Monday, November 8, 2010
Rene Descartes
Since we started reading Descartes, I decided to do a little bit of research about him. Born in 1596, the French philosopher, physicist, mathematician, and writer is known as the “The Father of Modern Philosophy,” as Mrs. Quinet mentioned today in class. Descartes’ greatest contribution to the world of mathematics was his development of the Cartesian coordinate system. As far as philosophy, his most famous piece of work is his Meditations on First Philosophy. He was a major proponent of the rationalist movement and fought against the empiricists. Descartes died of pneumonia in 1650 in Stockholm , Sweden, where he had been serving as the teacher of Queen Christina of Sweden
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While reading Descarte's "Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting the Reason, and Seeking Truth in the Sciences," I observed that Descartes has immense faith in God. Due to his constant reference of God as the "Perfect Being," I initially assumed that the Catholic Church would endorse his work. However, I researched Descartes and found that during and after his life his work was condemned by the Catholic Church, and was officially prohibited in 1663. I think that the Catholic Church probably considered Descartes's ideas about rationalism as revolutionary, and possibly threatening. What do you all think?
Descartes is a very interesting man. He is faithful Christian and most of his works are written to prove the existence of God. Christian belief is based on faith. However, Descartes, also a mathematician, bases all of his explanations on logic and reason.
Descartes asserted himself as a Roman Catholic. He even defended the Christian faith in his Discourse on the Method. During his time, however, some people claimed he could have been a deist or atheist. Personally, I cannot see him as an atheist as he mentions God as the “Perfect Being” multiple times throughout his work. On the other hand, I can imagine him following deism, a religious and philosophical belief that a Supreme Being created the universe and that this idea can be determined through reason. Nevertheless, Descartes had an overwhelming influence over Queen Christina, so much that when he died, the Queen gave up her throne in order to convert to Roman Catholicism.
I agree with all of you. It is very difficult for me to understand why the Catholic Church condemned Descartes. Olivia mentioned that the church even considered him an atheist or a deist. From reading his “Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting the Reason, and Seeking Truth in the Sciences,” it is clear that he is a firm believer in God. This is especially evident as he explains that all people depend on God in order to live. He declares, “their existence depended on his power in such a way that they could not subsist without him for a single moment.” Therefore, as we mentioned in class today, it must be because he does not support organized religion, that he suffered opposition by the Catholic Church.
Just like you all, as I was reading I noticed that Descartes praised God for his perfection throughout the entire piece. I was shocked to find out that he was hated by the Catholic Church. I find this completely ironic but once Mrs. Quinet explained their reasoning, I better understood the church's hatred. I personally believe that no matter how you believe in God, whether it be because of faith or mathmatical proof, it still results in the same thing.
I found it interesting that Descartes suggested that the body works like a machine. In his works "Passions of the Soul" and "The Description of the Human Body", he stated that bodies have properties of extension and motion, and that they follow the laws of physics. The mind/ soul, however, was considered an entity that lacks extension and motion, and did not follow the laws of physics. Descartes argued that only humans have minds, and that the mind interacts with the body at a certain gland. This emphasizes our study of Descartes as a "dualist".
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