Introduction

Descartes was born in 1596. He attended the Jesuit school at La Fleche from 1606 to 1614 and then obtained a law degree at Poitiers. While spending some time learning military skills and traveling, Descartes began to work on mathematics and physics, and on the night of November 10, 1619, he had three dreams that he took as indications that he should devote his life to developing some of the new ideas about science that he had been considering. During the next few years Descartes traveled and spent time in Paris, in contact with many of the leading scientists and other thinkers of the time.

In 1628 Descartes moved to Holland, where he lived for most of the rest of his life. He was upset enough by the condemnation of Galileo in 1633 to drop his plan for publishing a scientific treatise he had written. It thus was not until 1637 that he published his first book, Discourse on Method, which was accompanied by three scientific essays illustrating how successfully the method he advocated could be used. In 1641 he published his Meditations on First Philosophy, which also contained six sets of objections to Descartes's views, by some philosophers and theologians to whom the Meditations had been sent in manuscript, and his own replies. A systematic exposition of his views, the Principles of Philosophy appeared in 1644. In 1649 Descartes went to Sweden at the invitation of Queen Christina, with whom he had corresponded and who wanted him to teach her philosophy.