Descartes

[ dey-kahrt; French dey-kart ]

noun

1. Re·né [r, uh, -, ney, r, uh, -, ney], 1596–1650, French philosopher and mathematician.

Descartes

/ ˈdeɪˌkɑːt; dekart /

noun

1. DescartesRené15961650MFrenchPHILOSOPHY: philosopherSCIENCE: mathematician René (rəne). 1596–1650, French philosopher and mathematician. He provided a mechanistic basis for the philosophical theory of dualism and is regarded as the founder of modern philosophy. He also founded analytical geometry and contributed greatly to the science of optics. His works include Discours de la méthode (1637), Meditationes de Prima Philosophia (1641), and Principia Philosophiae (1644)

Descartes

/ dā-kärt′ /

1. French mathematician and philosopher who discovered that the position of a point can be determined by coordinates, a discovery that laid the foundation for analytic geometry.

Example Sentences

Aristotle believed that animals and humans share similar emotions while Descartes argued that animals were more like machines, lacking the capacity for emotions or consciousness.

From Science Daily

In 1641, French philosopher René Descartes, writing his famous “Meditations on First Philosophy,” observed that a mind is fundamentally different from the body which contains it.

From Salon

An early effort came in the 17th century, by the French philosopher René Descartes who said: "I think therefore I am."

From BBC

But by the time Descartes catalyzed the Enlightenment in the 17th century, he had reduced other animals to mere automatons, tainting centuries of science with the assumption that anything unlike us is inherently inferior.

From New York Times

When the seventeenth-century French philosopher René Descartes was asked about infant consciousness by his critics, he eventually suggested that infants might have thoughts, albeit ones that are simpler than those of adults.

From Science Daily