Key Philosophical Writings

by René Descartes

Key Philosophical Writings by Rene Descartes. Rene Descartes (1569-1650), the 'father' of modern philosophy, is without doubt one of the greatest thinkers in history: his genius lies at the core of our contemporary intellectual identity. Breaking with the conventions of his own time and suffering persecution by the Church as a consequence, Descartes in his writings - most of which are philosophical classics - attempted to answer the central questions surrounding the self, God, free-will and knowledge, using the science of thought as opposed to received wisdom based on the tenets of faith. This edition, the most comprehensive one-volume selection of Descartes' works available in English, includes his great essay, Discourse on Method.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Classics, French Literature, Unfinished, 17th Century, Reference

432 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Meditations on First Philosophy (1641) and Principles of Philosophy (1644), main works of French mathematician and scientist René Descartes, considered the father of analytic geometry and the founder of modern rationalism, include the famous dictum "I think, therefore I am."

A set of two perpendicular lines in a plane or three in space intersect at an origin in Cartesian coordinate system. Cartesian coordinate, a member of the set of numbers, distances, locates a point in this system. Cartesian coordinates describe all points of a Cartesian plane.

From given sets, {X} and {Y}, one can construct Cartesian product, a set of all pairs of elements (x, y), such that x belongs to {X} and y belongs to {Y}.

Cartesian philosophers include Antoine Arnauld.



René Descartes, a writer, highly influenced society. People continue to study closely his writings and subsequently responded in the west. He of the key figures in the revolution also apparently influenced the named coordinate system, used in planes and algebra.

Descartes frequently sets his views apart from those of his predecessors. In the opening section of the Passions of the Soul , a treatise on the early version of now commonly called emotions, he goes so far to assert that he writes on his topic "as if no one had written on these matters before." Many elements in late Aristotelianism, the revived Stoicism of the 16th century, or earlier like Saint Augustine of Hippo provide precedents. Naturally, he differs from the schools on two major points: He rejects corporeal substance into matter and form and any appeal to divine or natural ends in explaining natural phenomena. In his theology, he insists on the absolute freedom of act of creation of God.

Baruch Spinoza and Baron Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz later advocated Descartes, a major figure in 17th century Continent, and the empiricist school of thought, consisting of Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, George Berkeley, and David Hume, opposed him. Leibniz and Descartes, all well versed like Spinoza, contributed greatly. Descartes, the crucial bridge with algebra, invented the coordinate system and calculus. Reflections of Descartes on mind and mechanism began the strain of western thought; much later, the invention of the electronic computer and the possibility of machine intelligence impelled this thought, which blossomed into the Turing test and related thought. His stated most in §7 of part I and in part IV of Discourse on the Method .

Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first 'proper' philosophy book I ever read. I found his Discourse on Method absolutely unputdownable. I felt at the time that all my bearings had gone and was going through a major crisis - delayed adolescence, possibly, although I was in my early twenties. Or perhaps it was premature mid-life crisis. Whatever. I'd been reading some CS Lewis on Christianity, but there just seemed too much wishful thinking and rationalisation in it, so I read Russell's History of Western Philosophy and liked the intellectual honesty there, the sticking to known facts rather than being swept away on a sea of unfounded dogma. Then I picked this book up, and it was something of a revelation - begin reconstituting yourself by doubting everything except the fact that you exist. It felt to me that I was sweeping aside a rotten old worm-infested building and laying the foundations for something more solid and stable. His writing style is exquisite, by the way.

[Ramzzi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rene Descartes is an elegant prose writer, but so excessive in considering this and that, that prince, this honorable person and what-not. After reading Key Philosophical Writings, I know that I can champion Descartes for modernizing philosophy from the decay of religious superstitions and Aristotleian drive of the sciences as he clearly dismissed. He believed that thought is integral to truth, even before the sense can have a grasp of the reality in which this truth resides. He errs though, for narrowing his philosophy in the question of measurement, which for him is closely related to all things, whether natural or corporeal, especially for using it to prove that humans exist with the thought of a god, and therefore this god exists. For I believe, the mind is a versatile medium, and what thoughts conjured here and there, can only be a memory or mere imagination from past recollection such as tradition. His main maxim though, cogito ergo sum, is well acknowledged, for such duality of the human figure represents the internal and external, yet with his rhetoric which is serpentine and repetitive, he does not well put in a clear understanding how the division and relation of both mind and body works in one explanation, except for his primary context of thought and thinking—of rationality before the sense—and god here, god there, yet he considers the existence of god benevolent enough it is not rational to keep it be scrutinized by the other side, of the atheist intellegentsia, invoking only emotional resentment that a godless intellectual has no right. Hence, Descartes is nothing but a philosopher of his time, blinded by the passions of travelling and solitude—with the relentless theism intact. He was never been communal to see a bigger picture of a rational mind, and too isolated to accept that his god, his rationality, can only live to few people now, the same with the time he lived to write it all down.

[Cliff Hays · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first half of this book contains "Rules for the Direction of the Mind", "Discourse on the Method", and "Meditations on First Philosophy"; and honestly the first half is all I've read (and reread, and reread, etc.) This is some of the most logically thought out and clearly expressed philosophy you will find anywhere. Not only that, it covers all manner of significant topics such as the existence of things, our own existence, our own perception of our existence, God's existence, the extent to which it is possible to doubt, and so on. Reading this you will find that "I think, therefore I am" misses many of Descartes' most important and skillfully executed arguments. I highly recommend it!

[William Schram · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was pretty interesting. Most people that are into philosophy have heard of Rene Descartes and his Cogito Ergo Sum solution to the Evil Deceptive Genius. It has some selections from a lot of different Descartes pieces. It contains Rules For The Direction of the Mind, Discourse On the Method, Meditations on First Philosophy, Objections and Replies, Principles of Philosophy, Notes Directed Against a Certain Programme, The Passions of the Soul, and The Search After Truth.

A few of the pieces are simply excerpts while others are more complete. Along with the philosophical works are an Introduction to Descartes and a Biography on his life.

[yórgos]

σκέφτομαι, άρα υπάρχω.

'i almost decided to burn all my papers or at least let no one see them (όταν πληροφορήθηκε την καταδίκη του γαλιλαίου από την ιερά εξέταση).

'we ought to submit to the divine authority rather than to our own judgement even thought the light of reason may seem to us to suggest, with the utmost clearness and evidence, something opposite.'

'at the same time, recalling my insignificance, i affirm nothing, but submit all these opinions to the authority of the catholic church, and to the judgement of the more sage.'

σκέφτομαι, άρα υπάρχω άρα ας τα έχω καλά με την εξουσία.

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the easier and more accessible philosophical treatises. This compendium includes both 'Discourse on the method' and 'Meditations on first philosophy' which are essential to get an insight into Cartesian Duality.

[Nobu · Rating 3 out of 5]

First of all, I want to make clear the fact that I’m not very good at understanding explanations. And I know that the book. is basically one big explanation, but I was curious.
So, I think the statement ‘I think/doubt, therefore I exist’ is interesting. And the path through which Descartes arrived at that conclusion is convincing. You doubt everything until you find something that cannot be doubted; that cannot be false. Though I think it is possible to stop thinking for a while and still exist, but that’d be only the body, which in Descartes’ philosophy is only an extension. Though the body is connected with the soul/mind, so does that mean you still exist?
One thing that confused me (as if it’s the only thing) was the explanation of God. I do understand that in his opinion, God is the only indubitable thing, but he calls ‘God’ the idea of something perfect and omnipotent. Nothing is perfect. Not math, not any science. I think so, because if they were perfect, their essence wouldn’t be hard to grasp even for people who haven’t studied science for a prolonged period of time. I know there are a lot of holes in this statement, and I don’t have the ability to support it currently.
A big part of the book was explaining how the human body works, and it dealt with biology. It was interesting how he connected it with philosophy and the soul. How our brain makes us think that we feel, see, hear, smell, and taste things that might not even be there. Since we must doubt everything, we don’t know what is real and if what we’re feeling is real.
Overall, the book had some takes that were perhaps accurate, but that depends on the person. But I kind of disliked how Descartes dismissed people’s critiques by basically repeating the thing they were approaching him about. There were some parts in which he did reply, but it felt like he spoke empty tales.

[Brett · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am far too self-conscious to give serious star ratings to what are widely considered to be all-time classics, so please don't construe my stars as some kind of judgment on Descartes or his ideas. You don't really read this kind of book to agree or disagree with the author, but more to understand the historical chain of important thinkers and how they fit together.

I do think it is a better use of time to make a few comments on the editor/translator/notes. In this case, we have a useful opening essay to contextualize the work to come. We have precious little supporting notes in the text itself, limited almost exclusively to notes on minor textual issues or clarification between different published versions of the text. As a philosophy dabbler and non-expert, it would have helped me to have more support in the text.

For a philosopher, Descartes is a fairly clear writer, and this text is easier to follow than, for instance, Aristotle. The central conceit, which most 16 year-olds could quote to you, is understandable, though some of his conclusions from his starting point don't necessarily follow to the eyes of a modern reader. Some religious ideas that don't necessarily get the scrutiny you might expect from someone purporting to have an approach that demands high standards of logic.

Overall though, this was the best one-volume compilation of Descartes' writing that I could find, including his major works and samples from other published pieces throughout his life.

[Helene Åberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paljon näkemyksiä siitä, kuinka tiedettä tulisi katsoa filosofian silmin. Toisaalta teosten perustana näkyy selvästi tuo "ajattelen siis olen", jota onkin nostettu esiin koko teoksen aikana.

Mielenkiintoista oli mm. Se miten Descartes kirjoittaa Jumalasta ja kuinka tapahtuu luoviminen aiheen ympärillä ilman, että katolilainen kirkko laittaa liinat kiinni. Kuitenkin Descartes jättänyt julkaisematta teoksen, jossa olisi käsitellyt elämän pienimpiä palasia ja tähtitiedettä... Koska tiesi ettei kirkko hyväksynyt Galilein käsitystä aurinkokunnasta.

Myös Descartesin tiedot anatomiasta vaikutti jännittäviltä varsinkin liitännäisenä näkökulmaan siitä miten erilaiset halut ja tarpeet määritellään. Joskin osa kuvaillusta anatomiasta on nykytiedon valossa hiukan sivussa toisinaan.
Käsitys eläinten ja ihmisten sieluista oli varmasti aikaansa nähden osuva, mutta nykyaikana ei ehkä enää voi allekirjoittaa eläinten sieluttomuutta sillä perusteella, ettei eläin ajattele erikseen olevaisuuttaan. Vai voiko?

[Peter Moss · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book gives you an insight into the mind of a 16th century deeply devout Catholic man. His approach to discovering the truth was reasonable, with an exception of course when it comes to the question of God. Basically, he gives God an exception from the rules of logic, by saying that God exists because we believe or want to believe that he exists. Circular logic. As a result, the book is boring because he goes back to God on almost every single page. It almost feels like he was trying to convince the Catholic censors reading this book that he is not an atheist.

[Samba Muthui · Rating 5 out of 5]

Philosophy at its best

[Heaven2ndEarth · Rating 5 out of 5]

very good collection of Descartes' essential texts. Recommend!

[Qing Wang · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too out-dated to be of interest. Lots of the things once deemed as with definite certainty have changed and the arguments based on them read weak and ridiculous now. Read the first 300 pages with great patience in the hope of finding something worth reading, at last decided it's a waste of time. Quickly went over the remaining 100 pages.

[Anthony]

The father of Duel-ism. Interesting.

[Wersly · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE OG PHILOSOPHER SPEAKS!
Discourse on the Method > Meditations on First Philosophy