Rene Descartes PowerPoint

In today's society, I would be recognized as a rationalist. I believe that my thoughts and reasoning should be based on reasoning and logic. I try to use this reasoning to break down the complexities of life, into the simplest forms. In my work of The Meditation of Philosophy, I break down my philosophical method into 6 parts. I will only be addressing certain elements of each of my meditations.

Meditation 1: In the 1st meditation, I express my doubts of the existence of all things, especially materialistic objects. One of my observations is that our senses lie to us. As an example, when we see an object that is far away, it appears to be smaller. Because our senses have the ability to deceive us, it is impossible for us to perceive anything as true.

Meditation 2: In the 2nd meditation, I try to express absolute certainty, through my phrase, "Cogito ergo sum" or, "I think, therefore I am." Sense in the previous mediation I express many sensory doubts, all such beliefs constructed on the senses must be considered false. This includes the belief that I have a body with sensory organs. But, does this falsehood of sensory mean that I do not exist? No, because I have convinced myself that my beliefs are false, then there must be an "I" to convince.

The Ontological Argument

Meditation 5: In Meditation 5, I explain another reason why God does exist. I believe that God's existence is deducible from the ideas of his nature, just like a triangle's interior angles measure up to 2 right angles. If a triangle lacked these qualities, it would be unintelligible. This nature of a triangle is inseparable from nature. I believe that since the idea of God is perfect, God has to exist, because without existence he would lack a quality of perfection. If God lacked existence, then God would no longer be perfect. Therefore, if God had imperfections such as not being existent, it would no longer be the idea of God. God without existence is unintelligible, meaning that existence is contained in the essence of an infinite substance. Because of this, God must exist in his very own nature. God without existence can be compared to a mountain without a valley. it is unintelligible.

Rene Descartes

Possibility of Error

Meditation 4: In the 4th meditation I explain why errors are made, and how to avoid them. I believe that judgment is a faculty of the mind, resulting from the interaction of will and intellect. I realize that because we do not know all things, our intellect is finite, but our will to make decisions and choices is infinite. Because of this, our will mixed with our intellect causes error. When our will to make decisions exceeds the ability to understand, error arises. Because of this, I have concluded that we as humans should only make judgments on things we fully understand, in order to avoid error.

Father of Modern Philosophy

Philosopher, Scientist and Mathematician

The Distinction of Mind and Body

1596-1650

Meditation 6: In this meditation, I explain the distinction between mind and body. If I can clearly understand the distinction between objects, then it is so. I know that I exist as something that thinks, but I am not sure of the existence of my body, therefore I am only thinking and not doing anything else, meaning my mind is separate from my body.

The Existence of God

Meditation 3: In the 3rd mediation, I attempt to explain the existence of God through the Casual Adequency Principle, which says that something cannot come from nothing. An example of this is that, if a pot of water is boiling, it must have received the heat from something that contains at least that amount of heat. God is not formally an extended thing, but rather a thinking thing. God is eminently the extended universe in that it exists in him through a higher form, and therefore has the ability to create it.

My Philosophy

Oh you know, just thinking, therefore I am

Mathematical Accomplishments

My greatest contribution to the field of mathematics was developing analytical geometry, which is applying algebra to geometry. I also established the coordinate plane system, which I developed to visualize and locate exact points. I believe that only mathematics can be seen as certain, and therefore can be used to explain the more complex ideas of the universe.

Early Life

Recognize this?

I was born on March 31, 1596 in La Haye, part of the traditional region of Touraine, France. Because of my contributions, "La Haye" was actually renamed "Descartes" later on. My mother died when I was 13 during childbirth, so I was sent to live with my grandmother. In 1606, I began attending the Jesuit College in La Flecha, which I attended until 1614. My studies involved 5-6 years of grammar school, and then 3 years of philosophy, based on the philosophies of Aristotle. The studies were divided into 4 topics: logic, morals, physics, and metaphysics. When I left school, "I found myself beset by so many doubts and errors that I came to think I had gained nothing from my attempts to become educated but increasing recognition of my ignorance"

Sketch of Jesuit College in La Fleche

Caleb Dan the Man Greek