Life and works
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 31 March 1596 | Born in La Haye, in the Touraine region of France.[1] [4] |
| 1606/1607–1614/1615 ≈ | Studies at the Jesuit college of La Flèche, following the curriculum of grammar, humanities and scholastic philosophy.[1] |
| 1616 | Takes a degree in law at the University of Poitiers, which he will never practice.[1] |
| 1618 | Becomes a volunteer soldier at Breda, in the service of Prince Maurice of Nassau; decisive encounter with the scientist Isaac Beeckman.[1] |
| 10 November 1619 | In the region of Ulm, has the three dreams he interprets as a life mission devoted to the reform of knowledge.[1] |
| late 1628 | Abandons the Rules for the Direction of the Mind (unfinished) and settles in the Netherlands, where he lives most of his adult life.[1] |
| 1637 | Publishes the Discourse on Method, together with the essays Dioptrics, Meteors and Geometry.[1] [2] |
| 1641 | Publishes the Meditations on First Philosophy, with the Objections and Replies (2nd edition 1642).[1] [2] |
| 1644 | Publishes the Principles of Philosophy, the synthesis of his metaphysics and natural philosophy.[1] [2] |
| 1649 | Publishes The Passions of the Soul; accepts Queen Christina of Sweden's invitation and moves to Stockholm.[1] |
| 11 February 1650 | Dies in Stockholm, after falling ill in the Swedish winter.[1] [4] |
Reception in the COF
Present in 261 of the 589 transcription files of the Curso Online de Filosofia; 102 lectures engage him substantially (5 or more mentions). The most engaged lectures:
This section documents what Olavo said and when — never what the philosopher "really" meant. Characterizations are Olavo’s, tied to a lecture by number and date.
| Lecture (aula) | Date | Mentions |
|---|---|---|
| 76 | 2010-11-25 | 95 |
| 119 | 2011-08-20 | 91 |
| 72 | 2010-08-29 | 89 |
| 120 | 2011-09-03 | 75 |
| 118 | 2011-08-13 | 74 |
| 212 | 2013-07-20 | 66 |
| 122 | 2011-09-17 | 56 |
| 123 | 2011-09-24 | 55 |
| 206 | 2013-06-01 | 48 |
| 136 | 2012-01-07 | 43 |
| 77 | 2010-10-02 | 42 |
| 133 | 2011-12-03 | 42 |
| 117 | 2011-08-06 | 39 |
| 125 | 2011-10-08 | 39 |
| 124 | 2011-10-01 | 37 |
A dash in the date column means the transcription file carries no verified date — an undated file, not an undated lecture. Counts are accent-insensitive, word-boundary matches over the public community transcription corpus.[5] [6]
References
- René Descartes — Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Descartes' Life and Works — Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- René Descartes (1596—1650) — Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- René Descartes — Encyclopaedia Britannica
- COF — community transcriptions of the Curso Online de Filosofia (585 lectures) — Community transcription repository (upstream declares CC0 for the transcription work; the lectures remain the estate's)
- COF em Áudio — lecture audio collection — Internet Archive (community upload)