Rene Descartes, Meditations On F Quotes

A collection of quotes by Rene Descartes, Meditations On F.

Rene Descartes (1596-1650) was a 17th-century French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist, widely regarded as the father of modern philosophy. Born in La Haye en Touraine, Descartes grew up in a devout Catholic family. He is best known for his groundbreaking treatise, "Meditations on First Philosophy," published in 1641. In this philosophical work, Descartes sought to establish a foundation of knowledge upon which all other beliefs could be built.

In the "Meditations," Descartes embarked on a journey of doubt and skepticism, aiming to strip away all uncertain beliefs and uncover indubitable truths. He famously proposed his method of radical doubt, challenging the reliability of his senses and even the existence of the external world, postulating the skeptical question of how one can truly know anything.

Descartes then arrived at his most famous statement, "Cogito, ergo sum" (I think, therefore I am), which became a cornerstone of modern philosophy. From this proposition, Descartes outlined his argument for the existence of God and attempted to bridge the gap between mind and body, proposing a dualistic nature of the human being.

Descartes' work revolutionized philosophical thought, laying the groundwork for rationalism and influencing the development of Western philosophy for centuries to come. His meticulous approach to reason, doubt, and inquiry significantly contributed to the emergence of the scientific method and the modern intellectual landscape.

There may indeed be those who would prefer to deny the exist

There may indeed be those who would prefer to deny the existence of a God so powerful, rather than believe that all other things are uncertain. But let us not oppose them for the present, and grant that all that is here said of a God is a fable; nevertheless in whatever way they suppose that I have arrived at the state of being that I have reached -- whether they attribute it to fate or to accident, or make out that it is by a continual succession of antecedents, or by some other method -- since to err and deceive oneself is a defect, it is clear that the greater will be the probability of my being so imperfect as to deceive myself ever, as is the Author to whom they assign my origin the less powerful. To these reasons I have certainly nothing to reply, but at the end I feel constrained to confess that there is nothing in all that I formerly believed to be true, of which I cannot in some measure doubt, and that not merely through want of thought or through levity, but for reasons which are very powerful and maturely considered; so that henceforth I ought not the less carefully to refrain from giving credence to these opinions than to that which is manifestly false, if I desire to arrive at any certainty in the sciences.http://www.xs4all.nl/~maartens/philosophy/descartes/meditations/med1.html

Rene Descartes, Meditations On F

Belief