René Descartes (1596-1650)
Series: Your Philosophy Minute with Prof. Andrew Pessin
From: Andrew Pessin
Length: 00:02:00
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- René Descartes (1596-1650)
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- Andrew Pessin
The "father of modern philosophy," René Descartes was invited by the Queen of Sweden, in 1649, to become her personal tutor. What she neglected to mention was that she wanted her daily lessons at 5 in the morning, in winter. Descartes promptly caught pneumonia -- and died. But before his demise he managed to develop an entirely new way of thinking about the physical world, one dramatically at odds with the reigning Aristotelian-Christian worldview. Modern philosophy had been born, and there was no turning back.
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Piece Description
The "father of modern philosophy," René Descartes was invited by the Queen of Sweden, in 1649, to become her personal tutor. What she neglected to mention was that she wanted her daily lessons at 5 in the morning, in winter. Descartes promptly caught pneumonia -- and died. But before his demise he managed to develop an entirely new way of thinking about the physical world, one dramatically at odds with the reigning Aristotelian-Christian worldview. Modern philosophy had been born, and there was no turning back.
Transcript
The “father of modern philosophy,” René Descartes was invited by the Queen of Sweden, in 1649, to become her tutor. What she neglected to mention was that she wanted her daily lessons at 5 in the morning, in winter. Descartes promptly caught pneumonia -- and died.
But before he did, he managed to refute a certain medieval view of the physical world, and replace it with one on which the only properties matter has are size, shape, and motion. This may not sound controversial, but in fact it was -- because the medieval view of the world was also the Christian view, so rejecting it seemed like rejecting Christianity -- risky business in 17th-century Europe.
Of course he knew better than to directly attack that view. So instead he simply ignored it! In his famous Meditations, he observes that the first thing I can know with certainty is that I exist -- for I cannot be deceived about it...
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Music by Arthur Kreiger
