Discourse on Method (World Philosophers and Their Works)
At a glance:
- Author: René Descartes
- First Published: 1637
- Genres: Nonfiction, Philosophy
- Subjects: Philosophy or philosophers, France or French people, Europe or Europeans, Seventeenth century, Truth, Science fiction, Mathematics or mathematicians, Reason or reasoning, Logic
Context
In 1633, the year that Italian scientist Galileo was forced to recant by the Inquisition, René Descartes was just finishing his first major scientific treatise, Le Monde (The World, 1998). In the work, Descartes had used the Copernican theory for which, in part, Galileo had been condemned, so prudence dictated that the work be withheld from publication. However, a strong sense of the importance of his discoveries caused him to issue three token essays and to compose a kind of prospectus of his work to date for publication under the same cover. The latter...
[The entire page is 3825 words long]
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