The importance accorded to Descartes by the country of his birth can today be gauged from the official address of his birthplace: Maison de Descartes, Rue Descartes, Descartes. He was born in 1596 to relatively wealthy parents on the fringes of the nobility...
In the Meditations, Descartes sets out to establish the possibility of certain knowledge. Bernard Williams has called this the Project of Pure Enquiry: an attempt to ground and attain knowledge unconstrained by any previous assumptions or for any partisan purpose...
The best known form of Descartes’ famous argument occurs in the later Principles of Philosophy: ... this piece of knowledge—I am thinking, therefore I exist—is the first and most certain of all to occur to anyone who philosophizes in an orderly way...
In the Second Meditation, Descartes brings his systematic doubt to an end and begins the slow process of piecing together a more secure body of knowledge. The general direction of this Meditation is evident in its subtitle...
After becoming more familiar with his true nature as res cogitans, and the various modes of thinking included in that characterisation, Descartes now looks to other ideas to test their certainty. He discovers a way of escaping from the sceptical doubt...
After establishing the existence of God in the Third Meditation, Descartes is now able to pursue knowledge that goes beyond subjective self-awareness. ‘I think I can see a way forward to the knowledge of other things’, as he cautiously puts it...
With his criterion of clarity and distinctness now guaranteed by God, and an understanding of how and why he has been mistaken in the past, Descartes continues to rebuild his knowledge. He turns his attention to material things, examining their ideas to discover their true nature...
The existence of God is crucial to the project of the Meditations in a number of ways. It is one of two claims (along with dualism) celebrated in the book’s subtitle – in which are demonstrated the existence of God and the distinction between the human soul and the body...
The final Meditation weaves together several threads that have emerged over the work so far. The primary aim is to establish, at last, the existence of material objects. This leads Descartes to develop the real distinction between material and mental substances, and to clarify the relationship between his own mind and body...
The real distinction between mind and body is one of two claims celebrated in the book’s subtitle – in which are demonstrated the existence of God and the distinction between the human soul and the body – which indicates its central importance to Descartes’ project...