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René Descartes

1641

START WITH THE PUZZLE

Should every belief be withheld whenever error is possible, or is doubt a test used for a particular purpose?

Evidence-backed moments
6
Timeline events
2
Verified places
1

This is a guided intellectual story assembled from verified claims, works, and events in which this thinker actually appears. It avoids filling gaps with a generic encyclopedia biography.

Why this thinker is worth following

Story 1What can we claim to know?

Descartes — Using doubt as a method

The question that opens it

Should every belief be withheld whenever error is possible, or is doubt a test used for a particular purpose?

Follow the argument, not just the name
  1. 1

    The First Meditation uses a method of withholding assent from prior opinions whenever there is any reason for doubt.

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    This is an evidence-linked editorial account, not a direct quotation.

    • Meditationes de prima philosophia

      René Descartes · 1641 · Adam–Tannery VII, Corpus Descartes digital edition with page markers and original-edition images

      Locator: Meditation I, AT VII 17–18

      Open source

    • Descartes' Epistemology

      Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

      Locator: Section 2.2

      Open source
  2. 2

    The Second Meditation argues that existence cannot be denied while the very act of being deceived or doubting is occurring.

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    This is an evidence-linked editorial account, not a direct quotation.

    • Meditationes de prima philosophia

      René Descartes · 1641 · Adam–Tannery VII, Corpus Descartes digital edition with page markers and original-edition images

      Locator: Meditation II, AT VII 25

      Open source

    • Descartes' Epistemology

      Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

      Locator: Section 4.1

      Open source
  3. 3

    Immediately afterward, the meditator limits the result by saying that what this existing self is has not yet been adequately understood.

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    This is an evidence-linked editorial account, not a direct quotation.

    • Meditationes de prima philosophia

      René Descartes · 1641 · Adam–Tannery VII, Corpus Descartes digital edition with page markers and original-edition images

      Locator: Meditation II, AT VII 25–27

      Open source

    • Descartes' Epistemology

      Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

      Locator: Section 4.1

      Open source
  4. 4

    The first Latin edition was published by Michael Soly in Paris in 1641.

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    This is an evidence-linked editorial account, not a direct quotation.

    • Meditationes de prima philosophia

      René Descartes · 1641 · Paris: Michael Soly, first Latin edition

      Locator: Title page and imprint

      Open source
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Story 2What makes a mind and a self persist?

Descartes — The thinking self and the extended body

The question that opens it

If every bodily fact is doubted, does the thinking self remain, and could it exist without the body?

Follow the argument, not just the name
  1. 1

    Descartes structures the Meditations to withdraw from the senses through doubt and reach certainty about the thinking subject.

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    This is an evidence-linked editorial account, not a direct quotation.

    • René Descartes

      Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

      Locator: §4.2 The Meditations; Meditation II

      Open source
  2. 2

    The Sixth Meditation argument for real distinction treats mind and body as non-identical and argues for the possibility of their existing apart.

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    This is an evidence-linked editorial account, not a direct quotation.

    • Descartes' Modal Metaphysics

      Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

      Locator: §5 Real Distinction; AT 7:78, CSM 2:54

      Open source
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Decisive moments in time

  1. 1641

    The first Latin edition is published in Paris.

    Paris · Publication

    PerspectiveOpen in question

  2. 1641

    The Latin Meditations appears in Paris and places the mind-body distinction at center stage.

    Paris · Publication

    PerspectiveOpen in question

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