Rationalistic philosophy of Rene Descartes. Presentation on the topic “René Descartes” in philosophy Presentation on the topic “Descartes’ contribution to science”
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Biography
Descartes came from an old but impoverished noble family and was the youngest son in the family. He was born on March 31, 1596 in the city of Lae, now Descartes department of Indre-et-Loire, France. His mother died when he was 1 year old. Descartes' father was a judge in the city of Rennes and rarely appeared in Lae; The boy was raised by his maternal grandmother. As a child, Rene was distinguished by fragile health and incredible curiosity.
Descartes received his primary education at the Jesuit college La Flèche, where he met Marin Mersenne, the future coordinator of scientific life in France. Religious education, oddly enough, only strengthened the young Descartes’ skeptical distrust of the philosophical authorities of that time. Later he formulated his method of knowledge: deductive reasoning over the results of reproducible experiments.
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Mathematics
In 1637, Descartes' main mathematical work, Discourse on Method, was published. This book presented analytic geometry, and in its appendices, numerous results in algebra, geometry, optics, and much more.
Of particular note is the mathematical symbolism of Vieta, which he reworked, which from that moment was close to modern. He denoted the coefficients as a, b, c..., and the unknowns as x, y, z. The natural exponent took on its modern form (fractional and negative exponents were established thanks to Newton). A line appears over the radical expression. The equations are reduced to canonical form (zero on the right side).
Descartes' Discourse on Method
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Philosophy
Descartes' philosophy was dualistic. He recognized the existence of two objective entities in the world: extended and thinking, and the problem of their interaction was resolved by introducing a common source, which, acting as a creator, forms both substances according to the same laws. In addition to ordinary matter, Descartes identified an extensive class of invisible subtle matters, with the help of which he tried to explain the action of heat, gravity, electricity and magnetism.
Descartes' main contribution to philosophy was the classical construction of the philosophy of rationalism as a universal method of cognition. Reason, according to Descartes, critically evaluates experimental data and derives from them true laws hidden in nature, formulated in mathematical language. When used skillfully, there are no limits to the power of the mind.
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Proof of God's Existence
Having found the criterion of certainty in distinct, clear ideas, Descartes then undertakes to prove the existence of God and to clarify the basic nature of the material world. Since the belief in the existence of the physical world is based on the data of our sensory perception, and we do not yet know about the latter, whether it is not unconditionally deceiving us, we must first find a guarantee of at least the relative reliability of sensory perceptions. Such a guarantee can only be a perfect being who created us, with our feelings, the idea of which would be incompatible with the idea of deception. It could have been instilled in us, put into us only by the all-perfect being himself. Complete perfection is conceivable only under the condition of possessing all properties to the highest degree, and therefore complete reality, infinitely superior to our own reality.
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Important achievement
In addition, it is necessary to point out his contribution to the development and formation of mathematics and physics: he introduced alphabetic symbols, designated the variable quantity (x, y, z) with the last letters of the Latin alphabet, introduced the modern designation of degrees, laid the foundations of the theory of equations; Descartes introduced the concept of force, clearly formulated the law of inertia, and laid the foundation for optics as a science; Descartes' fundamental discovery is the concept of reflex and the principle of reflex activity.
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There are a total of 17 presentations in the topic
René Descartes (French René Descartes; Latin Renatus Cartesius Cartesius) French mathematician, philosopher, physicist and physiologist, creator of analytical geometry and modern algebraic symbolism, author of the method of radical doubt in philosophy, mechanism in physics, forerunner of reflexology.
Biography Descartes came from an old but impoverished noble family and was the youngest (third) son in the family. His mother died when he was 1 year old. Descartes' father was a judge in the city of Rennes and rarely appeared in Lae; The boy was raised by his maternal grandmother. As a child, Rene was distinguished by fragile health and incredible curiosity.
Descartes received his primary education at the Jesuit college La Flèche, where he met Marin Mersenne (then a student, later a priest), the future coordinator of scientific life in France. Religious education, oddly enough, only strengthened the young Descartes’ skeptical distrust of the philosophical authorities of that time. Later he formulated his method of cognition: deductive (mathematical) reasoning over the results of reproducible experiments.
After graduating from college, Descartes entered military service. He took part in the short-lived Battle of Prague. Then several more years of participation in the war (the siege of Larochelle). Upon returning to France, it turned out that Descartes' freethinking became known to the Jesuits, and they accused him of heresy. Therefore, Descartes moved to Holland (1628), where he spent 20 years.
He maintains extensive correspondence with the best scientists in Europe (through the faithful Mersenne), studies a variety of sciences from medicine to meteorology. Finally, in 1634, he completed his first programmatic book entitled “The World”. But the moment for publication was unsuccessful; a year earlier, the Inquisition almost tortured Galileo. The Copernican theory, adopted in Descartes' book, was officially banned. Therefore, Descartes decided not to publish this work during his lifetime.
Towards the end of Descartes' life, the church's attitude towards his teachings became sharply hostile. Soon after his death, Descartes's main works were included in the notorious "Index", and Louis XIV, by a special decree, banned the teaching of Descartes' philosophy ("Cartesianism") in all educational institutions in France.
17 years after the scientist’s death, his remains were transported to Paris (he was later buried in the Pantheon). In 1819, the long-suffering ashes of Descartes were again disturbed, and now rest in the Church of Saint-Germain des Pres. A crater on the Moon is named after the scientist.
Mathematics In 1637, Descartes' main mathematical work, “Discourse on Method” (full title: “Discourse on the Method for Directing Your Mind and Finding Truth in the Sciences”) was published. This book presented analytical geometry, and in its appendices there were numerous results in algebra, geometry, optics (including the correct formulation of the law of refraction of light) and much more.
Of particular note is the mathematical symbolism of Vieta, which he reworked, which from that moment was close to modern. He denoted the coefficients as a, b, c..., and the unknowns as x, y, z. The natural exponent took on its modern form (fractional and negative exponents were established thanks to Newton). A line appears over the radical expression. The equations are given in canonical form (zero on the right side).
The creation of analytical geometry made it possible to translate the study of the geometric properties of curves and bodies into algebraic language, that is, to analyze the equation of a curve in a certain coordinate system. This translation had the disadvantage that now it was necessary to carefully determine the true geometric properties that do not depend on the coordinate system (invariants). However, the advantages of the new method were exceptionally great, and Descartes demonstrated them in the same book, discovering many provisions unknown to ancient and contemporary mathematicians.
The “Geometry” appendix provided methods for solving algebraic equations (including geometric and mechanical) and classification of algebraic curves. The new way of defining a curve using an equation was a decisive step towards the concept of function. Descartes formulates a precise "rule of signs" for determining the number of positive roots of an equation, although he does not prove it. Descartes studied algebraic functions (polynomials), as well as a number of “mechanical” ones (spirals, cycloids). For transcendental functions, according to Descartes, there is no general research method.
Imaginary numbers were not yet considered by Descartes on equal terms with positive numbers, but he formulated (although did not prove) the fundamental theorem of algebra: the total number of real and complex roots of an equation is equal to its degree. Descartes traditionally called negative roots false, but combined them with positive ones under the term real numbers, separating them from imaginary (complex). This term entered mathematics. However, Descartes showed some inconsistency: the coefficients a, b, c... were considered positive for him, and the case of an unknown sign was specially marked with an ellipsis on the left.
All non-negative real numbers, not excluding irrational ones, are considered by Descartes as equal; they are defined as the ratio of the length of a certain segment to a length standard. Later, Newton and Euler adopted a similar definition of number. Descartes does not yet separate algebra from geometry, although he changes their priorities; he understands solving an equation as constructing a segment with a length equal to the root of the equation. This anachronism was soon discarded by his students, primarily English, for whom geometric constructions are purely an auxiliary device.
The book “Method” immediately made Descartes a recognized authority in mathematics and optics. It is noteworthy that it was published in French and not in Latin. The “Geometry” appendix was, however, immediately translated into Latin and repeatedly published separately, growing from commentaries and becoming a reference book for European scientists. The works of mathematicians of the second half of the 17th century reflect the strong influence of Descartes.
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Latinized name - René Cartesius Place of birth: Lae (province of Touraine), now Descartes (Indre-et-Loire department) (France) Place of death: Stockholm, Sweden Main interests: metaphysics, epistemology, mathematics March 31, 1596 – February 11, 1650
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School/tradition: Cartesianism, rationalism Direction: European philosophy Main contribution to philosophy: the idea of Cogito ergo sum; method of radical doubt; Cartesian dualism; ontological proof of the existence of God. Period: 17th century philosophy (Modern philosophy)
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Recognized as the founder of New European philosophy. Followers: B. Spinoza, A. Arno, N. Malebranche, G. W. Leibniz, I. Kant, E. Husserl and others.
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Biography. Little is known about his childhood and youth, mainly from his writings, in particular from the Discourse on Method, correspondence and a biography written by Adrian Bayeux, the accuracy of which has been subject to excessive criticism. Born into the family of a small nobleman, Joachim Descartes, an adviser to the Parliament of Brittany; He studied at the La Flèche College, organized by the Jesuits, in the province of Anjou, where he was sent in 1604 (according to Bayeux) or in 1606 (according to modern historians) and where he spent more than eight years; In 1616, at the University of Poitiers, he received a bachelor's degree in law (where he also studied medicine), although he subsequently never practiced law; In 1617, Descartes volunteered to serve in the Protestant army and traveled extensively throughout Europe;
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In the 1620s, Descartes met the mathematician M. Mersenne, through whom he “kept in touch” with the entire European scientific community for many years; In 1628, Rene Descartes settled in the Netherlands for more than 15 years, but did not settle in any one place, but changed his place of residence about two dozen times; In 1633, having learned about the condemnation of Galileo by the church, Descartes refused to publish the natural philosophical work “The World,” which outlined the ideas of the natural origin of the universe according to the mechanical laws of matter; In 1649, at the invitation of the Swedish Queen Christina, Descartes went to Sweden. The harsh climate and unusual regime (the queen forced Descartes to get up at 5 a.m. to give her lessons and carry out other assignments) undermined Descartes' health, and, having caught a cold, he died of pneumonia.
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Basic philosophical works. The year 1619 turned out to be a key year for Descartes scientifically. It was at this time, as Rene himself wrote in his diary, that the foundations of a new “most amazing science” were revealed to him. “The World, or Treatise on Light” (1633, published only in 1664), in which he expressed his agreement with the teachings of Galileo; The work “Discourse on Method” (1637), with which modern European philosophy began; The main philosophical work “Reflections on First Philosophy” (1641); “Principles of Philosophy” (1644) - a compendium summarizing the author’s most important metaphysical and natural philosophical theories; Rene Descartes’s last philosophical work, “The Passions of the Soul,” published in 1649, also had a great influence on European thought.
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Rene Descartes is a great philosopher. Rene Descartes was not only a brilliant naturalist, mathematician, and physiologist, but also a great philosopher. The main goal of his philosophy: eliminating obstacles to objectively reliable knowledge. His contribution to philosophy was called the Cartesian Revolution, from Cartesius, the Latinized name for a philosopher.
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Dualism. Descartes' philosophy was dualistic. He recognized the existence of two objective entities in the world: At the same time, the problem of their interaction in a thinking being - a person - turned out to be in principle insoluble in his philosophy. extended (res extensa) thinking (res cogitans)
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The doctrine of substances. Studying the problem of being, Descartes derives a basic, fundamental concept that would characterize the essence of being: Substance is everything that exists, not needing anything other than itself for its existence. Only one substance has this quality and it can only be God, who is eternal, uncreated, indestructible, omnipotent, and is the source and cause of everything. Being the Creator, God created the world, also consisting of substances. Substances created by God (individual things, ideas) also possess the main quality of substance - they do not need anything other than themselves for their existence. Moreover, created substances are self-sufficient only in relation to each other. In relation to the highest substance - God, they are derivative, secondary and dependent on him (since they were created by him).
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Evidence for the existence of God. 1. The most famous is the so-called “ontological argument”: God is an all-perfect being, therefore the concept of him cannot lack the predicate of external existence, which means it is impossible to deny the existence of God without falling into contradiction. 2. There is an idea of God in our mind, this idea must have a cause, but the cause can only be God himself, since otherwise the idea of a higher reality would be generated by something that does not possess this reality, i.e. in action there was there would be more reality than reason, which is absurd. 3. Based on the necessity of God's existence to sustain human existence. Descartes believed that God, while not in himself bound by the laws of human truth, is nevertheless the source of man’s “innate knowledge,” which includes the very idea of God, as well as logical and mathematical axioms.
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Classification of idols. Like F. Bacon, Descartes had his own classification of idols - the main sources of error:
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Support points of rationalism. The center of attention was made by the human mind, which comprehends any truth. Before Descartes, methodology developed only in one direction - inductively (F. Bacon's method): from the individual and particular to increasingly general. Descartes, using the example of physical knowledge, started from the most general provisions and from them moved on to more specific provisions of physics, then reaching the most specific sciences. Thanks to his mathematical mindset, the path from the general to the specific was determined - the methodology began to develop deductively (the method of R. Descartes).
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Rationalistic method. Descartes was not satisfied with traditional logic, which is more suitable for considering what is already known than for discovering what is still unknown to us. These considerations guided him in developing the correct method: The most important rule requires considering as true only what is known with obviousness and clarity (this rule requires avoiding “rashness and bias”). Mentally divide any of the “difficulties I am investigating” into extremely simple elements. Adhere to a “certain order of thinking,” moving from simple objects to knowledge of the most complex. Always use complete lists, general reviews, in which nothing would be missed.
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The concept of a “clear and attentive mind.” The main principle of rationalism: It is also the most important provision of its methodology and epistemology. Intuition must be considered as natural and at the same time intellectual light: intuition is separated from sensory perceptions. It is a strong, distinct concept of a “clear and attentive mind” - direct intuition. intuition
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Three classes of ideas. In cognitive activity, Descartes saw: Ideas that each person receives from the outside; A variety of ideas formed on the basis of ideas of the first kind in his mind; Innate ideas independent of external objects acting on the senses. They are distinguished by: clarity, distinctness, simplicity.
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In addition to innate ideas, there is also an Example: the proposition that it is impossible for the same thing to be and not to be at the same time. Congenitality is a predisposition, a tendency to manifest itself under certain conditions. innate axioms
Slide text: Latinized name - René Cartesius Place of birth: Lae (province of Touraine), now Descartes (Indre-et-Loire department) (France) Place of death: Stockholm, Sweden Main interests: metaphysics, epistemology, mathematics March 31, 1596 – 11 February 1650
Slide text: School/tradition: Cartesianism, rationalism Direction: European philosophy Main contribution to philosophy: the idea of Cogito ergo sum; method of radical doubt; Cartesian dualism; ontological proof of the existence of God. Period: 17th century philosophy (Modern philosophy)
Slide text: Recognized as the founder of New European philosophy. Followers: B. Spinoza, A. Arno, N. Malebranche, G. W. Leibniz, I. Kant, E. Husserl and others.
Slide text: Biography. Little is known about his childhood and youth, mainly from his writings, in particular from the Discourse on Method, correspondence and a biography written by Adrian Bayeux, the accuracy of which has been subject to excessive criticism. Born into the family of a small nobleman, Joachim Descartes, an adviser to the Parliament of Brittany; He studied at the La Flèche College, organized by the Jesuits, in the province of Anjou, where he was sent in 1604 (according to Bayeux) or in 1606 (according to modern historians) and where he spent more than eight years; In 1616, at the University of Poitiers, he received a bachelor's degree in law (where he also studied medicine), although he subsequently never practiced law; In 1617, Descartes volunteered to serve in the Protestant army and traveled extensively throughout Europe;
Slide text: In the 1620s, Descartes met the mathematician M. Mersenne, through whom he “kept in touch” with the entire European scientific community for many years; In 1628, Rene Descartes settled in the Netherlands for more than 15 years, but did not settle in any one place, but changed his place of residence about two dozen times; In 1633, having learned about the condemnation of Galileo by the church, Descartes refused to publish the natural philosophical work “The World,” which outlined the ideas of the natural origin of the universe according to the mechanical laws of matter; In 1649, at the invitation of the Swedish Queen Christina, Descartes went to Sweden. The harsh climate and unusual regime (the queen forced Descartes to get up at 5 a.m. to give her lessons and carry out other assignments) undermined Descartes' health, and, having caught a cold, he died of pneumonia.
Slide text: Basic philosophical works. The year 1619 turned out to be a key year for Descartes scientifically. It was at this time, as Rene himself wrote in his diary, that the foundations of a new “most amazing science” were revealed to him. “The World, or Treatise on Light” (1633, published only in 1664), in which he expressed his agreement with the teachings of Galileo; The work “Discourse on Method” (1637), with which modern European philosophy began; The main philosophical work “Reflections on First Philosophy” (1641); “Principles of Philosophy” (1644) - a compendium summarizing the author’s most important metaphysical and natural philosophical theories; Rene Descartes’s last philosophical work, “The Passions of the Soul,” published in 1649, also had a great influence on European thought.
Slide text: Founders of modern philosophy.
Slide text: Rene Descartes is a great philosopher. Rene Descartes was not only a brilliant naturalist, mathematician, and physiologist, but also a great philosopher. The main goal of his philosophy: eliminating obstacles to objectively reliable knowledge. His contribution to philosophy was called the Cartesian Revolution, from Cartesius, the Latinized name for a philosopher.
Slide text: Dualism. Descartes' philosophy was dualistic. He recognized the existence of two objective entities in the world: At the same time, the problem of their interaction in a thinking being - man - turned out to be in principle insoluble in his philosophy. extended (res extensa) thinking (res cogitans)
Slide text: The doctrine of substances. Studying the problem of being, Descartes derives a basic, fundamental concept that would characterize the essence of being: Substance is everything that exists, not needing anything other than itself for its existence. Only one substance has this quality and it can only be God, who is eternal, uncreated, indestructible, omnipotent, and is the source and cause of everything. Being the Creator, God created the world, also consisting of substances. Substances created by God (individual things, ideas) also possess the main quality of substance - they do not need anything other than themselves for their existence. Moreover, created substances are self-sufficient only in relation to each other. In relation to the highest substance - God, they are derivative, secondary and dependent on him (since they were created by him).
Slide text: Evidence of the existence of God. 1. The most famous is the so-called “ontological argument”: God is an all-perfect being, therefore the concept of him cannot lack the predicate of external existence, which means it is impossible to deny the existence of God without falling into contradiction. 2. There is an idea of God in our mind, this idea must have a cause, but the cause can only be God himself, since otherwise the idea of a higher reality would be generated by something that does not possess this reality, i.e. in action there was there would be more reality than reason, which is absurd. 3. Based on the necessity of God's existence to sustain human existence. Descartes believed that God, while not in himself bound by the laws of human truth, is nevertheless the source of man’s “innate knowledge,” which includes the very idea of God, as well as logical and mathematical axioms.
Slide text: Classification of idols. Like F. Bacon, Descartes had his own classification of idols - the main sources of error:
Slide text: Support points of rationalism. The center of attention was made by the human mind, which comprehends any truth. Before Descartes, methodology developed only in one direction - inductively (F. Bacon's method): from the individual and particular to increasingly general. Descartes, using the example of physical knowledge, started from the most general provisions and from them moved on to more specific provisions of physics, then reaching the most specific sciences. Thanks to his mathematical mindset, the path from the general to the specific was determined - the methodology began to develop deductively (the method of R. Descartes).
Slide text: Rationalistic method. Descartes was not satisfied with traditional logic, which is more suitable for considering what is already known than for discovering what is still unknown to us. These considerations guided him in developing the correct method: The most important rule requires considering as true only what is known with obviousness and clarity (this rule requires avoiding “rashness and bias”). Mentally divide any of the “difficulties I am investigating” into extremely simple elements. Adhere to a “certain order of thinking,” moving from simple objects to knowledge of the most complex. Always use complete lists, general reviews, in which nothing would be missed.
Slide text: The concept of a “clear and attentive mind.” The main principle of rationalism: It is also the most important provision of its methodology and epistemology. Intuition must be considered as natural and at the same time intellectual light: intuition is separated from sensory perceptions. It is a strong, distinct concept of a “clear and attentive mind” - intuition is immediate. intuition
Slide text: Three classes of ideas. In cognitive activity, Descartes saw: Ideas that each person receives from the outside; A variety of ideas formed on the basis of ideas of the first kind in his mind; Innate ideas independent of external objects acting on the senses. They are distinguished by: clarity, distinctness, simplicity.
Slide text: In addition to innate ideas, there are also Example: the proposition that it is impossible for the same thing to be and not to be at the same time. Congenitality is a predisposition, a tendency to manifest itself under certain conditions. innate axioms
Slide text: Methodological doubt. The main question of philosophy: The study of the possibility of reliable scientific knowledge and the method by which such knowledge can be achieved. ? Is there reliable knowledge that could serve as a foundation, a support for all science?
Slide text: The solution to these problems had as its prerequisite the overcoming of philosophical skepticism. The first step in refuting it: general and complete doubt. And doubt is a mental activity.
Slide text: Immediate certainty of consciousness. As a thinker, I certainly exist: Reliable knowledge exists because... there is a thinking person himself. “I think, therefore I am.” (Cogito ergo sum...)
Slide text: Ethical views. the idea of a perfect being as the true object of love; the idea of the opposition of spirit to matter, which instructs us to move away from everything corporeal; the idea of the infinity of the universe, prescribing “exaltation above all earthly things and humility before Divine wisdom; the idea of our solidarity with other beings and the whole world, dependence on them and the need for sacrifices for the common good.
Slide text: Always strive to conquer yourself rather than fate, and change your desires rather than the order in the world. (c) Common sense is the most common thing in the world because everyone thinks that they are fully endowed with it. (c) Loneliness must be sought in big cities. (c) What is most envied is fame. (c) The desire for distinction with a lack of character bends one person over another. (With)
Slide text: Define words correctly and you will free the world from half the misunderstandings. (c) Cowardice comes only from the absence of a certain hope and desire. (c) It is not enough to have a good mind, the main thing is to use it well. (c) In order to improve the mind, one must think more than memorize. (c) Nothing comes of nothing. /Ex nihilo nihil fit/. (c) We can give ourselves an account of the state of health of our body, but never about the state of our mind. (With)
Slide text: Thank you for your attention!
