OPPapers.com Essay Index >> History Other >> Rene Descartes
We have many free term papers and essays on Rene Descartes. We also have a wide variety of research papers and book reports available to you for free. You can browse our collection of term papers or use our search engine.
Rene Descartes Ren? Descartes and his Cartesian system influenced philosophers and scientists of his time, but his work was opposed by Pierre Gassendi and his Epicurean
Rene Descartes Rene Descartes Descartes never did a stroke of useful work in his life. At various times he described himself as a solider, a mathematician, a thinker
Rene Descartes Mathematician Ren? Descartes: "Father of Modern Mathematics" 1596-1650 December 13, 2004 Ren? Descartes was born in La Haye, Touraine (France) in
Rene Descartes - Existence of God Rene Descartes' third meditation from his book Meditations on First Philosophy, examines Descartes' arguments for the existence
Rene Descartes Rene Descartes Rene Descartes was born March 31, 1596 in La Haye, Touraine. Descartes was the son of a minor nobleman and belonged to a family that
Submitted by Giauzar on April 29, 2008
Category: History Other
Words: 3689 | Pages: 15
Views: 159
Popularity Rank: 85,523
Average Member Grade: N/A (Add a Comment / Grade this Paper)
René Descartes and his Cartesian system influenced philosophers and scientists of his time, but his work was opposed by Pierre Gassendi and his Epicurean system. Descartes is considered to be the most important philosopher of the seventeenth century because of his ideas and discoveries. He refused to accept Aristotelian and Scholastic traditions and attempted to change the direction of philosophy, making him a revolutionary figure. However, not all his contemporaries accepted his ideas and objections were raised by Hobbes, Arnauld, Gassendi, and others. Gassendi’s Epicurean system was a major rival to Descartes’ Cartesian system, but in the end the Cartesian system was the most influential. The ideas put forth by Descartes helped provide the foundation for the way science is done today and many of his philosophies had a profound and lasting effect on the world. Gassendi had an equally viable alternative to Cartesianism, and had support in England, and yet his ideas have mainly been forgotten. By examining the conflict between Gassendi and Descartes and their ideas, it is possible to see why Descartes’ Cartesian system was the most influential and longest lasting version of mechanical philosophy.
Even though Gassendi and Descartes were both anti-Aristotelian, interested in natural philosophy, and worked on a new mechanistic philosophy, they opposed each other on almost every idea. When Descartes published his work Meditations on First Philosophy in 1641, he sent it to his friend, Father Mersenne, and to other scholars for there responses. All of the responses and ‘objections’ were published in later editions of the Meditations, along with Descartes’ responses. However, the longest and most critical objection came from Gassendi. Descartes even asked that Gassendi’s objections be left out of the French translation because they were “extremely long” and because “a single objection which those who have slight understanding of my...
You must Login to view the entire paper.
If you are not a member yet, Sign Up for free!