René Descartes was born on March 31, 1596 in Touraine-la-Sea, Indre-et-Loire, France. He died in Stockholm, Sweden on February 11, 1650. He was a famous French philosopher. Philosopher, mathematician, physicist. He is one of the founders of modern Western philosophy.
He made important contributions to the development of modern mathematics and is considered the father of analytic geometry for formulating the geometric coordinate system. He is also the founder of modern Western philosophical thought, a pioneer of modern materialism and a universally skeptical proposition. His philosophical thoughts deeply influenced subsequent generations of Europeans and pioneered continental rationalist philosophy. People engraved this sentence on his tombstone: "Descartes, since the European Renaissance, was the first person to fight for and guarantee the rights of reason for mankind."
Early Years
Born in the city of Touraine on the Giletani Peninsula in western France. Descartes was the fourth child, with an eldest brother and a second sister. The third brother died young. When he was one year old, his mother passed away suddenly. Descartes, who lost his mother since he was a child, has always been frail and sickly.
An introduction to René Descartes due to an illness. The young Descartes almost died young, but under the careful care of his loving father, he was able to turn the corner. René Descartes' name "Rene" means "rebirth" in French. Descartes' parents both belonged to the robed aristocracy. Although this class was the lower class of the aristocracy, its social status was higher than that of the bourgeoisie. A few years after Jeanne Brochard's death, Descartes' father married a young lady named Morin. Since then, Descartes has been raised by his maternal grandmother. Father and son only met each year when his father went to Rennes for vacation. Descartes was frail and sickly since he was a child, but his intelligence far surpassed that of his brothers and sisters. He often asked his father questions such as "What are the rationalities and causes of things?" Descartes' father noticed his talent early and often called him "my little philosopher". But their father and son did not get along well. He himself once said that he was his father's least favorite child. The relationship between him and his brother doesn't seem to be very deep. Perhaps because of this, he often left his hometown to travel alone, and he was particularly affectionate towards his friends.
Among the toys he had when he was a child, his favorite was a squinting doll. As a result, when he grew up, he always had a special affection for people with defects. In 1604, when Descartes was eight years old, his father sent him to the Royal Public School founded by a Jesuit priest in La Fiche, France, to begin his formal education. At that time, the school was the most prestigious institution in Europe, full of talents, and children of nobles came from all over the world. Descartes studied here for about 8 years and 6 months and was a model student of the school. The teacher was considerate of his poor health and allowed him to sleep more in the morning, but he used this precious morning light to read many precious books while lying in bed. Teaching at the Lymphatic School is carried out in accordance with the plan uniformly developed by the Jesuit schools.
The first five years were spent studying the humanities, including Latin, Greek and classical works, as well as French prose and poetic works, music, dramatic performance, and the essential training for a gentleman: riding. Martial arts and swordsmanship. The courses in the sixth to eighth years are collectively called philosophy. The sixth year studies Aristotle's logic and ethics. The seventh year studies physics, mathematics and astronomy. These subjects were almost all about Aristotle, but in mathematics and astronomy, he occasionally learned about some developments at that time from his teachers. The eighth year was spent studying metaphysics, focusing on the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas and the commentaries of the Jesuits.
During this period of his studies, he was entrusted to the care of a distant relative, Father Chalais. The priest was an outstanding scholar and soon became the principal of the school. Descartes called him "my second father." Descartes respected his teachers very much, and he always maintained sincere respect and sincere friendship for his teachers. The Jesuit priests also loved this top student with a fatherly heart. His teacher's evaluation of him is: smart, diligent, good conduct, introverted, competitive, very fond of mathematics and has this ability. Even so, he was not satisfied with the schoolwork, because most public schools at that time adopted the education method of the old Shilin philosophy. It is undeniable that that philosophy was out of touch with the times. It was not suitable for various scientific issues that emerged in time. The answer is unsatisfactory and seems unusually empty and monotonous. Especially after the rise of experimental science, Aristotle's physics has been negated by new facts, and the philosophical system established by Aristotle has generally been challenged and doubted. Later, when he expressed his dissatisfaction with the education in school, he said that he considered himself not a knowledgeable person, but an ignorant person. He had learned nothing except doubtful and uncertain things. Language, literature, and history easily lead people into illusory exaggeration; poetry and rhetoric do not tell the truth; mathematics, although its inferences are self-evident and can give one some comfort, is of limited use; religious and moral revelations are of limited use to the learned. It seems to be as mysterious as it is to the ignorant; although philosophy has been studied by the most intelligent people for centuries, the result is still that "there is no question that is not debated endlessly."
"Descartes was not only dissatisfied with his accumulation of knowledge, but also said angrily that the textbooks he studied were erudite rags.
The teacher initially adopted a tolerant attitude towards Descartes' doubts, but later, Several teachers criticized him fiercely, which was a very sad and painful thing in his life. Fortunately, when he was in public school, he had a very good classmate, who would become Father Marin Mersenne. After graduating from public school in 1612, he went to the University of Poities to study law. After several years of hard work, he finally obtained a bachelor's degree in law with the highest grades. .
Descartes has shown that he is diligent in thinking since he was a child, likes to get to the bottom of many things, and never blindly accepts other people's opinions. At home, his smart and articulate nanny was questioned endlessly. When Descartes was in school, he often asked many questions that his teacher had never thought of. Descartes was sent to school by his father because of his poor physical condition. Children of the same age are much more fragile. If he feels unwell, the principal allows him to lie down in the room and rest instead of going to the classroom. However, little Descartes does not take advantage of this special care to sleep lazily, but stays slightly closed. With his eyes open, his brain kept speeding up in recalling some of the content taught by the teacher and what he had read, and asked questions, and then answered them with the knowledge he had mastered. Books of philosophy and mathematics were always piled next to his pillow. , astronomy and history books, Descartes' mathematical thoughts were nurtured in the silent meditation of his early years.
Scientific research career
In 1616, René Descartes was in Poland. He received a doctorate in law from Eton University and later became an officer in the Netherlands. One day, Beckmann, who was quite famous at the time, posted a mathematical problem on the city wall and offered a reward for the answer. Translated into French, Beckmann glanced nonchalantly at the young officer with a beard on his face. He never dreamed that Descartes would hand in the correct answer two days later. The two mathematical geniuses became very close friends and became good friends who discussed mathematics and science problems together. This success made Descartes see his mathematical talent and further aroused his enthusiasm for research. His father wanted to increase his knowledge, so he took him to Paris in 1617. However, he was not interested in the luxurious and dissolute life in the city. The only thing that attracted him was mathematics. He is shrewd and can predict things like a god, and he has made the banker fail many times! In Paris, he met his close friend Messena. At that time, Messena had entered the Little Brotherhood and was preparing to become a priest. The two rekindled their old friendship. Descartes' thirst for knowledge could no longer be satisfied. He was 22 years old at the time and his health was gradually improving. He wanted to travel around Europe and look for practical knowledge in the big book of the world. After some consideration, he started traveling in 1617, paying attention along the way. Observe various things, take notes carefully, and think about problems over and over again. In 1618, he served as an unpaid officer in the Netherlands under Prince Maurice de Nassau, Prince of Orange. Because he believes that this is the most ideal, economical and simplest way to travel around the world. What's more, the children of nobles enjoy many privileges in the military and can live quite freely. That winter, due to the severe cold weather, there was no fighting, so we rested in the camp. Soon the two sides signed a peace treaty, and Descartes traveled to Brda. On the streets of Belida, I accidentally met a doctor named Isaac Beeckman. He was cheerful and they both had the same scientific interests, and they soon became close friends. His influence on Descartes was considerable. Therefore, Descartes was very grateful to him and presented his first work "Compedium Musicae" to this friend: "In fact, you are the only person who awakened me from my state of laziness and awakened the inner thoughts in me." The scientific interest in my heart that has been almost completely forgotten. You bring a mind that has left science back to the most legitimate and beautiful path." Under Beekman's prompting, he began to write his own paper on mathematics and formed it. Those basic ideas that later established analytic geometry.
The next year, Descartes traveled to Denmark and Germany, and attended the coronation ceremony of the Kaiser in Frankfurt, then to Moravie, Poland, and finally returned to Germany to join Mark in Bavaria. The army led by Maximilien de Bavière attacked the royal army of Bohême. It was the severe winter, and Descartes lived in a very warm room in a small village in Germany. Since he had no worldly worries, he could lie in bed peacefully, meditate, gain enlightenment, and realize the truth of science. Wonderful foundation. It was November 10, 1619. According to his own description, he had three visions or strange dreams at that time.
The first dream was a very scary dream. He felt that many ghosts appeared in front of him, which scared him and made him run around. After waking up, he felt a kind of pain, which made him fear that all this was caused by some evil spirits coming to kill him and prevent him from completing his mission.
He stayed awake for about two hours, praying to God to support him and forgive him his sins and shortcomings. Then he fell asleep again and had a second dream.
In his dream, he thought he heard a sharp and harsh sound, which he thought was a thunder. This woke him up. When he opened his eyes, he felt that there were sparks everywhere in his room. This is not surprising. Descartes often had this experience. He woke up in the middle of the night and saw stars twinkling in front of his eyes, so that he could see the objects around him. Descartes slowly regained his composure. At this time, he turned to philosophical reasons and came to a conclusion that was in line with his understanding. He interpreted the thunder as "a signal that truth has come to him and takes possession of him." . So he fell asleep again.
After a while, I had my third dream. This was different from the previous two dreams, gentle and pleasant. He saw these two books in his dream, one was a dictionary, and the other was a collection of poems that he had loved very much and had read many times. The most interesting thing is that Descartes was analyzing dreams in his dreams before he woke up. He judged that the dictionary merely referred to the various sciences united together, while the collection of poems more significantly and clearly marked the unity of philosophy and wisdom. He also analyzed the verses he read one by one. He regarded the two preceding dreams as a terrible condemnation of his past life, which had not been blameless before God as before men. But the third dream was gentle and pleasant. It foreshadowed the future and what would happen in the second half of his life. It showed that he would be able to carry out the great cause he envisioned, which gave him "a great responsibility from heaven." "Sir" feeling. He was convinced that these three dreams were entirely a gift from God, asking him to undertake the mission of philosophy, so he was very excited and made a wish to go on a pilgrimage to Loreto.
Military career
In 1620, he participated in the Battle of Bonham and possibly the Battle of White Mountain. But he retired from the army the next year, went to the Netherlands, and lived in The Hague. At this time, he met Princess Elizabeth (Princess Elisabeth) for the first time, when she was still a confused little girl. She later admired Descartes very much, because when she was 19 years old, she read Descartes's "Introduction to Method" and realized that philosophy is so approachable and yet so profound and profound. Descartes experienced military camp life for the last time in 1621, joining the Hungarian army. In March of the following year, he returned to France to deal with financial issues, and negotiated with his brother about the ancestral house and farmland. These properties could earn an annual income of six to seven thousand francs. In order to concentrate on research in the future, he must first plan for living expenses and sell his share of the property. Soon, he traveled again, first to Switzerland and then to Italy. He has lived in Italy for more than a year and once went to Venice to participate in a special local festival - the Wedding Celebration of Venice and the Sea. Then he walked from Venice to the Basilica of Santa Maria della Rolade to make a pilgrimage and fulfill the vow he made back then. In addition, he also participated in the Holy Year promulgated by Urban VIII. Although I once passed by Feileng Cui, I did not visit Galileo. In 1625, he crossed the Alps and returned to France, living in Paris to pursue his research. At that time, the academic celebrities in Paris (including Balzac, mathematician Aldi, Paris mathematics professor Morin and astronomer Debona, etc.) admired Descartes's name and had frequent contacts with him. Descartes also met many old friends here, including Marin Mersenne. Messina remained Descartes's most loyal friend for many years to come. He exchanged letters frequently. He took advantage of his acquaintance with many famous European scholars to introduce Descartes' works to them and summarize their opinions. Tell Descartes.
At first, he stayed at the house of a friend of his father. Because he couldn't bear the pain of socializing, he left without saying goodbye and moved to an unfamiliar urban area. His friend Father Messena was also in Paris and tried to find a quiet place for him. In the autumn of 1628, Descartes decided to leave France for the Netherlands. From then on, he settled there and almost never left until 1649. As for why Descartes chose the Netherlands, we guess it may be because he was afraid that people would accuse him of being a heretic in France. Introduction to René Descartes, which would be detrimental to his life and freedom, or maybe it was just for his acquaintances in France. There were too many, and socializing and socializing hindered his research work. It was better to live in a foreign country, but it was easier to find a quiet environment and complete his philosophical writing project with peace of mind. Because the Netherlands was indeed a good place back then, with clear politics, simple folk customs, and people enjoying sufficient ideas and freedom. Descartes changed his residence many times during his 20 years in the Netherlands, but he usually chose one near a university or a famous library. His income allowed him to rent a small villa and hire several servants. He never married, but while living in the Netherlands, he had a mistress named Helen. She gave birth to a girl named Fran?ine for Descartes. Descartes loved her very much, but unfortunately the girl died at the age of 5. Descartes was sad for a long time.
The turmoil behind the scenes
In order to establish his philosophy as the official philosophy of the Catholic Church, Descartes was eager to spread his philosophy. In 1644, he used Latin to explain his "On the Universe" from the existence of God to all phenomena in nature using deductive methods, and compiled it into "Principia Philosophiae" (Principia Philosophiae).
This book is dedicated to the beautiful Princess Elizabeth who admired him. The whole book is divided into four parts. The first part "Principles of Human Knowledge" describes his metaphysical thoughts; the second part "The Principles of Material Things"; the third part Part "The Visible World"; the fourth part "Earth" comprehensively and systematically expounds the basic ideas of mechanical materialism in his "On the Universe". Descartes compiled it into a textbook format and divided it into four bound volumes, meaning that he wanted to bring its philosophy into the classroom.
Unexpectedly, five years later, the book caused another huge controversy. This time it was the theologian Revius and others who attacked Descartes, regarding Descartes' mechanical cosmology as being almost the same as atheism. As early as 1641, Regius, a disciple of Descartes at the University of Utrecht, used Descartes’ philosophical system to teach. The president at the time, Gilbert Voetius, ) was so opposed to Descartes himself that he sued Descartes in the city court and urged the local court to ban this new idea. Descartes then defended himself and published "Letter from René Descartes to the famous Gilbert Voytes" to refute Voytes. Voytes was not to be outdone and sternly reprimanded him, but was rejected again. Descartes retorted. The district court ordered Descartes to appear in court to plead his case, but Descartes refused and a verdict was passed against him. The school board of Utrecht declared Descartes' philosophy inappropriate and ordered the burning of Descartes's works in public. Fortunately, his friend in The Hague (the French Minister) interceded on his behalf. The judge was finally willing to save everyone's face and only banned future public discussions of Descartes' philosophy and canceled Regius's classes. However, he also did not allow public opposition to Descartes's philosophy. article. Life in the Netherlands is no longer as peaceful as before. Some religious scholars regard Descartes as an enemy, so Descartes returned to his country several times. The first time was in 1644, the year Principles of Philosophy was published. He hoped that Father P. Mesland, who was teaching in Paris, could use his metaphysics as a teaching material. However, in view of Father Meslan's close relationship with Descartes, the president of the Jesuits had already transferred him to Canada and would not allow him to come back. The second time was in 1647. This time he returned because the French king promised to give him a stipend, but this never happened. But he met the French pedagogue and theologian Blaise Pascal and proposed to him a famous experiment that proved that air exerts pressure on all objects. The third time was in 1648, when the French Civil War broke out and the political situation was turbulent, so he only met some famous contemporaries, such as P Gassendi, T Hobbes, Messina, etc. He hurried to the Netherlands and gave up his plan to return to the country to settle down.
Later life
In February 1649, the Swedish Queen Christina invited Descartes to the Swedish royal palace to teach her philosophy, hoping to make her court a refuge for art. A gathering place for all the learned people. Since 1647, she had obtained Descartes's works through the French ambassador and had continued to correspond with him. After receiving a manuscript of "The Passion of the Soul", she sent several letters of invitation one after another, expressing her desire to meet "the outstanding Mr. Descartes." Descartes hesitated for a while because he was "born in the gardens of Touraine" and did not want to "go where the beasts of rock and ice are." But then he thought that such a noble queen might be of great help in promoting his philosophy. Moreover, the queen sent an admiral to persuade him and a warship to pick him up. At the same time, , the French ambassador to Sweden repeatedly urged him, and he finally decided to go north. In September of that year, he took a boat from Amsterdam to Stockholm, the capital of Sweden. Before leaving, he handed over the manuscript of his last work "Trait despassions" (Trait despassions) to the publisher, as well as a incomplete work, "La Recherche de la Verit" (The Search for Truth by the Light of Reason). Par la lumière Naturelle) was also completed around this time.
When Descartes arrived in Stockholm, it was the severe cold season, and the weather in the north was extremely cold. The 23-year-old Queen held a grand welcome ceremony for him. Her enthusiasm and vitality left a deep impression on Descartes. However, the Queen's temperament was a bit weird. She had to attend his classes three times a week, but she had to be in Lecture to her at 5 o'clock in the morning. This was beyond Descartes's expectations. He was used to getting up late. Now, in order to accommodate the queen's habit, he had to get up in the middle of the night three days a week, and then trembled from his apartment to walk in the freezing cold weather. Lessons are held in the Queen's study. After two months of this, Descartes caught a cold in the early morning of February 1, 1650, which soon turned into pneumonia, and his condition was serious. Ten days later, after receiving the last sacrament, he died at the age of 54. The academic circles at that time paid little attention to the news of his death. Only one newspaper reported the news, but the wording was sarcastic: "A madman died in Sweden. He thought people could live as they wanted." Because he was a Catholic, In Protestant Sweden were buried in cemeteries for unbaptized children.
During the funeral, only a few friends came to pay their respects. Does this fulfill his motto: "Anyone who is good at hiding himself is a person who is good at preserving his own health"? However, Descartes' ideal is, after all, the realm that thinkers have always aspired to. The "doubt of method" he raised, the question of "what is true" and the explanation of self-evident laws or intuitions are undoubtedly the central issues of modern philosophy. Therefore, within a few years, everyone discovered his greatness. Acknowledged that he was the prophet of the age. In 1667, his remains were transported back to Paris and buried with great ceremony in the church of Sainte Gneviève-del-Mont. In 1799, the French government placed his remains in the French History Museum, together with the glorious figures in French history. After 1819, his remains were placed in the Saint-Germain-des-près church in Perez for people to pay their respects. In particular, the tombstone reads: "Descartes, the first person since the European Renaissance to fight for and guarantee the rights of reason for mankind." In 1896 and 1937, philosophical conferences were held grandly all over the world to commemorate his birth and the 300th anniversary of the publication of "Introduction to Method". Descartes died of pneumonia. The academic community under the control of the church was very indifferent to Descartes' death, and only a few friends mourned him. As the influence of Descartes' mathematical and philosophical thoughts expanded, the French government did not transport Descartes' ashes back to Paris for burial 18 years after his death. Commenting on the return of Descartes' ashes to his native France, the German mathematician Jacobi said humorously: "It is usually more convenient to possess the ashes of great men than to possess them while they are alive." In 1799, his ashes were placed in a The History Museum was moved to the Sacred Heart Church of Saint-Germain in 1819. On its tombstone is engraved: Descartes, the first person to fight for and guarantee the rights of reason since the European Renaissance.