birkbeck College, University of London. He is most well known as a rather hostile atheist in the vein of a Richard Dawkins or Christopher Hitchens. His at times snide remarks about religion notwithstanding, this was an enlightening and entertaining read. Grayling writes with clarity and style, oftentimes his sense of humour is very subtle and funny, and he knows his subject very well. Though a philosopher, he is also a good historian and writer. Grayling surmises that Decartes was not only an important and influential modern philosopher, but also served as a spy. Though he is aware that his theory is hard to definitively prove, he nevertheless makes an interesting and at-times compelling case. Whether Grayling is correct on this score, he provides a good biography, hitting all the important elements of Descartes life and philosophy. I enjoyed reading this very much, it was something of a breather in light of some of the heavier reading I've been doing in Descartes.
November 27, 2023
Been awhile since I read this book but last night I attended a talk given by Humanist A. C. Grayling and thought I'd put a comment on Goodreads. Not about his many controversial and philosophical books but about his delivery style, no doubt very well-known to his students. I was fortunate to sit next to Grayling's brother John and exchanged views before the floor was opened to audience question time. What I did not tell John was that I thought Grayling spoke well and interestingly but with a sense of rote, the ingrained inflections, slightly off-topic then cleverly returning, the humorous asides and thoughtful pauses obviously well honed over many years of public speaking and international tours. All the while keeping his eye on the clock. Kudos to Grayling for his philosophical resilience and charming manner but somewhere along the line the spark in his fire has dimmed for me and I was not warmed by his fine words.
March 13, 2019
A remarkable book on the person of Renè Descartes. It’s attempt to show us what the great thinker was up to after he finished school until he published his great works is highly suggestive at best but is understated and not fully convincing. Descartes successes in live were overshadowed by his sometimes explosive temper and his need to be accepted by others and the Church for his ideas. That he had a possible common law wife and a daughter who both died in the midst of his success provides a new understanding of him. That he sought titles, honours, and money in his later life also adds to this picture to humanize this father on modern philosophy
Of great value are the appendices providing both talking points on Descartes philosophy and a short essay on the writing of biographies of the philosophers and suggesting some other reading on these great men and their enduring great ideas.
Of great value are the appendices providing both talking points on Descartes philosophy and a short essay on the writing of biographies of the philosophers and suggesting some other reading on these great men and their enduring great ideas.
November 24, 2022
Trying to get more into nonfiction and esp things I’m interested in-
Descartes philosophy always intrigued me in college but never learned much about him, I thought this book was a good place to read about him and it was; Though the summary makes it seem a lot more enthralling than it actually was.
Learned a lot but started to lose interest with some of the long tangents (which one could argue aren’t actually tangents)
Overall 3/5
Descartes philosophy always intrigued me in college but never learned much about him, I thought this book was a good place to read about him and it was; Though the summary makes it seem a lot more enthralling than it actually was.
Learned a lot but started to lose interest with some of the long tangents (which one could argue aren’t actually tangents)
Overall 3/5
February 22, 2025
A relatively slim biography by A. C. Grayling that is an interesting approach to the person and his works. The biggest problem is that Grayling is less interested in the brilliant mathematician, scientist or philosopher, as he is in his determination to prove Descartes as a Jesuit spy. What is worst is that Grayling has to admit that all the circumstantial evidence is at best a “guess.”
If you want a thorough biography of Descartes, stick John Cottingham, Desmond Clarke or Stephen Gaukroger.
If you want a thorough biography of Descartes, stick John Cottingham, Desmond Clarke or Stephen Gaukroger.
July 18, 2020
This is way outside my wheel house. My youngest son was striking for a philosophy minor while at Oregon and asked me to read, review and outline this for him. I do a lot of biography and I'm trying to fill in some gaps re 17th century Europe, so this was actually fun to read. Maybe pair it with a romance novel set in 17th century France.
November 13, 2020
This was an interesting biography about an important philosopher. The early part of the book describing the history of the times was a little slow but the personal story fascinating.
January 21, 2023
Decent enough but I’m pretty sure there’s better out there. The main gimmick of this book is the author’s belief that Descartes was a Jesuit or French spy during his first trip to the continent.
October 28, 2024
Febrero - Abril 2024
Disfruto mucho de cómo escribe Grayling: la vida de Descartes no tendría porque interesarme, y lo hizo.
Al final del libro hay una anexo sobre biografías filosóficas, o filósofos con biografía, que da títulos, reseñas e ideas y sirve de invitación a seguir leyendo.
Disfruto mucho de cómo escribe Grayling: la vida de Descartes no tendría porque interesarme, y lo hizo.
Al final del libro hay una anexo sobre biografías filosóficas, o filósofos con biografía, que da títulos, reseñas e ideas y sirve de invitación a seguir leyendo.
March 3, 2016
Cogito, ergo sum (I think, therefore I am).
I've wanted to know more about Descartes for a few years after an interesting conversation with a colleague who was studying philosophy at the time.
This book was an introduction for me, both to the world of Philosophy and to Descartes himself.
I was saddened by some of what I read about the nature of the man. The book describes Descartes as a flawed intellectual, someone with deep insight but an almost petty sensibility.
In retrospect I think I was a little disappointed by the book - but it could be because I was hoping for more of a general introduction to philosophy, or for the book to cater more for a novice. I wouldn't recommend it to someone merely curious about philosophy; it's more likely to be entertaining or informative to someone who has an established interest.
What kept me reading was the tension shown in Descartes - between his faith and his learning; otherwise the detail of the history would have pushed me away.
I've wanted to know more about Descartes for a few years after an interesting conversation with a colleague who was studying philosophy at the time.
This book was an introduction for me, both to the world of Philosophy and to Descartes himself.
I was saddened by some of what I read about the nature of the man. The book describes Descartes as a flawed intellectual, someone with deep insight but an almost petty sensibility.
In retrospect I think I was a little disappointed by the book - but it could be because I was hoping for more of a general introduction to philosophy, or for the book to cater more for a novice. I wouldn't recommend it to someone merely curious about philosophy; it's more likely to be entertaining or informative to someone who has an established interest.
What kept me reading was the tension shown in Descartes - between his faith and his learning; otherwise the detail of the history would have pushed me away.
December 29, 2024
This is a great history of the man. It weaves a lot of historical background with personal stories, many of them taken from his letters. His speculations on whether Descartes was a Jesuit spy during his youth are interesting though not convincing as he himself calls them speculations. His character, his luckier temper, comes about as he fumes against his critics and calls them name, whether it was Hobbes, Fermat, or gassendi, but particularly Voetius, a professor of theology who would become a rector at the university of Utrecht in the Netherlands( then part of the United provinces). It was interesting how much he was scared from meeting the same fate as Galileo and being labeled a heretic, when he himself was ready to publish his book "the world" but later decided against. I was also surprised to learned he had a daughter from sleeping with a maid servant but whom afterwards he kept closed. Overall this has been a very interesting read
June 5, 2014
Fascinating biography in the context of history. The philosophy of Descartes in this book is somewhat difficult to follow, although I don't think it is the author's fault. The beginnings of "modern" philosophy were quite basic and it is hard to believe some of the thoughts that were prevalent and hotly debated.
January 16, 2012
This made the somewhat obscure theories of Descartes vey accessible I had tried to grasp this in the usual dry philosophy lectures but this brought the man to life put his work in the perspective of the times he lived in, which gave it a reality that brought it and the man to life.
September 14, 2012
OK read. Not very exciting, but a straightforward biography. Awkwardly puts a summary of his philosophy and mathematics works after going through the chronology of his life. I'm sure there are better bios out there.
August 5, 2013
Simple & straightforward in the most satisfactory way, this is both an incredibly informative read, and a pleasingly easy read. It certainly manages to convey Descartes' life-long prima dona behaviour both critically & sympathetically...no easy task, considering the contradictions.
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September 23, 2010Descartes: The Life and times of a Genius by A. C. Grayling (2006)
August 12, 2011
Had to skip a lot of the book, as too much politics re 30 years war * but honestly a good read
July 31, 2014
Impressive introduction and exploration of the life of Rene Descartes ... and a nice read!
April 14, 2017
I'm about one-third the way through this work, but I don't think I can push forward much longer. So far I've picked up at best a pitiful 5-6 pages or so of good information about Descartes. The other 95 pages consisted of endless, excruciatingly detailed narrative about the politics of the time. A grad student in 17th century history specializing in the Thirty Years' War might be able to navigate through the deluge of names, the torrent of offices and titles, the dizzying recitation of who's in, who's out, who's fighting whom, but for the general reader simply wanting to know more about Descartes the book is a mess. Add to that the fact that the author wants to make the case that Descartes was working as a spy for the Catholic Church, a proposition resting on almost no evidence, with speculation being the primary mode of discussion, and you've got deserving the single star I've given it here. One-third of the way through the book, and I've learned next to nothing about Descartes, less than I'd get from a quick browse through the Wikipedia article or, better yet, the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Who edited this thing? They should have their license taken away.
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December 25, 2017More readable than I expected, and I found references to other biographies very helpful. I learnt a lot - there were many aspects of his life I knew little about, and will return to read the philosophy again as a result of reading this.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews