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René Descartes (1596-1650)
René Descartes is a famous French philosopher of the 16th century who wrote six important Meditations. In the First Meditation, Descartes establishes doubt in general of all things, and especially of material objects. In the Second, he reasons the reality of existence through the experience of the mind. His famous quote "Cogito Ergo Sum", "I think, therefore I am" is taken from this Meditation. In the Third Meditation, he argues for the existence of God. He asserts here that is will be difficult to understand the idea of a being that is absolutely perfect given our limited scope. In the Fourth, he analyzes what is perceived to be true; and, at the same time, is explained wherein consists the nature of error, that sort alone which arises in the determination of the true and the false. In the Fifth, besides the illustration of corporeal nature, taken generically, a new demonstration is given of the existence of God. Finally, in the Sixth, the act of the understanding (intellectio) is distinguished from that of the imagination (imaginatio).
