- Born: 31 March 1596
- Birthplace: La Haye, France
- Died: 11 February 1650 (lung trouble)
- Best Known As: The philosopher who said "I think, therefore I am"
The French thinker René Descartes (1596-1650) is called the father of modern philosophy. He initiated the movement generally termed rationalism, and his "Discourse on Method and Meditations" defined the basic problems of philosophy for at least a century.
René Descartes was born on March 31st, 1596 in the town of La Haye in the south of France, the son of Joachim Descartes, a Councilor in Parliament and and intellectual who made certain to provide a good learning environment for his son. In 1606, at the age of 8, René attended the Jesuit college of Henri IV in La Flèche, where he studied literature, grammar, science, and mathematics. In 1614, he left La Flèche to study civil and cannon Law at Poitiers. In 1616, he received his baccalaureate and licentiate degrees in Law. Aside from his Law degrees, Descartes also spent time studying philosophy, theology, and medicine.
After a short stay in the military, Descartes went on to lead a quiet life, continuing his intellectual pursuits, writing philosophical essays, and exploring the world of science and mathematics. In 1637, he published "geometry", in which his combination of algebra and geometry gave birth to analytical geometry, better known as Cartesian geometry.
But the most important contribution Descartes made were his philosophical writings; Descartes, who was convinced that science and mathematics could be used to explain everything in nature, was the first to describe the physical universe in terms of matter and motion, seeing the universe a as giant mathematically designed engine. Descartes wrote three important texts: Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting the Reason and Seeking Truth in the Sciences, Meditations on First Philosophy, and Principles of Philosophy.
René Descartes is often called the father of modern science. He established a new, clear way of thinking about philosophy and science by rejecting all ideas based on assumptions or emotional beliefs and accepting only those ideas which could be proved by or systematically deduced from direct observation. He took as his philosophical starting point the statement Cogito ergo sum -- "I think, therefore I am." Descartes made major contributions to modern mathematics, especially in developing the Cartesian coordinate system and advancing the theory of equations.
" And from me, I am so proud being a part of the clash on our section, II-Descartes (SSC) at CNCHS, and such memories here in heart and mind are not always forgotten. Goodbye Second Year life!"
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