Descartes believed that the water, earth, air and all other bodies are composed by many particles, each different in shape and size, among which there are many “intervals.”

The Father of Deductive reasoning, Descartes believed that thinking and deducing was the cornerstone of knowledge. He was a cartesian which means that he believed that there was a definite mind body split. He believed that the thinking mind was more real than the body in which it existed.

Discourse of methods and the nature of the terrestrial bodies were among his speeches, the nature of the Terrestrial Bodies being the first.

Born in La Haye, Touraine (a region and former province of France), Descartes was the son of a minor nobleman and belonged to a family that had produced a number of learned men. At the age of eight he was enrolled in a Jesuit school where he remained for eight years. Besides the usual classical studies, Descartes received instruction in mathematics and in Scholastic philosophy (which attempted to use human reason to understand Christian doctrine).

Descartes Jesuit teachers stressed knowledge and experience over rote memorization. Descartes worked in and through the philosophy of Cartesian beliefs. Roman Catholicism exerted a strong influence on Descartes throughout his life. Upon graduation from school, he studied law at the University of Poitiers, graduating in 1616.

Descsartes imagined that Satan had presented a false world of reality to him, and that all of Descartes' senses were being deceived: "I think, therefore I am", is an attempt to at least demonstrate that the philosopher's mind is his own and is not influenced by the outside world. Unfortunately, as females were seen as being too attached to their bodies (senses) Descartes believed that only men could obtain this rationality.

As his views were too liberal for the French Church during the Thirty Years (religious) War, he moved first to Holland, and later to Sweden where he died as a tutor to the Queen.

Descartes was acquainted with Galileo, Descargues, Pascal, and other leading men of his times. Spinoza studied Descartes ideas and published the book, Principles of the Philosophy of Rene Descartes in 1663.

Written Works

Principia Philosophae

Rules for the Direction of the Mind

The Passion of the Soul

Discourse and Method