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Why did Descartes write his Discourse on the Method for Rightly Conducting One's Reason and for Seeking Truth In the Sciences? Rene Descartes, a 17th Century French philosopher, took great pride in his intellect and ability to reason beyond that of many other men. He traveled extensively throughout the world, leaving his home in France and the lessons he was taught at school behind him. In Descartes opinion, professors that guided him through school gave him no pertinent education, that they "believe only in old books" (43), and so he set out to clear his mind of their fallacies and replace old thoughts with his own meaningful reason. He felt that in order to gather his thoughts clearly without any interruptions or diversions he had to surround himself with people concerned only with their own affairs, not worrying about his studies. With this in mind, Descartes settled in Holland and began to write his Discourse on Method; an essay that diagramed his new found method of reaso!ning and emphasized the importance of scientific experiments and the advancement of technology. Descartes was quite unhappy with the education he received, as he felt that it only reviewed the ideas of passed writers, and that it did not allow for student
------------------------------------------------------------------------ s to judge for themselves what they felt was proper. He set forth four rules of reason that he strictly adhered to. The first one was to "avoid hasty judgement and prejudice" (11), a habit that many students were accustomed to, as they accepted the words of their teachers, being afraid to challenge them. The second was to divide up a problem into the smallest increments possible, to take it one step at a time so that it could be easily solved. Descartes was very keen on taking ones time to resolve an issue, as it took him many years to gather his thoughts and publish his Discourse. The third and fourth rules of Descartes' method of reasoning are to start with the simplest piece, working up to the most difficult, and to careful! tation. Humans are to be the "masters and possessors of nature" (35), and through experimentation a better understanding of the world will surface. By enhancing one's reason to be able to better deal with adversity, men will no longer shy away from the unknown, but go forth and examine the mysteries of the world. Descartes realized that science and technology were just beginning to grow, and he saw the potential that each had for improving the lives of
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Approximate Word count = 848
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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