85 phrases by René Descartes to understand his thinking

Rene Descartes he is one of the greatest and most recognized European philosophers that history has given.

Considered by many to be the father of modern philosophy and radical rationalism and mechanism, he considered that all knowledge should be put to trial, using methodical doubt as a method to achieve knowledge through different steps.

Understanding his theory is of great interest, so below We offer you 85 phrases by René Descartes to better understand his thinking.

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85 phrases and thoughts of René Descartes

Methodical doubt, the importance of mathematics as the purest of sciences, ideas and search for the simplest elements, substances, modes and attributes, the separation between soul and body, the res cogitans and the extensive res, the evil genius, God, provisional morality, Cartesian axes ...

All these concepts and ideas were worked on by Descartes throughout his life And they have influenced Western thinking in one way or another.

To better understand many of these ideas we present you 85 phrases by the French philosopher that make his thought more understandable

1. "Cogito ergo sum"

Possibly the best known of his phrases, it reflects one of the maxims of this philosopher: I think, therefore I am. We exist because we are capable of thinking, the knowledge of our own existence being demonstrated by this same capacity.

2. "Everything complex can be divided into simple parts"

One of the main elements that Descartes uses and proposes in his method to discover the truth in reducing each problem to its most basic and verifiable elements in the light of reason, the ideas simple. From them, the different ideas will be associated to configure the knowledge, requiring that each association has the same level of certainty as the simple idea.

3. "To investigate the truth it is necessary to doubt, as far as possible, all things"

Descartes considered that the main method to reach the truth, to the extent that we are able to achieve it, is the doubt regarding all the knowledge that existed until now.

4. "It would be absurd for us finite things to try to determine infinite things"

The human being is a limited being with specific capabilities. Aspects such as infinity or the existence or nonexistence of God cannot be known to us, having to have appeared for some reason in our mind.

5. "I would give everything I know for half of what I don't know"

Our senses deceive us, so our understanding and knowledge are very limited. The human being ignores many things, working with a multitude of assumptions that are not true. We will always be able to learn new things.

6. "There is hardly anything said by one whose opposite is not affirmed"

Each person has his way of seeing the world, finding this in conflict with the beliefs of others.

7. "Reason and judgment is the only thing that makes us men and distinguishes us from animals"

For Descartes, animals are nothing but very elaborate machines with no reasoning capacity. The human being does enjoy this ability, which makes us unique according to the author's point of view.

8. "It is wise not to trust entirely those who have deceived us once"

With this phrase the author incites us to doubt what we perceive, since it is not uncommon for our senses to deceive us.

9. "Mathematics is the science of order and measurement, of beautiful chains of reasoning, all simple and easy"

Descartes considered mathematics as the main science on which to base all knowledge, due to its logic and objectivity.

10. “Philosophy is what distinguishes us from the savages and barbarians; nations are all the more civilized and cultured the better their men philosophize "

The role of philosophy as a discipline that helps to think and reflect on the world and doubt that knowledge that is not such is what allows a society to be able to move forward.

11. "Get rid of all impressions of the senses and imagination and trust only reason"

The important role that Descartes gives to reason as that element that allows us to discern the truth above what we perceive can be observed in this sentence.

12. "Let me sleep or be awake, two plus three will always be five, and the square will have no more than four sides"

The conclusions drawn mathematically are not debatable for this author, being one of the few objective knowledge that exists. Again we can see that the author considers mathematics the purest of sciences.

13. "Living without philosophizing is, properly speaking, having your eyes closed without ever trying to open them"

The philosophy try to find answers to what is happening in the world. Not to philosophize therefore implies refusing to think and reflect on what we live, living only at the moment and not being able to discern the different options and possibilities that we may have.

14. "Better than seeking the truth without a method is never thinking about it, because disorderly studies and dark meditations disturb the natural lights of reason and blind the intelligence"

With this phrase Descartes criticizes the use of tricks, superstitions and little documented explanations of reality that can pollute people's reasoning ability.

15. "Many times it happens that there is not as much perfection in works composed of several pieces and made by the hands of many masters as in those in which only one has worked"

Very elaborate explanations can be complex to carry out rationally, and often something is explained by more than one person makes the conceptions of each of the authors on the same subject differ, with which the final result can blur.

16. "By method I understand those certain and easy rules whose rigorous observation prevents the false from being assumed to be true, and does that without being consumed in futile efforts and gradually increasing its science the spirit reaches the true knowledge of all things accessible to the intelligence human "

Through this sentence we can see what the author was looking for at the time of elaborating his method, the goal of his effort.

17. "Never admit anything as truth without having known with evidence that it was so; that is to say, carefully avoid precipitation and prevention, and admit nothing more to my judgments. to present it so clearly and distinctively to my mind that I had no reason to put it in doubt"

We often take for granted the truth of what is told or explained to us even though we have no proof that it is true. Descartes proposes that we do not act according to what we are told, but rather that we reflect on the information that we have been given and that we doubt it.

18. "A state is better governed if it has few laws and those laws are carefully observed"

Descartes advocates on multiple occasions about the need for things to be made simple, needing reduce problems to their most basic elements in order to draw a conclusion as we go uniting. Having few laws makes it possible for us to understand them better, better reaching the simple ideas of which they are composed and allowing them to be integrated.

19. "The multitude of laws frequently makes excuses for vices"

The opposite of the previous sentence, an excess of laws can make it difficult to get to their core and accept them as valid, creating confusion and making it easier for people to break them.

20. "The first maxim was never to accept something real until I had known it in such a way that I did not doubt it"

Doubting is good, since it allows us to search for the core of things so that we can reach the truth. But while we can doubt something, we will not be knowing it to the fullest with which we cannot consider that our perception is real.

21. "In my humble opinion, all things in this world happen mathematically"

Again, the author reflects the conviction that mathematics is one of the few objective and real knowledge that we can have.

22. "There is no soul, no matter how noble, that remains so attached to the objects of the senses that, sometimes, it does not turn away from them to desire a greater good"

Although the human being is prone to falling into fallacies and accepting as true the information that comes to us through the senses, We have all wondered at some point the why of things or if they are how we perceive them. Similarly, we tend to want the common good despite wanting what we see.

23. "There is no spirit, however foolish and rude, that is incapable of acquiring the highest virtues if it is conducted as it is necessary"

We are all capable of virtue.

24. "It is not enough to have good ingenuity, the main thing is to apply it well"

Being able to see something does not make us act accordingly. We must ensure that our actions (physical and mental) and thoughts correspond.

25. "Reading a book teaches more than talking to the author of it, because the author, in the book, has only put the best thoughts of him"

An author's effort to reflect the best of himself in his work causes him to be heavily involved in everything he does, presenting fewer ramblings and more clearly reflecting his beliefs.

26. "The greatest minds are capable of the greatest vices, as well as the greatest virtues"

The ability to reason does not make us intrinsically good, and can lead our efforts towards different purposes.

27. "Except for our own thoughts, there is absolutely nothing in our power"

The only thing truly ours, and in fact what makes us who we are, is our ability to think.

28. "To know what people really think pay attention to what they do instead of what they say"

Our actions reflect much better what we think than what we say, which is more easily manipulated or even misinterpreted.

29. "Not being useful to anyone is equivalent to being worthless"

This phrase reflects that the human being needs to have a valid function in life, being useful to the world in some way.

30. "Every time I have been offended, I try to raise my soul so high that crime cannot reach me"

No one wants to offend but who can. If we are above said offense, it will not harm us.

31. "Two things help to advance: to go faster than the others, or to be on the right track"

Progress is made through effort. Going faster than others may seem like it moves us forward, but it can lead us down a path that leads to deception. On the other hand, advancing meticulously doubting reality allows the conclusions that we end up drawing to be more likely to be true.

32. "Feeling is nothing else than thinking"

The feelings and emotions, although they can become vitiated by the information that comes to us through the senses, they do not stop be for the author a way of thinking that can lead us through his analysis to the search for truth.

33. "Bad books cause bad habits and bad habits cause good books"

To err is not bad, since it allows us to doubt and reflect on what is wrong. That is why while a wrong book or education can provoke a wrong way of thinking, in the long run this can cause us to seek the truth.

34. "The good we have done gives us an internal satisfaction that is the sweetest of passions"

Cartesian morality proposes that rational man must seek the highest good or virtue, which produces spiritual happiness as the highest level of pleasure that we can achieve.

35. "It is better to modify our desires than to order the world"

Taking into account that the only thing we can control are our own thoughts, Descartes proposes that it is better to change our desires rather than try to change the established order.

36. "Lead my thoughts in order, starting with the simplest objects and easiest to know, to ascend little by little, gradually, until the knowledge of the most complex ones, and even assuming an order between them that do not naturally resemble some to others"

This phrase reflects part of his method, which is based on deconstructing each problem down to its simplest and most objective elements to little by little to rebuild the situation so that little by little a truthful and truest image is formed possible.

37. "I have made all the mistakes that could be made and yet I have never stopped trying"

To err is human and, as we mentioned earlier, positive. But only if the mistakes you made don't stop you from continuing to search for the truth and from pursuing your goals.

38. "My goal is not to teach the method that everyone should follow to use reason well, but only to show how I have tried to use mine well"

Descartes proposes that we accept nothing that we are capable of verifying for ourselves with reason.. Therefore even his method may be subject to doubt, so it should be taken only as an example of how someone has tried to reach the truth.

39. "Perfect numbers as well as perfect shoulders are very rare"

Each and every one of us has multiple flaws and we make many mistakes, taking many things for granted and acting erratically and unpredictably in many situations. Perfection is a utopia in all facets of life, even in something as objective as mathematics.

40. "Good sense is the best distributed thing in the world, since everyone thinks they are so well supplied with it that, even those who are more difficult to satisfy in anything else, do not tend to want more than they have"

We all consider having good enough common sense, relying heavily on it in order to act.

41. "Systematic doubt as the principle of knowledge"

Doubt is the main element that allows us to work on the perceptions of the world in order to achieve true knowledge. This is one of the key aspects of Cartesian thought.

42. "Whoever spends too much time traveling ends up being a foreigner in his own country"

If we propose it as an analogy with thought, this phrase refers to the fact that we cannot base our thinking in the beliefs and opinions that we perceive from others, but we must work for ourselves the search for the truth.

43. "Reading is a conversation with the most illustrious men of past centuries"

On the other hand, inform us of what multiple highly relevant thinkers have discovered or reflected on the world allows us to see new ways of capturing reality that we can use to make our own knowledge.

44. "The joy that is born of good is serious, while that is born of evil is accompanied by laughter and ridicule"

The author establishes a differentiation between the deserved joy felt by those who work in achieve virtue and cruel enjoyment in the bottom not joyful of those who are incapable of trying to have a moral.

45. "Often a false joy is worth more than a sadness whose cause is true"

Knowing the truth is something valuable and the only way to know. However, it is necessary that we try to do good both to others and to ourselves. The human being sometimes chooses to ignore the truth and sometimes this helps him to be happy, which can be of more value to the person.

46. "The main perfection of man consists in having free will, which is what makes him worthy of praise or censure"

Our ability to choose is together with reason what makes us human, free will being one of the things that Descartes defends most in his treatment of morality.

47. "In terms of logic, his syllogisms rather serve to explain things already known to others than to learn"

Logic may seem like a valid way of incorporating new knowledge, but we cannot rely on a few assumptions not rationally contrasted when acquiring new information since the logic of this could to be different. However, it can be used to transmit what has already been learned to others.

48. "It is enough to judge well to do well, and to judge the best possible to also act in the best way"

The moral of Descartes contemplates that to do good one must be able to correctly assess the world and situations, allowing for better behavior.

49. "If it is not in our power to discern the best opinions, we must follow the most probable"

Our knowledge is limited and we must act from reason to try to glimpse the truth. It may not be possible to distinguish which ones are more true, but at least we have to try to take into account those that have more overtones of reality.

50. "The most generous tend to be the most humble"

For Descartes humility and generosity are two aspects that are usually related, both aspects approaching virtue.

51. "I don't even want to know if there was another man before me"

Although it is unlikely to be the first person there is, the truth is that we cannot have a clear record of it. I am me, and our own thoughts are the only thing we control. For many people who were born before, there is only one me.

52. "True intelligence consists in discovering the intelligence of others"

Very often people tend to consider themselves extremely intelligent, ignoring that others also possess this ability to a great extent. Recognizing that others have a capacity that may be even greater than your own is in itself an act of genuine intelligence.

53. “Our idea of ​​God implies necessary and eternal existence. Therefore, the manifest conclusion is that God exists "

We are finite beings with finite capacities. The fact that we can conceptualize something infinite and omnipotent as God supposes that at some point said knowledge has been put into our mind, knowledge that in itself proves for Descartes the existence of God.

54. "To improve our knowledge we must learn less and contemplate more"

Accepting the things they teach us without further ado does not improve the quality of our knowledge. For them we have to focus on deconstructing what is observed to make from its most basic and objective parts a construction that is as true as possible.

55. "Nature abhors a vacuum"

Although attributed to Aristotle, this phrase was also used by Descartes. In it the author refers to the identification of matter with space, the existence of a real void not being possible.

56. "The greatest good that can exist in a State is to have true philosophers"

For Descartes, being able to reflect and look for a meaning to reality is an element that makes society move forward.

57. "I present myself in disguise"

In this sentence, Descartes talks about appearance, which, although it may appear to be real, hides the real core of being / thing / idea underneath it.

58. "We harbor a multitude of prejudices if we do not decide to doubt, sometime, all the things in which we find the slightest suspicion of uncertainty"

Again, the author refers us in this sentence to the importance of doubting what we do not know for ourselves, which may provoke prejudices that prevent us from seeing the truth.

59. "My only wish is to know the world and the comedies that are represented in it"

Curiosity, observation of the different ways of doing and seeing the world and the search for knowledge go hand in hand in this sentence, which in turn supposes a criticism regarding the uncritical assimilation of the dogmas and assumptions transmitted without trying to see if they are true or not.

60. "The little that I have learned is worthless compared to what I ignore and do not despair in learning"

The knowledge we acquire throughout our lives they are very limited, not being able to understand a large part of reality. It is reflected that everything we know is actually negligible.

61. "Think before you act and do not start anything without having consulted the circumstances thoroughly"

In this sentence the author urges us to be prudent and not rush into our actions.

62. "The first maxim of every citizen must be to obey the laws of his country, and in all other things to govern himself according to the most moderate opinions and farthest from excess"

In this sentence Descartes indicates to us the need to follow current legality and morality, as well as the appropriateness of maintaining a balanced and rational position regarding life events.

63. "I am used to sleeping and in my dreams imagining the same things that crazy people imagine when they are awake"

We all have perceptions at some point that may be distorted.

64. "Being incapable of enthusiasm is a sign of mediocrity"

The knowledge of reality can be a complex process, but at the same time exciting when approaching the understanding of certain aspects of the universe. Someone who is not able to be curious and motivated about something under normal circumstances is not likely to stand out.

65. "That of having to be immersed in uncertainty and despair of the truth is a sad and miserable refuge against error"

Failing to seek the truth is often a way to avoid acknowledging that we are wrong or that we can.

66. "Dubito, ergo cogito"

The maxim "cogito, ergo sum" can be preceded by this phrase, taking into account that the fact of being able to doubt is a reflection of our ability to think and reason (I doubt, then I think).

67. "We are only rational in light of our species"

Although the reason is for Descartes what differentiates us from animals, it is a property that is only observed by ourselves.

68. "The trips serve to know the customs of the different peoples and to shed the prejudice that only in one's own country can one live in the way one is accustomed"

Seeing other points of view of reality can serve to rethink one's beliefs while teaching us that we can be ourselves anywhere.

69. "It should be borne in mind that many beliefs are based on prejudice and tradition"

Prejudices and tradition are behind many behaviors that do not have a rational basis. It is necessary to examine the beliefs of each one and give them meaning by working towards increasing our rationality.

70. "There is nothing so strange and so incredible that has not been said by one philosopher to another"

Most of the things we do and think have already been said or thought by others. We must not fear exposing them.

71. "Traveling is almost the same as talking with people from other centuries"

Like reading, traveling allows us to see new perspectives and styles of thinking that can help us to know reality.

72. "There is nothing older than the truth"

Opinions and beliefs are derived from the perception of certain patterns of stimuli and situations, patterns that do not have to be true. However, reality is always present, it is only necessary to find it.

73. "An optimist can see the light where there is none, but why should the pessimist always run to turn it off?"

Optimism and pessimism are different ways of seeing reality. But they do not have to be annulled, because through both ways of thinking knowledge can be accessed.

74. “Is the real knowable, rational? Couldn't the universe be something totally incomprehensible by human reason, something essentially absurd, irrational, unknowable? "

The philosophy of Descartes is mainly rational and mechanistic, but sometimes it is necessary to reflect and doubt whether the universe is really comprehensible for the human being.

75. "At last I am going to dedicate myself sincerely and without reservation to the general demolition of my opinions"

Like all people, Descartes had his own opinions about how the world worked and the different aspects that are part of it. His purpose with this phrase is to show the importance of going from being based on the rational and ignoring the possible prejudices that the senses could have instilled in him.

76. "It is better not to leave after a great search for the truth, because that only makes us feel miserable"

Descartes carried out his philosophical work from truths that he believed fundamental and that, because they were fundamental, explained little.

77. "Law, medicine and other sciences bring wealth to those who persecute them"

A sample of the esteem that this thinker felt for the disciplines related to formal thought.

78. "There is a big difference between body and mind, since the body can be divided but the mind cannot"

Descartes is a paradigmatic example of dualism in philosophy.

79. "When you write about the transcendent, be transcendently clear"

One of the phrases of Descartes in which emphasis is placed on using in systematized language.

80. "Our beliefs are based on our habits than on any other knowledge"

As a philosopher, this author wanted to question much of what used to be considered common sense.

81. "Reason is nothing without imagination"

The imagination proposes hypotheses that reason tests.

82. "Mathematics is the most powerful instrument of knowledge" 

Being a formal system of thought, mathematics was considered by Descartes a search engine for true knowledge.

83. "Science is applied philosophy"

Everything is based on philosophy; the effort to examine concepts, ideas and beliefs.

84. "It is contrary to reason to say that there is a place of emptiness in which nothing exists"

The concept of nothingness he posited was problematic for Descartes.

85. "To develop the mind you have to learn, rather than observe"

Drawing conclusions from what is seen is something that must be done actively.