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The World, also called Treatise on the Light ( French title: Traité du monde et de la lumière ), is a book by René Descartes (1596–1650). Written between 1629 and 1633, it contains a nearly complete version of his philosophy, from method, to metaphysics, to physics and biology . Descartes espoused mechanical philosophy, a form of natural ...
René Descartes ( / deɪˈkɑːrt / day-KART or UK: / ˈdeɪkɑːrt / DAY-kart; French: [ʁəne dekaʁt] ⓘ; [note 3] [11] 31 March 1596 – 11 February 1650) [12] [13] [14] : 58 was a French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician, widely considered a seminal figure in the emergence of modern philosophy and science. Mathematics was ...
t. e. The wax argument or the sheet of wax example is a thought experiment that René Descartes created in the second of his Meditations on First Philosophy. He devised it to analyze what properties are essential for bodies, show how uncertain our knowledge of the world is compared to our knowledge of our minds, and argue for rationalism. [1] [2]
t. e. Cartesianism is the philosophical and scientific system of René Descartes and its subsequent development by other seventeenth century thinkers, most notably François Poullain de la Barre, Nicolas Malebranche and Baruch Spinoza. [1] Descartes is often regarded as the first thinker to emphasize the use of reason to develop the natural ...
t. e. La Géométrie was published in 1637 as an appendix to Discours de la méthode ( Discourse on the Method ), written by René Descartes. In the Discourse, Descartes presents his method for obtaining clarity on any subject. La Géométrie and two other appendices, also by Descartes, La Dioptrique ( Optics) and Les Météores ( Meteorology ...
Extension (metaphysics) In metaphysics, extension signifies both 'stretching out' (Latin: extensio) as well as later 'taking up space', and most recently, spreading one's internal mental cognition into the external world. The history of thinking about extension can be traced back at least to Archytas ' spear analogy for the infinity of space.
Principles of Philosophy (Latin: Principia Philosophiae) is a book by René Descartes. In essence, it is a synthesis of the Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy. It was written in Latin, published in 1644 and dedicated to Elisabeth of Bohemia, with whom Descartes had a long
In the 19th century, the prevailing scientific view on the source of the Sun's heat was that it was generated by gravitational contraction. In the 1840s, astronomers J. R. Mayer and J. J. Waterson first proposed that the Sun's massive weight would cause it to collapse in on itself, generating heat.