Terms and Concepts to Remember about
René Descartes and His Time

See pages 233-246 of Sophie's World



  • Rationalist
  • The "Father of Modern Philosophy"
  • Philosophical System
  • Descartes' Main Questions
  • Skepticism
  • The new Scientific Method
  • Mechanistic
  • Radical Division of Soul and Body (When did this first appear in Western thought?)
  • Discourse on Method
  • Descartes' requirements for truth
  • The "Father of Analytical Geometry"
  • Descartes' Principle of Doubt (often called Methodological Doubt)
  • Cogito, ergo sum
  • The Idea of a Perfect Entity
  • Descartes' view of the logical necessity of God (Descartes' version of the Ontological Argument)
  • Descartes' view of "sense data"
  • Thought
  • Extension
  • Dualism
  • Pineal Gland
  • Automaton
  • Artificial Intelligence