Influences on Rene Descartes

Paper Summary:

The paper examines Descartes' life and thought from the perspective of the historical context in which he lived as well as the philosophical context that gave rise to his unique method. The paper discusses Galileo's harsh treatment by the Church that caused Descartes to be extremely careful not to offend anyone. The paper also looks at how Descartes was affected by the philosophical worldview of Aristotle and the teachings of the Scholastics.

From the Paper:

"Like a lot of philosophers both before him and after him, Descartes lived in relative isolation from the pressures of the external world - an isolation that was no doubt self-imposed. For this reason, history did not interfere with Descartes's life in a practical way - although his thinking and the presentation of his ideas were certainly influenced by major events of that era. This is especially true for the debates going on between religion and science during the first half of the seventeenth century - a debate that was difficult for a philosopher to avoid. As Descartes was to emerge as one of the leading figures of the mechanistic science of this era, it is important to note the philosopher's involvement with this struggle."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Baird, Forrest E. and Kaufmann, Walter. Modern Philosophy. Philosophic Classics, Vol. 3, 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1997.
• Descartes, Rene. Principles of Philosophy. New York: Springer, 1984.
• Descartes, Rene. The World. 1664. Retrieved 5 May 2008 from: http://www.princeton.edu/~hos/mike/texts/descartes/world/worldfr.htm.
• Franklin, James. "The Genius of the Scholastics, and the Orbit of Aristotle." N.D. Retrieved 5 May 2008 from: http://web.maths.unsw.edu.au/~jim/scholastics.html.

More papers on Influences on Rene Descartes:

• Research Paper # 57309 : "Rene Descartes"
• Essay # 65086 : "Philosophical Influences on the Founding Fathers"
• Book Review # 9461 : "Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy" by Rene Descartes"

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