Definition for View source for Rene Descartes

Born of wealthy parents in La Haye, France, Descartes was one of the most influential thinkers of the Renaissance. He contributed to mathematics, philosophy, psychology, and physiology. Descartes, a very private man, enjoyed solitude and was iconoclastic. While enrolled at a Jesuit school, he convinced the school authorities to allow him to sleep until 11 a.m., because he did his best thinking while in bed.

Perhaps because of this individualistic nature, Descartes began to doubt all that he had learned in school. This skepticism soon spread to all areas of his life. Descartes doubted everything. Of one thing, however, Descartes had no doubt: that he was doubting. This led to his famous conclusion, "cogito, ergo sum." "I think, therefore I am," which suggests that all that is certain concerning the human condition is that each of us exists. Descartes also made significant contributions to physiology. He believed that what distinguished living from nonliving material was "animal spirits." Animal spirits, according to Descartes, gave humans their ability to move and worked mechanically, like hydraulics. Although his notion of animal spirits has been shown incorrect, his study of both animals and humans paved the way for future discoveries. Descartes also addressed the mind-body problem. He thought that there was a physical body that could be studied scientifically and that there was a mind that was not physical and that could not be studied scientifically. He believed the mind and body interacted in the pineal gland, which sits at the center of the base of the brain. His position was thus dualistic and interactionist.

Because of interference by the Catholic Church and increased demands on his time because of his growing fame, Descartes moved to Sweden in 1650 to tutor Queen Christina. Unfortunately for humanity, Queen Christina insisted on being tutored at 5 a.m., well before Descartes' 11 a.m. wake-up time. Within six months of his arrival in Sweden, Descartes contracted pneumonia and died.