Cartesio
French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist; a central figure of 17th-century rationalism, known for 'Cogito, ergo sum', development of analytic geometry and the Cartesian coordinate system, and works such as Discourse on the Method and Meditations on First Philosophy.
Books
This list of books are ONLY the books that have been ranked on the lists that are aggregated on this site. This is not a comprehensive list of all books by this author.
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1. Discorso Sul Metodo
pour bien conduire sa raison, et chercher la vérité dans les sciences
A concise philosophical treatise that advocates discarding received opinions and applying a disciplined method of doubt and clear, distinct reasoning to attain certain knowledge; it lays out four practical rules — accept only what is evidently true, divide problems into simpler parts, proceed from simple to complex, and make complete enumerations — and models scientific inquiry on mathematical deduction. The work applies this method to questions of natural philosophy and morality, defends the primacy of reason (famously concluding that thought proves existence), and promotes a mechanistic approach to nature.
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