mechanical world of science appear so irreconcilable. He suffered a lifelong mental strife, for within himself mediævalism and science were engaged in an unending dramatic struggle. The philosophy of Descartes was a compromise between his traditions and his scientific genius; and his philosophy never overcame his conflicting motives. The admirers of Descartes have called him the father of modern thought, and this is partly true. Descartes pointed out the incontestable principle from which modern thought has proceeded; he won his place in the history of philosophy by attempting to harmonize the old scholasticism with the new science under this single principle. The Life and Philosophical Writings of Descartes (1596-1650). (1) As Child and Student (1596–1613). At the Jesuit school at La Flèche from his eighth to his seventeenth year. Here he studied the ancient languages, logic, ethics, physics, metaphysics, and mathematics. (2) As Traveler (1613-1628). Descartes studies "the book of the world." At Paris (1613-1617), in retirement studying the mathematical problems of music. In Holland (1617-1619), nominally attached to the army of Maurice. First Journey (1619-1621), going through Bavaria, Austria, north to the shores of the Baltic and back to Holland. The greater part of these two years was spent in Bohemia, enrolled in the army of the Emperor. He was on this journey when his mental crisis occurredat Neuberg, in Austria, in 1619. It was then that he discovered either analytical geometry or the fundamental principle of his philosophy. In Paris again (1623). Second Journey (1623-1625), to Switzerland and Italy, making a pilgrimage to the shrine of Loretto. (3) As Writer (1629-1650). In Holland (1629-1649). For the sake of absolute seclusion from inquisitive visitors, Descartes changed his residence in Holland twenty-four times and lived in thirteen places. All his correspondence passed through Mersenne. During these twenty years he made three journeys to France, one to Denmark, and one to England. Thus this spirit of absolute retirement became his period of literary production, chiefly between the years 1635 and 1644. He wrote his Method (1635-1637).1 Le Monde (1630-1632), published posthumously. Passions (1646-1649), published posthumously. (4) In Stockholm, Sweden (1649-1650). The romantic side of the life of Descartes appears in his book on the Passions, which he wrote for the Princess Elizabeth, and also in his acceptance of the invitation of the Queen of Sweden to reside at her court and become her tutor. He died there from the rigors of the climate after a residence of one year. The Two Conflicting Influences upon the Thought of Descartes. On the other hand, all the ties of inheritance, family influence, and early education allied Des 1 One of a number of Essais philosophiques. The others were physical and geometrical treatises. 2 This and the Principles are his two ripest works. 8 This was a systematic statement of his teaching. 4 Conditions had become intolerable for him in Holland, where he had a large following and where had arisen a heated controversy over his doctrine. cartes with the spirit of the Middle Ages. A delicate constitution made him shrink from public controversy and the public eye. He even made a half apology for his pursuit of science by saying that he was seeking, to reform his own life, and that it was absurd for an individual to attempt to reform a State. His family on both sides belonged to the landed gentry, and he was therefore bound by caste to the support of institutional authority. He was educated in the Jesuit school of La Flèche, and this most conservative of ecclesiastical influences restrained him from following the logical conclusions of his own thought. He was therefore both physically timid and intellectually aloof. In 1632 he was about to publish Le Monde, which was a scientific description of the origin and nature of the universe, and agrees in part with the Copernican theory. It was a treatise which would naturally conflict with the teaching of the Church. He learned of the trial of Galileo at Rome, and he never dared to publish the book. The rival spirit speaking in Descartes was the new scientific spirit of the Renaissance. He had a genius for mathematics even when he was at school at La Flèche. On his going to Paris he became the center of the most notable scientific circle in France-a circle composed of such men as the Abbé Claude Picot, the physician Villebressieux, the optician Ferrier, the mathematician Mersenne, and many other scientists and theologians. But he became dissatisfied and made some long journeys in order to study "the book of the world." His discovery of his method and his philosophical principle was the result. In mathematics he was the discoverer of analytical geometry and was the first to represent powers by exponents; in physics he stated the principle of the refraction of light in trigonometrical form; he explained the rainbow; he weighed the air. The same industrious application of the new scientific methods that yielded great results in science, also resulted in his development of his philosophy. Love for original discovery made Descartes disdainful of all scientific authorities and even contemptuous of his notable contemporaries, Galileo and Harvey. He mentions by name Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, Campanella, Telesio, and Bruno, but he claimed that he learned nothing from any one except Kepler. He felt himself to be above criticism, and in his self-arrogating dogmatism he is the type of the modern individualist. He defined truth as candor to one's self, and both in his practical life and in his theoretical ideal there is an entire absence of utilitarianism. The Method of Descartes. Both science and scholasticism show themselves in the method of Descartes. He attempted to construct a philosophical method entirely in the scientific spirit of the Renaissance, but in the application of it he showed his scholastic training. Surfeited with inadequate and traditional methods he felt the need of some single principle by which all knowledge might be systematized, and he was sure that mathematics would furnish the key. The sole aim of philosophy is to universalize mathematics and create a system from a central point. Nothing, therefore, is true unless it is derived from this central principle. Truth is to be found, not in metaphysics, nor in empirical science, but in mathematics. Descartes was not faithful to Galileo's mathematical principle in his employment of it, and his influence in metaphysics was thereby all the greater; for in the development of his method he found assistance in the traditional scholastic methods. Descartes was original in insisting upon finding the existence of an absolute and undeniable principle before any progress could be made. Such an absolute principle can be obtained only by an inductive sifting of all ideas. From this all further truths must be obtained by deduction. Every true philosophy must therefore be an induction or analysis of ideas, and secondly, a deduction or synthesis. The great contribution of Descartes was therefore this: to the inductive method of Bacon and the deductive method of Galileo, he added an absolute principle which must be taken as the basis of both induction and deduction.1 Induction-Provisional Doubt -The Ultimate Certainty of Consciousness. The philosophical proclamation of Descartes was characteristically French, for he demanded the same return to an uncorrupted nature for the understanding that Rousseau many years later demanded for the heart. The first step of Descartes was also French in its demand for absolute clearness, which from his youth had shown him to be so passionately fond of mathematics. The way to such clearness is through provisional doubt. Let us purify the understanding by delivering it of the rubbish of traditional opinions, taken upon the say-so of others. By this negative induction of received knowledge, let us see if there is anything positive and certain. In Descartes' Meditations, in "a dramatic dialogue with himself," he portrays his 1 The rules which should govern research are as follows: free yourself from all prejudice; accept only what is clearly seen; analyze all problems into the simplest elements; ascend from the simplest to the complex; include all factors in the problem. This sounds like Bacon's method, but we shall see how Descartes by mathematical analogy arrived at conclusions very different from Bacon's. |