THE LIFE OF RENE DESCARTES 1596-1650
1596-1614
Rene Descartes was born near Tours in 1596. His
family were part of the lesser nobility and Descartes was to find that family
income could let him have financial independence later in life. He entered the
Jesuit College of La Fleche at Anjou in 1604 where he was recognized as a
serious student. Descartes was to write in the Discourse
on Method that he had little interest in school
work except for the study of Mathematics.
1614-1619
Descartes left La Fleche in 1614 and took a
qualification in Law at Poitiers in 1616. In 1618 he decided to see the world
and enlisted as a soldier in an army led by Maurice of Nassau. In fact Descartes
used this as an opportunity to travel rather than to take part in military
action. In 1618-19 he met Isaac Beeckman who was to become an important friend.
It was Beeckman who persuaded Descartes to take up an interest in science and
scientific thinking.
1619-1628
In 1619 while in Germany Descartes was sitting in a
stove-heated room where he had what he described as an intellectual vision of a
mathematical science. This was followed that same evening by three dreams which
confirmed for him that he was to make important scientific discoveries. During
the 1620s Descartes clarified and developed what he was to call his 'method'. He
also invented our modern notion of powers in mathematics and developed his
understanding of relations between algebra and geometry. In the 1620s he
travelled extensively but gave an important speech in Paris in front of the
Papal Nuncio on the possibility of basing the natural sciences on certainty.
1628-1649
In 1628/29 Descartes wrote Regulae ad directionem Ingenii or
Rules for the Direction of Understanding. In this text Descartes set out in initial form many of the
ideas which he was to develop in later texts. In 1628 he moved to Holland which
was known for its comparatively liberal intellectual atmosphere. This was
important for a philosopher who was to challenge the medieval way of seeing the
world and indeed to move away from the dominant style of writing which declared
itself through references to established thinkers. Descartes was to write his
most well known texts with himself as an apparent character involved in the
action. Galileo's works were available in Holland despite being banned by the
Roman Catholic Church. During this period Descartes had an illegitimate daughter
called Francine who died in 1640. He was to describe this death as one of the
saddest events of his life. In 1629 Descartes was asked his opinion on the sun
halos observed in Rome and he wrote his treatise on Physics which involved an
analysis of meteorological questions. In 1633 Descartes learned of the
condemnation of Galileo by the Inquisition and he suppressed his treatise on
Physics. Descartes then rewrote his thoughts in a series of scientific texts
which are prefaced by the Discourse on the Method. It is the Discourse on Method
we read today rather than the scientific
treatises. It is a text with a strong use of 'I' which forms a contrast with the
ornate classically based texts of his predecessors. In 1641 Descartes completed
a text which is known as his masterpiece, The
Meditations on First Philosophy. Descartes wrote
this text in Latin whereas he had written the earlier texts in French. He was
trying to secure intellectual acceptance from the Church and also from the
Sorbonne, the premier University in Paris. The
Meditations was published with sets of Objections
and Descartes' replies. Descartes was now to be involved in a long series of
academic quarrels. In 1644 he published his Principles of Philosophy or Principia Philosophiae. Descartes
dedicated this book to a friend Princess Elizabeth with whom he corresponded.
Elizabeth was to write to Descartes on the relation between mind and body and
this discussion provided the basis for Descartes last book, The Passions of the Soul. A copy
of this was sent to Queen Christina of Sweden. In 1647 the French King awarded
Descartes a pension in recognition of his intellectual achievements.
1649-1650
In 1649 Descartes accepted the post of courtier to
Queen Christina of Sweden. His duties included teaching the Queen, writing
ballets and verses (which he hated). He drew up the statutes for a Swedish
Academy and included the stipulation that no foreigners could become members of
the Academy. He died of pneumonia in 1650 and was buried in Stockholm. In 1666
his body was removed to France and buried in Paris. In 1663 Descartes' teaching
was condemned by the Roman Catholic church and the subsequent ceremony in 1666
was a display of anti-clerical feeling.
Descartes and the time
Descartes was known for his chilly manner and
solitary approach. But he also believed important ideas in mathematics could be
explained in simple terms and made available to a wide audience. He was no
elitist. In the early 17th century apparatus for scientific inquiry was in its
infancy but there were established means of communication. Abbe Marsenne acted
as a post office between the leading scientific thinkers of the day: Descartes
in Holland, Fermat at Toulouse, etc.. Although it was not founded until 1666 the
meetings of Pascal, Gassendi, Fermat at Mersenne's cell led to the foundation of
the Academie des Sciences.