DES CARTES. 



other profit, he said, than that he had 

 freed himselffrom many prejudices, and 

 rendered his mind more fit for the recep- 

 tion of truth. He fixed his residence at 

 Paris, and began to study the mathema- 

 tics, in hopes of discovering 1 general prin- 

 ciples of relations, measures, and propor- 

 tions, applicable to all subjects, by means 

 of which truth might with certainty be 

 investigated, and the limits of knowledge 

 enlarged. From mathematics he turned 

 'his attention to ethical inquiries, and at- 

 tempted to raise a superstructure of mo- 

 Tals upon the foundation of natural sci- 

 ence, conceiving that there could be no 

 tetter means of discovering the true prin- 

 ciples and rules of action, than by con- 

 templating our own nature,and the nature 

 of the world around us. As the result of 

 these inquiries, he wrote a treatise on the 

 passions. After some time spent in Italy, 

 whither he went in pursuit of knowledge, 

 he returned again to Paris, and from 

 thence he went to Holland, with a view 

 of raising a new system of philosophy. 

 Here he chose retirement, as the best 

 means of forwarding the plans which he 

 hoped to execute. He employed himself 

 in investigating a proof from reason, inde- 

 pendently of revelation, of the fundamen- 

 tal principles of religion, and published 

 '* Philosophical Meditations on the First 

 Philosophy." At the same time he pur- 

 sued his physical inquiries, and published 

 a. treatise " On Meteors." He paid con- 

 siderable attention to medicine, anatomy, 

 and chemistry; and wrote also an astro- 

 nomical treatise on the system of the 

 world, which he suppressed, upon hear- 

 ing of the vile and infamous treatment 

 that Galileo had met with for his dis- 

 cussions on the same subject. See GA- 

 LILEO. 



The Cartesian philosophy was first 

 taught in the schools of Deventer, 1633 : 

 it attracted many zealous admirers, and 

 excited against him a host of opponents. 

 The system of Des Cartes obtained so 

 much credit in Great Britain, that the 

 inventor was invited to settle in England, 

 as well by the king as by some of the 

 principal nobility. This invitation he 

 would probably have accepted, had not 

 the civil wars prevented Charles I. from 

 being able to render the philosopher all 

 the patronage which he had formerly 

 tendered him. At this period he was 

 forced into many disputes, in the course 

 of which, as well as by his collateral con- 

 duct, he displayed an eager desire to be. 

 considered the" father of a sect, and disco- 



vers more jealousy and ambition than be- 

 came a philosopher. 



During Des Cartes's residence in Hol- 

 land, he went occasionally to his native 

 Country, where, in 1643, he published an 

 abstract of his philosophy, under the title 

 of" Philosophical Specimens." He was 

 promised, on one of these visits, an annual 

 pension of 3000 livres, which he never re- 

 ceived. He was now invited by Christina, 

 Queen of Sweden, to visit Stockholm. 

 That learned princess had read with de- 

 light his treatise " On the Passions," and 

 was earnestly desirous to be instructed 

 by him in the principles of philosophy. 

 Des Cartes arrived at Stockholm in 1649, 

 where he received a most friendly and 

 respectfulreception from the enlightened 

 queen, who urged him to settle in her 

 kingdom, and assist her in establishing- 

 an academy of sciences. He had, how- 

 ever, been scarcely four months in that 

 severe climate, when, in his visits to the 

 sovereign, whom he instructed in the 

 principles of philosophy, he caught a 

 cold, which brought on an inflammation 

 in his lungs, that put a period to his life, 

 in 1650. His remains were interred in 

 the cemetery for foreigners, and a long 

 eulogium inscribed on his tomb : but in 

 1666 his bones were transported to 

 France, and placed, with all the circum- 

 stances of pomp, in the church of St. 

 Genevieve. Such was the life of this great 

 man : his writings and system require a 

 more detailed account. 



On the subject of logic, he says, no- 

 thing is ever to be admitted astrue,which 

 is not certainly and evidently known 

 to be so, and which cannot be possibly 

 doubted. In proving any truth, the ideas 

 are always to be brought forward in a 

 certain order, beginning from things the 

 most simple, and advancing by regular 

 steps to those which are more complex 

 and difficult. With regard to metaphy- 

 sics, Des Cartes says, that since man is 

 under the influence of prejudice, he 

 ought, once in his life, to doubt of every 

 thing ; even whether sensible objects 

 have a real existence ; and also of the 

 truth of mathematical axioms. The first 

 principle of the Cartesian philosophy is 



this, " I THINK, THEREFORE I AM :" this 



is the foundation of Des Cartes's meta- 

 physics : that on which his physics is 

 built is, " THAT NOTHING EXISTS BUT 

 SUBSTANCES." Substance he makes of 

 two kuids ; the one that thinks, the other 

 is -\ -iMi't'-'d : so that actual thought and 

 actual extension make the essence of 



