Rene Descartes | Biography, Ideas, Philosophy, ‘I Think, Therefore I Am,’ & Facts

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border-right-sm border-left-sm open"> <div class="drawer d-flex flex-column open"> <div class="left-rail-section-content"> <div class="topic-left-rail-header text-truncate bg-gray-50 position-relative text-right d-flex align-items-center"> <div class="tlr-title px-20 py-15 text-left"> <em class="material-icons text-gray-400 d-lg-none" data-icon="toc"></em> <a class="font-serif font-weight-bold text-black link-blue" href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rene-Descartes">René Descartes</a> </div> <button aria-label="Close" class="js-sections-close-button btn-link btn-sm btn d-lg-none position-absolute top-0 p-10 right-0" > <em class="material-icons font-26" data-icon="close"></em> </button> </div> <div class="section-content pl-10 pr-20 pl-sm-50 pr-sm-60 pl-lg-5 pr-lg-10 pt-10 pt-lg-0 bg-gray-50 clear-catfish-ad"> <div class="toc mb-20"> <div class="font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mx-15 mb-15 mt-20"> Table of Contents </div> <ul class="list-unstyled my-0" data-level="h1"><li data-target="#ref1"><div class="pl-25"><a class="link-gray-900 w-100" href="/biography/Rene-Descartes">Introduction & Top Questions</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"></div></li><li data-target="#ref230893"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><div class="ml-25"></div><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/biography/Rene-Descartes#ref230893">Early life and education</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"></div></li><li data-target="#ref43352"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><div class="ml-25"></div><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/biography/Rene-Descartes/Residence-in-the-Netherlands">Residence in the Netherlands</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"></div></li><li data-target="#ref43353"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><div class="ml-25"></div><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/biography/Rene-Descartes/Residence-in-the-Netherlands#ref43353"><em>The World</em> and <em>Discourse on Method</em></a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"></div></li><li data-target="#ref43354"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><div class="ml-25"></div><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/biography/Rene-Descartes/Meditations"><em>Meditations</em></a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"></div></li><li data-target="#ref43355"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><div class="ml-25"></div><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/biography/Rene-Descartes/Physics-physiology-and-morals">Physics, physiology, and morals</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"></div></li><li data-target="#ref43356"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><div class="ml-25"></div><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/biography/Rene-Descartes/Final-years-and-heritage">Final years and heritage</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"></div></li></ul> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="/quotes/Rene-Descartes">Quotes</a> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rene-Descartes/additional-info">References & Edit History</a> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="/facts/Rene-Descartes">Quick Facts & Related Topics</a> </div> <div class="tlr-media-slider pb-10 mb-30"> <a class="section-header link-gray-900 font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mb-10 mx-10" href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rene-Descartes/images-videos">Images & Videos</a> <div class="slider js-slider position-relative d-inline-flex align-items-center mw-100 "> <div class="slider-container js-slider-container overflow-hidden d-flex overflow-hidden text-nowrap ml-15"> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/62/176962-050-4BC9F588/Rene-Descartes.jpg" data-href="/media/1/158787/188951" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/62/176962-004-CEA12B6E/Rene-Descartes.jpg" alt="René Descartes" height="50" /> </a> <a href="/video/Top-questions-answers-Rene-Descartes/245666" data-href="/media/1/158787/245666" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <div class="position-relative --aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/57/215357-138-BCF2F67C/Top-questions-answers-Rene-Descartes.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="French mathematician and philosopher René Descartes" class="col-100" /> <div class="btn btn-sm btn-white btn-circle position-absolute shadow" style="top: 50%; left:50%; transform: translate(-50%, -50%)"> <em class="material-icons font-14" data-icon="play_arrow" > </em> </div> </div> </a> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/95/190395-050-439A37F8/Rene-Descartes-oil-painting-Frans-Hals-1649.jpg" data-href="/media/1/158787/238240" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/95/190395-004-F05D85FB/Rene-Descartes-oil-painting-Frans-Hals-1649.jpg" alt="René Descartes" height="50" /> </a> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/79/95879-004-EFAE7422/cot-b-Logarithmic-spiral-radius-Rene-Descartes-1638.jpg" data-href="/media/1/158787/90169" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/79/95879-004-EFAE7422/cot-b-Logarithmic-spiral-radius-Rene-Descartes-1638.jpg" alt="logarithmic spiral" height="50" /> </a> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/71/73571-004-5A660CF1/Rene-Descartes-French-root-line-segment-unit.jpg" data-href="/media/1/158787/67611" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/71/73571-004-5A660CF1/Rene-Descartes-French-root-line-segment-unit.jpg" alt="The French mathematician René Descartes (1596–1650) demonstrated that the square root of any line segment could be constructed by the simple, but ingenious, addition of a line segment with unit length." height="50" /> </a> </div> <button disabled class="prev-button js-prev-button position-absolute btn 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</figcaption> </figure> </div><div class="topic-header"> <div class="d-flex align-items-top justify-content-between"> <div class="d-flex flex-column"> <div> <div> <h1>René Descartes</h1></div> </div> <div class="topic-identifier font-16 font-md-20">French mathematician and philosopher</div> </div> </div> <div class="d-none d-sm-flex flex-row"> <div class="mr-10 mb-15"> <button class="ai-ask-button btn border-2 btn-sm js-inline-ai-ask-button btn-outline-red-400 border-red-400"> Ask the Chatbot a Question </button> </div> <div class="d-none d-sm-block md-topic-tools qa-action-buttons mb-15" data-topic-id="158787"> <button class="js-tooltip btn btn-sm btn-outline-blue border pr-10 border-2" > <em class="material-icons md-icon ml-n10 my-n5 mr-5" data-icon="more_vert"></em> More Actions </button> <div class="md-more-popover popover popover-sm p-0 font-14 z-1"> <div> <button class="js-print-modal-button js-modal gtm-topic-tool btn btn-sm btn-link gtm-topic-tool font-weight-bold btn-link" 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Watson</div> <div class="editor-description font-12 font-serif mt-5 clamp-description text-black">Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri. Author of <em>The Breakdown of Cartesian Metaphysics; Cogito, Ergo Sum: The Life of Rene Descartes; </em>and others.</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor text-decoration-underline"> Richard A. 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They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link font-12 "> The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</span></div> <div class="last-updated font-12 font-serif"> <a class="byline-edit-history" href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rene-Descartes/additional-info#history" rel="nofollow">Article History</a> </div></div> </div> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button d-none d-sm-block js-sections-inline-button module-spacing btn d-lg-none"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <div class="d-flex d-sm-none flex-row"> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button js-sections-inline-button module-spacing"> <em 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<dd>February 11, 1650, <a href="/place/Stockholm">Stockholm</a>, <a href="/place/Sweden">Sweden</a> (aged 53)</dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> </div> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Notable Works: </dt> <dd><a href="/topic/La-Geometrie">“La Géométrie”</a></dd> <dd><a href="/topic/Letter-to-Voetius">“Letter to Voetius”</a></dd> <dd><a href="/topic/Meditations-on-First-Philosophy">“Meditations on First Philosophy”</a></dd> <dd><a href="/topic/Principles-of-Philosophy">“Principles of Philosophy”</a></dd> <dd><a href="/topic/Rules-for-the-Direction-of-the-Mind">“Rules for the Direction of the Mind”</a></dd> <dd><a href="/topic/The-Discourse-on-Method">“The Discourse on Method”</a></dd> <dd><a href="/topic/The-Passions-of-the-Soul">“The Passions of the Soul”</a></dd> <dd><a href="/topic/The-World-by-Descartes">“The World”</a></dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> </div> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Subjects Of Study: </dt> <dd><a href="/science/Descartess-rule-of-signs">Descartes’s rule of signs</a></dd> <dd><a href="/topic/a-priori-knowledge">a priori knowledge</a></dd> <dd><a href="/topic/certainty-philosophy">certainty</a></dd> <dd><a href="/topic/cogito-ergo-sum">cogito, ergo sum</a></dd> <dd><a href="/topic/extension-philosophy">extension</a></dd> <dd><a href="/topic/innate-idea">innate idea</a></dd> <dd><a href="/topic/interactionism">interactionism</a></dd> <dd><a href="/topic/methodic-doubt">methodic doubt</a></dd> <dd><a href="/topic/mind-body-dualism">mind-body dualism</a></dd> <dd><a href="/topic/ontological-argument">ontological argument</a></dd> <dd><a 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Descartes?<\/div><em><\/em>", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "Ren\u00E9 Descartes was a French mathematician and philosopher during the 17th century. He is often considered a precursor to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/rationalism\">rationalist school of thought<\/a>, and his vast contributions to the fields of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/science\/mathematics\">mathematics<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/philosophy\">philosophy<\/a>, individually as well as holistically, helped pushed Western knowledge forward during the scientific revolution. " } } , { "@type" : "Question", "name" : "<div>What is Ren\u00E9 Descartes known for?<\/div><em><\/em>", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "Ren\u00E9 Descartes is most commonly known for his philosophical statement, \u201CI think, therefore I am\u201D (originally in French, but best known by its Latin translation: \"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/cogito-ergo-sum\">Cogito, ergo sum<\/a>\u201D). He is also attributed with developing Cartesian dualism (also referred to as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/mind-body-dualism\">mind-body dualism<\/a>), the metaphysical argument that the mind and body are two different substances which interact with one another. In the mathematics sphere, his primary contribution came from bridging the gap between <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/science\/algebra\">algebra<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/science\/geometry\">geometry<\/a>, which resulted in the Cartesian coordinate system still widely used today. " } } , { "@type" : "Question", "name" : "<div>What was Ren\u00E9 Descartes\u2019s family like?<\/div><em><\/em>", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "Ren\u00E9 Descartes was born in 1596 in La Hay en Touraine, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/France\">France<\/a>, to Joachim and Jeanne Descartes. Jeanne died shortly after Descartes turned one. Descartes was thought to have been fairly ill throughout his childhood. He and his siblings were raised by their grandmother, while Joachim was busy elsewhere with work and as a council member in the provincial parliament. Descartes never married, but he fathered a child in 1635 with Helena Jans van der Strom. The child, named Francine, died at age five of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/science\/scarlet-fever\">scarlet fever<\/a>. " } } , { "@type" : "Question", "name" : "<div>How did Ren\u00E9 Descartes die?<\/div><em><\/em>", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "Ren\u00E9 Descartes died on February 11, 1650, in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Stockholm\">Stockholm<\/a>, Sweden, succumbing to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/science\/pneumonia\">pneumonia<\/a> at the age of 53. He was in Stockholm at the time to help the queen of Sweden set up an academy of science. Queen Christina, only 22 years old, made Descartes rise before 5:00 AM for her daily lesson\u2014something which proved detrimental to his health, as he was used to sleeping late since childhood to accommodate his sickly nature. One morning, likely as a result of this early rising, combined with the freezing Swedish winters, Descartes caught a chill that proved to be fatal. " } } ] } </script> <div class="top-questions qa-accordion d-flex flex-column module-spacing"><div class="font-weight-bold font-14 mb-5"> Top Questions </div><div id="intent-accordion" class="md-intent-accordion"><div class="top-question bg-gray-50 rounded" data-value="1"><h3 class="accordion--question font-14 font-weight-normal cursor-pointer rounded"><div class="pe-none d-flex justify-content-between align-items-center"><div>Who was René Descartes?</div><em class="material-icons" data-icon="expand_more"></em></div></h3><div class="accordion--answer hidden p-15 pt-5 font-16 mb-5"><div class="accordion--answer-copy"><p>René Descartes was a French mathematician and philosopher during the 17th century. He is often considered a precursor to the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/rationalism" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">rationalist school of thought</a>, and his vast contributions to the fields of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/mathematics" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">mathematics</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/philosophy" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">philosophy</a>, individually as well as holistically, helped pushed Western knowledge forward during the scientific revolution. </p><div class="continue-reading"> Read more below: <a href="/biography/Rene-Descartes#ref230893">Early life and education</a></div></div><div class="connections border-top mt-15"><a href="/topic/rationalism" class="d-flex mt-15">rationalism</a>Learn more about rationalism.</div></div></div><div class="top-question bg-gray-50 rounded" data-value="2"><h3 class="accordion--question font-14 font-weight-normal cursor-pointer rounded"><div class="pe-none d-flex justify-content-between align-items-center"><div>What is René Descartes known for?</div><em class="material-icons" data-icon="expand_more"></em></div></h3><div class="accordion--answer hidden p-15 pt-5 font-16 mb-5"><div class="accordion--answer-copy"><p>René Descartes is most commonly known for his philosophical statement, “I think, therefore I am” (originally in French, but best known by its Latin translation: "<a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/cogito-ergo-sum" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Cogito, ergo sum</a>”). He is also attributed with developing Cartesian dualism (also referred to as <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/mind-body-dualism" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">mind-body dualism</a>), the metaphysical argument that the mind and body are two different substances which interact with one another. In the mathematics sphere, his primary contribution came from bridging the gap between <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/algebra" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">algebra</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/geometry" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">geometry</a>, which resulted in the Cartesian coordinate system still widely used today. </p><div class="continue-reading"> Read more below: <a href="/biography/Rene-Descartes/Residence-in-the-Netherlands#ref43353"><em>The World</em> and <em>Discourse on Method</em></a></div></div><div class="connections border-top mt-15"><a href="/topic/mind-body-dualism" class="d-flex mt-15">mind-body dualism</a>Learn more about Cartesian dualism. </div></div></div><div class="top-question bg-gray-50 rounded" data-value="3"><h3 class="accordion--question font-14 font-weight-normal cursor-pointer rounded"><div class="pe-none d-flex justify-content-between align-items-center"><div>What was René Descartes’s family like?</div><em class="material-icons" data-icon="expand_more"></em></div></h3><div class="accordion--answer hidden p-15 pt-5 font-16 mb-5"><div class="accordion--answer-copy"><p>René Descartes was born in 1596 in La Hay en Touraine, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/France" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">France</a>, to Joachim and Jeanne Descartes. Jeanne died shortly after Descartes turned one. Descartes was thought to have been fairly ill throughout his childhood. He and his siblings were raised by their grandmother, while Joachim was busy elsewhere with work and as a council member in the provincial parliament. Descartes never married, but he fathered a child in 1635 with Helena Jans van der Strom. The child, named Francine, died at age five of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/scarlet-fever" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">scarlet fever</a>. </p><div class="continue-reading"> Read more below: <a href="/biography/Rene-Descartes/Residence-in-the-Netherlands">Residence in the Netherlands</a></div></div></div></div><div class="top-question bg-gray-50 rounded" data-value="4"><h3 class="accordion--question font-14 font-weight-normal cursor-pointer rounded"><div class="pe-none d-flex justify-content-between align-items-center"><div>How did René Descartes die?</div><em class="material-icons" data-icon="expand_more"></em></div></h3><div class="accordion--answer hidden p-15 pt-5 font-16 mb-5"><div class="accordion--answer-copy"><p>René Descartes died on February 11, 1650, in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Stockholm" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Stockholm</a>, Sweden, succumbing to <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/pneumonia" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">pneumonia</a> at the age of 53. He was in Stockholm at the time to help the queen of Sweden set up an academy of science. Queen Christina, only 22 years old, made Descartes rise before 5:00 AM for her daily lesson—something which proved detrimental to his health, as he was used to sleeping late since childhood to accommodate his sickly nature. One morning, likely as a result of this early rising, combined with the freezing Swedish winters, Descartes caught a chill that proved to be fatal. </p><div class="continue-reading"> Read more below: <a href="/biography/Rene-Descartes/Final-years-and-heritage">Final years and heritage</a></div></div></div></div><button class="show-more-button js-toggle-top-questions btn btn-unstyled font-14 d-flex pr-10 rounded-sm"><em class="material-icons" data-icon="expand_more"></em></button></div></div><span class="marker before-article"></span><section data-level="1" id="ref1"><span class="marker PREMOD1 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph"><strong><span id="ref478281"></span>René Descartes</strong> (born March 31, 1596, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/The-Hague" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">La Haye</a>, Touraine, France—died February 11, 1650, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Stockholm" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Stockholm</a>, Sweden) was a French mathematician, scientist, and philosopher. Because he was one of the first to abandon Scholastic <span id="ref790192"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Aristotelianism" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Aristotelianism</a>, because he formulated the first modern version of <span id="ref790181"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/mind-body-dualism" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">mind-body dualism</a>, from which stems the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/mind-body-problem" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">mind-body problem</a>, and because he promoted the development of a <span id="ref478280"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Cartesianism" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">new science</a> grounded in observation and experiment, he is generally regarded as the founder of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/modern-philosophy" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">modern philosophy</a>. Applying an original system of methodical <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/methodic-doubt" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">doubt</a>, he dismissed apparent knowledge derived from authority, the senses, and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/reason" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">reason</a> and erected new epistemic foundations on the basis of the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="intuition" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intuition" data-type="MW">intuition</a> that, when he is <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/thought" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">thinking</a>, he exists; this he expressed in the dictum “I think, therefore I am” (best known in its Latin formulation, “<span id="ref790179"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/cogito-ergo-sum" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Cogito, ergo sum</a>,” though originally written in French, “Je pense, donc je suis”). He developed a <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="metaphysical" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/metaphysical" data-type="MW">metaphysical</a> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/dualism-philosophy" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">dualism</a> that distinguishes radically between mind, the essence of which is thinking, and matter, the essence of which is extension in three dimensions. Descartes’s <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/metaphysics" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">metaphysics</a> is rationalist, based on the postulation of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/innate-idea" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">innate ideas</a> of mind, matter, and God, but his <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/physics-science" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">physics</a> and physiology, based on sensory experience, are mechanistic and empiricist.</p><span class="marker MOD1 mod-inline"></span></section> <span class="marker h2"></span><section data-level="1" id="ref230893"><h2 class="h1">Early life and education</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD2 mod-inline"></span><div class="assemblies"><div class="w-100"><figure class="md-assembly m-0 mb-md-0 card card-borderless print-false" data-assembly-id="245666" data-asm-type="video"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media " data-type="video" video-id="215357"><a data-id="215357" class="gtm-assembly-link d-flex justify-content-center" style="--aspect-ratio: 16/9" href="/video/Top-questions-answers-Rene-Descartes/-245666"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/57/215357-138-BCF2F67C/Top-questions-answers-Rene-Descartes.jpg?w=800&h=450&c=crop" alt="French mathematician and philosopher René Descartes" loading="lazy"><script type="application/json"> { "sources": [ { "file" : "//content.jwplatform.com/manifests/QABavDqr.m3u8" } ], "image": "https://cdn.britannica.com/57/215357-138-BCF2F67C/Top-questions-answers-Rene-Descartes.jpg" ,"tracks": [ { "file" : "//assets-jpcust.jwpsrv.com/tracks/HoINoKhs", "label": "English" } ] ,"adfile": "//content.jwplatform.com/manifests/77rf5Pw3.m3u8" } </script><div class="btn btn-xl btn-white btn-circle position-absolute shadow" style="top: 50%; transform: translateY(-50%)"><em class="material-icons" data-icon="play_arrow"></em></div></a></div><figcaption class="card-body"><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif line-clamp"><span><span class="md-assembly-title font-weight-bold mr-5 d-inline font-sans-serif md-video-caption" video-control="215357">French mathematician and philosopher René Descartes</span><span>Questions and answers about French mathematician, scientist, and philosopher René Descartes.</span><button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-white js-content" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"><span class="link-blue">(more)</span></button></span></div><a class="font-14 mt-10 d-inline-block" href="/biography/Rene-Descartes/images-videos">See all videos for this article</a></figcaption></figure></div></div><p class="topic-paragraph">Although Descartes’s birthplace, La Haye (now Descartes), <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/France" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">France</a>, is in Touraine, his family connections lie south, across the Creuse River in Poitou, where his father, Joachim, owned farms and houses in Châtellerault and Poitiers. Because Joachim was a councillor in the Parlement of Brittany in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Rennes" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Rennes</a>, Descartes inherited a modest rank of nobility. Descartes’s mother died when he was one year old. His father remarried in Rennes, leaving him in La Haye to be raised first by his maternal grandmother and then by his great-uncle in Châtellerault. Although the Descartes family was Roman Catholic, the Poitou region was controlled by the Protestant <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Huguenot" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Huguenots</a>, and Châtellerault, a Protestant stronghold, was the site of negotiations over the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Edict-of-Nantes" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Edict of Nantes</a> (1598), which gave Protestants freedom of worship in France following the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="intermittent" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intermittent" data-type="MW">intermittent</a> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Wars-of-Religion" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Wars of Religion</a> between Protestant and Catholic forces in France. Descartes returned to Poitou regularly until 1628.</p><span class="marker MOD2 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD3 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">In 1606 Descartes was sent to the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Jesuits" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Jesuit</a> college at La Flèche, established in 1604 by <span id="ref478283"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henry-IV-king-of-France" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Henry IV</a> (reigned 1589–1610). At La Flèche, 1,200 young men were trained for careers in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/military-engineering" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">military engineering</a>, the judiciary, and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/public-administration" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">government administration</a>. In addition to classical studies, science, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/mathematics" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">mathematics</a>, and metaphysics—<a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Aristotle" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Aristotle</a> was taught from Scholastic commentaries—they studied acting, music, poetry, dancing, riding, and fencing. In 1610 Descartes participated in an imposing ceremony in which the heart of Henry IV, whose assassination that year had destroyed the hope of religious <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="tolerance" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/tolerance" data-type="EB">tolerance</a> in France and Germany, was placed in the cathedral at La Flèche.</p><span class="marker MOD3 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD4 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">In 1614 Descartes went to Poitiers, where he took a law degree in 1616. At this time, Huguenot Poitiers was in virtual revolt against the young King <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Louis-XIII" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Louis XIII</a> (reigned 1610–43). Descartes’s father probably expected him to enter Parlement, but the minimum age for doing so was 27, and Descartes was only 20. In 1618 he went to Breda in the Netherlands, where he spent 15 months as an informal student of mathematics and military architecture in the peacetime army of the Protestant stadtholder, Prince <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Maurice-stadholder-of-The-Netherlands" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Maurice</a> (ruled 1585–1625). In Breda, Descartes was encouraged in his studies of science and mathematics by the physicist <span id="ref478284"></span>Isaac Beeckman (1588–1637), for whom he wrote the <em>Compendium of Music</em> (written 1618, published 1650), his first surviving work.</p><span class="marker MOD4 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD5 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Descartes spent the period 1619 to 1628 traveling in northern and southern Europe, where, as he later explained, he studied “the book of the world.” While in Bohemia in 1619, he invented <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/analytic-geometry" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">analytic geometry</a>, a method of solving geometric problems algebraically and algebraic problems geometrically. He also devised a universal method of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/deduction-reason" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">deductive reasoning</a>, based on mathematics, that is applicable to all the sciences. This method, which he later formulated in <em>Discourse on Method</em> (1637) and <em><span id="ref478297"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Rules-for-the-Direction-of-the-Mind" class="md-crosslink ">Rules for the Direction of the Mind</a></em> (written by 1628 but not published until 1701), consists of four rules: (1) accept nothing as true that is not self-evident, (2) divide <span id="ref478298"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/problem-solving" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">problems</a> into their simplest parts, (3) solve problems by proceeding from simple to complex, and (4) recheck the reasoning. These rules are a direct application of mathematical procedures. In addition, Descartes insisted that all key notions and the limits of each problem must be clearly defined.</p><a class="link-module shadow-sm d-block qa-quiz-module" href="/quiz/philosophy-101" data-link-module-iframe-link=""> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/42/163042-131-6AC5D943/greeting-guests-Agathon-canvas-oil-Platos-Symposium-1869.jpg" alt="Agathon (centre) greeting guests in Plato's Symposium, oil on canvas by Anselm Feuerbach, 1869; in the Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe, Germany." class="rounded-sm mr-15" width="70" /> <div class="line-clamp clamp-5"> <div class="module-title bg-green">Britannica Quiz</div> <div class="font-weight-semi-bold mt-5">Philosophy 101</div> </div> </a><span class="marker MOD5 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD6 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Descartes also investigated reports of <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="esoteric" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/esoteric" data-type="MW">esoteric</a> knowledge, such as the claims of the practitioners of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/theosophy" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">theosophy</a> to be able to command nature. Although disappointed with the followers of the Catalan mystic <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ramon-Llull" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Ramon Llull</a> (1232/33–1315/16) and the German alchemist <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Heinrich-Cornelius-Agrippa-von-Nettesheim" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim</a> (1486–1535), he was impressed by the German mathematician Johann Faulhaber (1580–1635), a member of the mystical society of the <span id="ref478285"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Rosicrucians" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Rosicrucians</a>.</p><span class="marker MOD6 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD7 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Descartes shared a number of Rosicrucian goals and habits. Like the Rosicrucians, he lived alone and in seclusion, changed his residence often (during his 22 years in the Netherlands, he lived in 18 different places), practiced medicine without charge, attempted to increase human longevity, and took an optimistic view of the capacity of science to improve the human condition. At the end of his life, he left a chest of personal papers (none of which has survived) with a Rosicrucian physician—his close friend Corneille van Hogelande, who handled his affairs in the Netherlands. Despite these <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="affinities" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/affinities" data-type="MW">affinities</a>, Descartes rejected the Rosicrucians’ magical and mystical beliefs. For him, this period was a time of hope for a revolution in science. The English philosopher <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Francis-Bacon-Viscount-Saint-Alban" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Francis Bacon</a> (1561–1626), in <em><span id="ref790182"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Advancement-of-Learning" class="md-crosslink ">Advancement of Learning</a></em> (1605), had earlier proposed a new science of observation and experiment to replace the traditional Aristotelian science, as Descartes himself did later.</p><div class="module-spacing"> <DIV class="marketing-INLINE_SUBSCRIPTION marketing-content" data-marketing-id="INLINE_SUBSCRIPTION"><style> .student-promo-banner-wrapper { container-type: inline-size; margin-bottom: 15px; } @container (min-width: 475px) { .student-promo-banner { flex-direction: row; } .student-promo-banner-img-wrapper { margin-bottom: 0; margin-right: 10px; justify-content: flex-start; } .student-promo-banner-text-wrapper { text-align: left; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 10px; } .student-promo-banner-button-wrapper { margin-right: 0; } }</style> <div class="student-promo-banner-wrapper"> <div class="student-promo-banner d-flex flex-column align-items-center bg-blue rounded p-20"> <div class="student-promo-banner-img-wrapper mb-20 mr-0 d-flex justify-content-center"> <img class="rounded" style="max-width: 100px; min-width: 80px" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/marketing/BlueThistle.webp" /> </div> <div class="student-promo-banner-text-wrapper ml-0 mb-10 text-center text-white"> <div class="h2 mb-10">Get Unlimited Access</div> <div class="h4 font-weight-semi-bold">Try Britannica Premium for free and discover more.</div> </div> <div class="student-promo-banner-button-wrapper d-flex justify-content-center align-items-center ml-auto mr-auto"> <a class="btn btn-m btn-orange" href="https://premium.britannica.com/premium-membership/?utm_source=premium&utm_medium=inline-cta&utm_campaign=black-friday-2024">Subscribe</a> </div> </div> </div> </DIV></div><span class="marker MOD7 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD8 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">In 1622 Descartes moved to Paris. There he gambled, rode, fenced, and went to the court, concerts, and the theatre. Among his friends were the poets <span id="ref478286"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jean-Louis-Guez-de-Balzac" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Jean-Louis Guez de Balzac</a> (1597–1654), who dedicated his <em>Le Socrate chrétien</em> (1652; “Christian Socrates”) to Descartes, and <span id="ref478287"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Theophile-de-Viau" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Théophile de Viau</a> (1590–1626), who was burned in effigy and imprisoned in 1623 for writing verses mocking religious themes. Descartes also befriended the mathematician Claude Mydorge (1585–1647) and Father <span id="ref478288"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Marin-Mersenne" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Marin Mersenne</a> (1588–1648), a person of universal learning who corresponded with hundreds of scholars, writers, mathematicians, and scientists and who became Descartes’s main contact with the larger <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="intellectual" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intellectual" data-type="MW">intellectual</a> world. During this time Descartes regularly hid from his friends to work, writing <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="treatises" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/treatises" data-type="MW">treatises</a>, now lost, on fencing and metals. He acquired a considerable reputation long before he published anything.</p><div class="one-good-fact-module"> </div><span class="marker MOD8 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD9 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">At a talk in 1628, Descartes denied the alchemist Chandoux’s claim that probabilities are as good as certainties in science and demonstrated his own method for attaining certainty. The <span id="ref478289"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Pierre-de-Berulle" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Cardinal Pierre de Bérulle</a> (1575–1629)—who had founded the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Oratorians" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Oratorian</a> teaching congregation in 1611 as a rival to the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Jesuits" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Jesuits</a>—was present at the talk. Many commentators speculate that Bérulle urged Descartes to write a <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="metaphysics" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/metaphysics" data-type="MW">metaphysics</a> based on the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/philosophy" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">philosophy</a> of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Augustine" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">St. Augustine</a> as a replacement for Jesuit teaching. Be that as it may, within weeks Descartes left for the Netherlands, which was Protestant, and—taking great precautions to conceal his address—did not return to France for 16 years. Some scholars claim that Descartes adopted Bérulle as director of his <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="conscience" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conscience" data-type="MW">conscience</a>, but this is unlikely, given Descartes’s background and beliefs (he came from a Huguenot province, he was not a Catholic enthusiast, he had been accused of being a Rosicrucian, and he advocated religious tolerance and championed the use of reason).</p><span class="marker MOD9 mod-inline"></span></section> <span class="marker end-of-content"></span><span class="marker after-article"></span></div> <div id="chatbot-root"></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ai-dialog-placeholder"></div> </div> </div> <aside class="col-md-da-320"></aside> </div> </div> </div> </div> </article></div> </div></div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript> <script type="text/javascript" id="_informizely_script_tag"> var IzWidget = IzWidget || {}; (function (d) { var scriptElement = d.createElement('script'); scriptElement.type = 'text/javascript'; scriptElement.async = true; scriptElement.src = "https://insitez.blob.core.windows.net/site/f780f33e-a610-4ac2-af81-3eb184037547.js"; var node = d.getElementById('_informizely_script_tag'); node.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, node); } )(document); </script>  <script> window.ap3c = window.ap3c || {}; var ap3c = window.ap3c; ap3c.cmd = ap3c.cmd || []; ap3c.cmd.push(function() { ap3c.init('ZO4siT4cLwnykPnzZWJtd3Byb2Q', 'https://engage.email.britannica.com/'); ap3c.track({v: 0}); }); ap3c.activity = function(act) { ap3c.act = (ap3c.act || []); ap3c.act.push(act); }; var s, t; s = document.createElement('script'); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.src = "https://engage.email.britannica.com/app.js"; t = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); </script> <script class="marketing-page-info" type="application/json"> {"pageType":"Topic","templateName":"DESKTOP","pageNumber":1,"pagesTotal":5,"pageId":158787,"pageLength":1255,"initialLoad":true,"lastPageOfScroll":false} </script> <script class="marketing-content-info" type="application/json"> [] </script> <script src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/js/libs/jquery-3.5.0.min.js?v=3.130.14"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel Code Splitting"> (function() { $.ajax({ dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: 'https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/dist/topic-page.js?v=3.130.14' }); })(); </script> <script class="analytics-metadata" type="application/json"> {"leg":"D","adLeg":"D","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"Topic","pageSubtype":null,"articleTemplateType":"BIO_PAGINATED","gisted":false,"pageNumber":1,"hasSummarizeButton":false,"hasAskButton":false} </script> <script type="text/javascript"> EBStat={accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'webstats.eb.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''}; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { $.ajax( { dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: '//www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1' } ) .done( function() { try {writeStat(null,EBStat);} catch(err){} } ); })(); </script> <div id="bc-fixed-dialogue"></div> </body> </html>

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Rene Descartes | Biography, Ideas, Philosophy, ‘I Think, Therefore I Am,’ & Facts | Britannica