Editing René Descartes (section)

==Life                 ==

===Early life===
[[File:Maison de René DESCARTES - Jean-Charles GUILLO.JPG|thumb|The house where Descartes was born in [[Descartes, Indre-et-Loire|La Haye en Touraine]]]]

René Descartes was born in [[Descartes, Indre-et-Loire|La Haye en Touraine]], [[Touraine|Province of Touraine]] (now [[Descartes, Indre-et-Loire|Descartes]], [[Indre-et-Loire]]), France, on 31 March 1596.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=Math and Mathematicians: The History of Math Discoveries Around the World; Vol. 1|last=Bruno|first=Leonard C.|author-link=Leonard C. Bruno|date=2003|orig-year=1999|publisher=U X L|others=Baker, Lawrence W.|isbn=978-0-7876-3813-9|location=Detroit, Mich.|page=[https://archive.org/details/mathmathematicia00brun/page/99 99]|oclc=41497065|url=https://archive.org/details/mathmathematicia00brun|url-access=registration}}</ref>  In May 1597, his mother Jeanne Brochard, died a few days after giving birth to a still-born child.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/cartesian-metaphysics/scepticism-scholasticism-and-the-origins-of-descartess-philosophy/8D76D0E0D4307ADA49F5AB6DF30BB060 |title=Scepticism, Scholasticism, and the origins of Descartes's philosophy (Chapter 2) |chapter=Scepticism, Scholasticism, and the origins of Descartes's philosophy |date=2000 |pages=27–54 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/CBO9780511487309.004 |isbn=978-0521452915 |access-date=22 August 2022 |archive-date=22 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220822064758/https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/cartesian-metaphysics/scepticism-scholasticism-and-the-origins-of-descartess-philosophy/8D76D0E0D4307ADA49F5AB6DF30BB060 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":2" /> Descartes's father, Joachim, was a member of the [[Parlement of Rennes]] at [[Rennes]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Rodis-Lewis |first=Geneviève |chapter=Descartes' Life and the Development of His Philosophy |editor-last=Cottingham |editor-first=John |editor-link=John Cottingham |title=The Cambridge Companion to Descartes |year=1992 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-36696-0 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Prhr9FBdQ_MC |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Prhr9FBdQ_MC&pg=PA22 22] |access-date=27 January 2016 |archive-date=1 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170201123550/https://books.google.com/books?id=Prhr9FBdQ_MC |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|22}} René lived with his grandmother and with his great-uncle. Although the Descartes family was Roman Catholic, the [[Poitou]] region was controlled by the Protestant [[Huguenots]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://all-history.org/world_literature/descartes1.htm |title=All-history.org |access-date=23 December 2014 |archive-date=29 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150129035839/http://all-history.org/world_literature/descartes1.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1607, late because of his fragile health, he entered the [[Jesuit]] [[Collège Royal Henry-Le-Grand]] at [[La Flèche]],{{sfn|Clarke|2006|}}<ref>{{Cite web|title=Descartes, Rene {{!}} Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy|url=https://iep.utm.edu/descarte/|access-date=27 July 2021|language=en-US|archive-date=28 May 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528030333/https://iep.utm.edu/descarte/|url-status=live}}</ref> where he was introduced to mathematics and physics, including [[Galileo]]'s work.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|last=Bruno|first=Leonard C.|url=https://archive.org/details/mathmathematicia00brun|title=Math and Mathematicians: The History of Math Discoveries Around the World; Vol. 1|date=2003|publisher=U X L|others=Baker, Lawrence W.|isbn=978-0-7876-3813-9|location=Detroit, Mich.|page=[https://archive.org/details/mathmathematicia00brun/page/100 100]|oclc=41497065|orig-year=1999|url-access=registration}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Porter|first1=Roy|title=The Greatest Benefit to Mankind: A Medical History of Humanity from Antiquity to the Present|publisher=Harper Collins|year=1999|isbn=978-0-00-637454-1|location=Great Britain|page=217|chapter=The New Science|author-link=Roy Porter|orig-year=1997}}</ref> While there, Descartes first encountered hermetic mysticism. After graduation in 1614, he studied for two years (1615–16) at the [[University of Poitiers]], earning a ''[[Baccalauréat]]'' and ''[[Licentiate (degree)|Licence]]'' in [[Canon law|canon]] and [[Civil law (legal system)|civil law]] in 1616,<ref name=":3" /> in accordance with his father's wishes that he should become a lawyer.<ref>{{cite book |last2=Kaufmann |first2=Walter |last1=Baird |first1=Forrest E. |title=From Plato to Derrida |publisher=Pearson Prentice Hall |year=2008 |location=Upper Saddle River, New Jersey |pages=373–77 |isbn=978-0-13-158591-1 }}</ref> From there, he moved to Paris.

[[File:DescartesGraduationRegistry.JPG|thumb|Graduation registry for Descartes at the [[University of Poitiers]], 1616]]
In ''[[Discourse on the Method]]'', Descartes recalls:<ref>Descartes. [1637] 2011. ''[[Discourse on the Method]]''. Zhubei: Hyweb Technology. [https://books.google.com/books?id=N04dAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT20 pp. 20–21] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816214234/https://books.google.com/books?id=N04dAwAAQBAJ&lpg=PP1&hl=cs&pg=PT20 |date=16 August 2021 }}.</ref>{{rp|20–21}}
<blockquote>I entirely abandoned the study of letters. Resolving to seek no knowledge other than that of which could be found in myself or else in the great book of the world, I spent the rest of my youth traveling, visiting courts and armies, mixing with people of diverse temperaments and ranks, gathering various experiences, testing myself in the situations which fortune offered me, and at all times reflecting upon whatever came my way to derive some profit from it.</blockquote>

=== Army service ===
{{See also|#Mechanical philosophy}}
In accordance with his ambition to become a professional military officer in 1618, Descartes joined, as a [[mercenary]], the [[Protestant]] [[Dutch States Army]] in [[Breda]] under the command of [[Maurice of Nassau]],<ref name=":3" /> and undertook a formal study of [[military engineering]], as established by [[Simon Stevin]].{{sfn|Gaukroger|1995|page=66}} Descartes, therefore, received much encouragement in Breda to advance his knowledge of mathematics.<ref name=":3" /> In this way, he became acquainted with [[Isaac Beeckman]],<ref name=":3" /> the principal of a [[Dordrecht]] school, for whom he wrote the ''Compendium of Music'' (written 1618, published 1650).<ref>McQuillan, J. C. 2016. ''Early Modern Aesthetics''. Lanham, MD: [[Rowman & Littlefield]]. [https://books.google.com/books?id=NObaDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA45 p. 45] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801014714/https://books.google.com/books?id=NObaDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA45 |date=1 August 2020 }}.</ref>

While in the service of the [[Catholic]] Duke [[Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria|Maximilian of Bavaria]] from 1619,<ref>{{Cite web|title=René Descartes – Biography|url=https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Descartes/|access-date=27 September 2020|website=Maths History|language=en|archive-date=19 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170719105154/http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Descartes.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Descartes was present at the [[Battle of the White Mountain]] near [[Prague]], in November 1620.<ref>Parker, N. Geoffrey. 2007. "[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/642395/Battle-of-White-Mountain Battle of White Mountain] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150509044752/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/642395/Battle-of-White-Mountain |date=9 May 2015 }}" (revised). ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]''.</ref><ref>Jeffery, R. 2018. ''Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia: The Philosopher Princess''. Lanham, MD: [[Lexington Books]]. [https://books.google.com/books?id=FUGIDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA68 p. 68] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108204711/https://books.google.com/books?id=FUGIDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA68 |date=8 November 2020 }}.</ref>

According to [[Adrien Baillet]], on the night of 10–11 November 1619 ([[St. Martin's Day]]), while stationed in [[Neuburg an der Donau]], Descartes shut himself in a room with an "oven" (probably a [[cocklestove]])<ref>Rothkamm, J., ''Institutio Oratoria: Bacon, Descartes, Hobbes, Spinoza'' (Leiden & Boston: [[Brill Publishers|Brill]], 2009), [https://books.google.com/books?id=5bH3_u4g3cMC&pg=PA40 p. 40] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816214229/https://books.google.com/books?id=5bH3_u4g3cMC&pg=PA40 |date=16 August 2021 }}.</ref> to escape the cold. While within, he had three dreams,<ref name=":4">{{Cite book|title=Math and mathematicians : the history of math discoveries around the world; Vol. 1|last=Bruno|first=Leonard C.|date=2003|orig-year=1999|publisher=U X L|others=Baker, Lawrence W.|isbn=978-0-7876-3813-9|location=Detroit, Mich.|page=[https://archive.org/details/mathmathematicia00brun/page/101 101]|oclc=41497065|url=https://archive.org/details/mathmathematicia00brun|url-access=registration}}</ref> and believed that a divine spirit revealed to him a new philosophy. However, it is speculated that what Descartes considered to be his second dream was actually an episode of [[exploding head syndrome]].<ref name="Otaiku2018">{{cite journal | author = Otaiku AI | year = 2018 | title = Did René Descartes have Exploding Head Syndrome? | journal = J. Clin. Sleep Med. | volume = 14| issue = 4| pages = 675–78| doi = 10.5664/jcsm.7068 | pmid = 29609724 | pmc = 5886445  | issn = 1550-9389 }}</ref> Upon exiting, he had formulated [[analytic geometry]] and the idea of applying the mathematical method to philosophy. He concluded from these visions that the pursuit of science would prove to be, for him, the pursuit of true wisdom and a central part of his life's work.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Durant |first1=Will |author-link1=Will Durant |last2=Durant |first2=Ariel |author-link2=Ariel Durant |title=The Story of Civilization: Part VII, the Age of Reason Begins |year=1961 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |location=New York |isbn=978-0-671-01320-2 |page=[https://archive.org/details/ageofreasonbegin07dura_0/page/637 637] |title-link=The Story of Civilization: Part VII, the Age of Reason Begins }}</ref>{{sfn|Clarke|2006|page=58–59}} Descartes also saw very clearly that all truths were linked with one another, so that finding a fundamental truth and proceeding with logic would open the way to all science. Descartes arrived at this basic truth quite soon: his famous "[[Cogito, ergo sum|I think, therefore I am]]."<ref name="Durandin">Durandin, Guy. 1970. ''Les Principes de la Philosophie. Introduction et notes''. Paris: [[Librairie philosophique J. Vrin|Librairie Philosophique J. Vrin]].</ref>

=== Career ===
==== France ====
In 1620, Descartes left the army. He visited [[Basilica della Santa Casa]] in Loreto, then visited various countries before returning to France, and during the next few years, he spent time in Paris. It was there that he composed his first essay on method: ''Regulae ad Directionem Ingenii'' (''[[Rules for the Direction of the Mind]]'').<ref name="Durandin"/> He arrived in [[The Hague|La Haye]] in 1623, selling all of his property to invest in [[Bond (finance)|bonds]], which provided a comfortable income for the rest of his life.{{sfn|Gaukroger|1995|page=132}}<ref name=":8" />{{Rp|94}} Descartes was present at the [[siege of La Rochelle]] by [[Cardinal Richelieu]] in 1627 as an observer.<ref name=":8">Shea, William R. 1991. ''The Magic of Numbers and Motion''. Science History Publications.</ref>{{Rp|128}} There, he was interested in the physical properties of the great dike that Richelieu was building and studied mathematically everything he saw during the siege. He also met French mathematician [[Girard Desargues]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Aczel |first=Amir D. |url= |title=Descartes's Secret Notebook: A True Tale of Mathematics, Mysticism, and the Quest to Understand the Universe |date=2006-10-10 |publisher=Crown |isbn=978-0-7679-2034-6 |pages=127 |language=en}}</ref> In the autumn of that year, in the residence of the papal [[nuncio]] [[Giovanni Francesco Guidi di Bagno|Guidi di Bagno]], where he came with [[Marin Mersenne|Mersenne]] and many other scholars to listen to a lecture given by the alchemist, Nicolas de Villiers, Sieur de Chandoux, on the principles of a supposed new philosophy,<ref>Matton, Sylvain, ed. 2013. ''Lettres sur l'or potable suivies du traité De la connaissance des vrais principes de la nature et des mélanges et de fragments d'un Commentaire sur l'Amphithéâtre de la Sapience éternelle de Khunrath'', by Nicolas de Villiers. Paris: Préface de Vincent Carraud.</ref> Cardinal [[Pierre de Bérulle|Bérulle]] urged him to write an exposition of his new philosophy in some location beyond the reach of the Inquisition.<ref>Moote, A. L. 1989. ''Louis XIII, the Just''. [[Oakland, California|Oakland]]: [[University of California Press]]. [https://books.google.com/books?id=ya0wDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA271 pp. 271–72] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816214232/https://books.google.com/books?id=ya0wDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA271 |date=16 August 2021 }}.</ref>

==== Netherlands ====
[[File:Westermarkt 6, Descarteshuis (links).JPG|thumb|upright=.8|In [[Amsterdam]], Descartes lived at Westermarkt 6 (Maison Descartes, left).]]
[[File:Descartes-2.jpg|alt=Title page of "Principia philosophiae" (Principles of Philosophy), 1656|thumb|Title page of "''[[Principles of Philosophy|Principia philosophiae]]''" ([[Principles of Philosophy]]), 1656]]
Descartes returned to the [[Dutch Republic]] in 1628.<ref name=":4" /> In April 1629, he joined the [[University of Franeker]], studying under [[Adriaan Metius]], either living with a Catholic family or renting the [[Sjaerdemaslot]]. The next year, under the name "Poitevin", he enrolled at [[Leiden University]], which at the time was a Protestant University.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/dossiers/history-of-leiden-university/birds-eye-view | title=A bird's eye view | access-date=3 May 2022 | archive-date=21 September 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210921053655/https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/dossiers/history-of-leiden-university/birds-eye-view | url-status=live }}</ref> He studied both mathematics with [[Jacobus Golius]], who confronted him with [[Pappus's hexagon theorem]], and [[astronomy]] with [[Martin van den Hove|Martin Hortensius]].<ref>[[A. C. Grayling|Grayling, A. C.]] 2006. ''Descartes: The Life of René Descartes and Its Place in His Times''. [[Simon & Schuster]]. pp. 151–52.</ref> In October 1630, he had a falling-out with Beeckman, whom he accused of plagiarizing some of his ideas. In Amsterdam, he had a relationship with a servant girl, Helena Jans van der Strom, with whom he had a daughter, [[Francine Descartes|Francine]], who was born in 1635 in [[Deventer]]. She was baptized a Protestant<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IRvIQkLFD60C&dq=descartes+convert+calvinism&pg=PA171 | isbn=978-1567923353 | title=Cogito, Ergo Sum: The Life of René Descartes | year=2007 | publisher=David R. Godine Publisher | access-date=3 May 2022 | archive-date=26 September 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220926153941/https://www.google.com/books/edition/Cogito_Ergo_Sum/IRvIQkLFD60C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=descartes+convert+calvinism&pg=PA171&printsec=frontcover | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WVFEEAAAQBAJ&dq=Helena+Jans+van+der+Strom+protestant&pg=PA8 | isbn=978-1633887947 | title=The Wisdom of the Enlightenment | date= 2022 | publisher=Rowman & Littlefield | access-date=3 May 2022 | archive-date=26 September 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220926153941/https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Wisdom_of_the_Enlightenment/WVFEEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Helena+Jans+van+der+Strom+protestant&pg=PA8&printsec=frontcover | url-status=live }}</ref> and died of scarlet fever at the age of 5.

Unlike many moralists of the time, Descartes did not deprecate the passions but rather defended them;<ref>{{Cite web |title=Descartes, Rene {{!}} Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy |url=https://iep.utm.edu/rene-descartes/ |access-date=2023-05-10 |language=en-US}}</ref> he wept upon Francine's death in 1640.<ref>{{cite book |last1 = Durant |first1 = Will |last2 = Durant |first2 = Ariel |title = The Story of Civilization: Par VII, the Age of reason Begins |year = 1961 |publisher = Simon and Schuster |location = New York |isbn = 978-0-671-01320-2 |page =[https://archive.org/details/ageofreasonbegin07dura_0/page/638 638] |url = https://archive.org/details/ageofreasonbegin07dura_0/page/638 }}</ref> According to a recent biography by Jason Porterfield, "Descartes said that he did not believe that one must refrain from tears to prove oneself a man."<ref>Porterfield, J., ''René Descartes'' (New York: [[Rosen Publishing]], 2018), [https://books.google.com/books?id=UEJgDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA66 p. 66] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816214228/https://books.google.com/books?id=UEJgDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA66 |date=16 August 2021 }}.</ref> [[Russell Shorto]] speculates that the experience of fatherhood and losing a child formed a turning point in Descartes's work, changing its focus from medicine to a quest for universal answers.<ref>Russell Shorto, ''Descartes' Bones: A Skeletal History of the Conflict Between Faith and Reason'' {{ISBN|978-0-385-51753-9}} (New York: Random House, 2008)</ref>

Despite frequent moves,{{NoteTag|While in the Netherlands he changed his address frequently, living among other places in Dordrecht (1628), [[Franeker]] (1629), Amsterdam (1629–1630), [[Leiden]] (1630), Amsterdam (1630–1632), Deventer (1632–1634), Amsterdam (1634–1635), [[Utrecht (city)|Utrecht]] (1635–1636), Leiden (1636), [[Egmond aan den Hoef|Egmond]] (1636–1638), [[Santpoort]] (1638–1640), Leiden (1640–1641), Endegeest (a castle near [[Oegstgeest]]) (1641–1643), and finally for an extended time in [[Egmond-Binnen]] (1643–1649).}} he wrote all of his major work during his 20-plus years in the Netherlands, initiating a revolution in mathematics and philosophy.{{NoteTag|He had lived with [[Henricus Reneri]] in Deventer and Amsterdam, and had met with [[Constantijn Huygens]] and Vopiscus Fortunatus Plempius; Descartes was interviewed by Frans Burman at Egmond-Binnen in 1648. [[Henricus Regius]], [[Jan Jansz de Jonge Stampioen|Jan Stampioen]], [[Frans van Schooten]], [[Comenius]] and [[Gisbertus Voetius]] were his main opponents.}} In 1633, Galileo was condemned by the [[Italian Inquisition]], and Descartes abandoned plans to publish ''[[The World (Descartes)|Treatise on the World]]'', his work of the previous four years. Nevertheless, in 1637, he published parts of this work in three essays:<ref name=":5">{{cite book |title = Math and mathematicians: the history of math discoveries around the world |volume = 1 |last=Bruno |first = Leonard C. |year=2003 |orig-year=1999 |publisher = U X L |others = Baker, Lawrence W. |isbn=978-0-7876-3813-9 |location = Detroit, MI |page=[https://archive.org/details/mathmathematicia00brun/page/103 103] |oclc=41497065 |url = https://archive.org/details/mathmathematicia00brun |url-access=registration }}</ref> "Les Météores" (The Meteors), "[[Dioptrique|La Dioptrique]]" (Dioptrics) and ''[[La Géométrie]]'' (''Geometry''), preceded by an introduction, his famous ''Discours de la méthode'' (''[[Discourse on the Method]]'').<ref name=":5" /> In it, Descartes lays out four rules of thought, meant to ensure that our knowledge rests upon a firm foundation:<ref>Descartes, ''Discourse on the Method'' (Zhubei: Hyweb Technology: 2011), [https://books.google.com/books?id=N04dAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT88 p. 88] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816214231/https://books.google.com/books?id=N04dAwAAQBAJ&lpg=PP1&hl=cs&pg=PT88 |date=16 August 2021 }}.</ref>

{{Blockquote|The first was never to accept anything for true which I did not know to be such; that is to say, carefully to avoid precipitancy and prejudice, and to comprise nothing more in my judgment than what was presented to my mind so clearly and distinctly as to exclude all ground of doubt.|author=|title=|source=}}

In ''La Géométrie'', Descartes exploited the discoveries he made with [[Pierre de Fermat]]. This later became known as [[Cartesian geometry]].<ref name=":6">{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Pierre-de-Fermat|title=Pierre de Fermat {{!}} Biography & Facts|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=14 November 2017|language=en|archive-date=15 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115083548/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Pierre-de-Fermat|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:René Descartes- Meditations on First Philosophy. First Meditation..webm|thumb|A reading from {{lang|la|Meditationes de Prima Philosophia}}, with English subtitles]] Descartes continued to publish works concerning both mathematics and philosophy for the rest of his life. In 1641, he published a metaphysics treatise, ''Meditationes de Prima Philosophia'' (''Meditations on First Philosophy''), written in Latin and thus addressed to the learned. It was followed in 1644 by ''Principia Philosophiae'' (''[[Principles of Philosophy]]''), a kind of synthesis of the ''Discourse on the Method'' and ''Meditations on First Philosophy''. In 1643, Cartesian philosophy was condemned at the [[Utrecht University|University of Utrecht]], and Descartes was obliged to flee to the Hague, settling in [[Egmond-Binnen]].

Between 1643 and 1649 Descartes lived with his girlfriend at Egmond-Binnen in an inn.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://guinevereglasfurd.com/2015/06/30/who-was-helena-jans/comment-page-1/ | title=Who was Helena Jans? | date=30 June 2015 }}</ref> Descartes became friendly with Anthony Studler van Zurck, lord of [[Bergen, North Holland|Bergen]], and participated in the design of his mansion and estate.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.herenvanholland.nl/studler-van-zurck-heer-van-bergen/ | title=Anthonis Studler van Zurck, Vlaams koopman en heer van Bergen | date=11 February 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.leeskost.nl/2016/05/ongelijke-vriendschap/ | title=Ongelijke vriendschap &#124; LeesKost }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://onh.nl/verhaal/het-landhuis-t-oude-hof-te-bergen | title=Het landhuis 't Oude Hof te Bergen }}</ref> He also met [[Dirck Rembrantsz van Nierop]], a mathematician and [[surveyor]].<ref>{{cite book
|editor=Marlise Rijks|title=The correspondence of Dirck Rembrantsz van Nierop (1610-1682) |year=2012 |publisher=Huygens ING|location=The Hague |isbn=9789087592714 |url=https://researchportal.vub.be/en/publications/the-correspondence-of-dirck-rembrantsz-van-nierop-1610-1682}}</ref> He was so impressed by Van Nierop's knowledge that he even brought him to the attention of [[Constantijn Huygens]] and Frans van Schooten.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://flessenpostuitegmond.nl/nieuw-boek-peter-van-den-berg-de-schoenmaker-en-de-filosoof/ | title=Nieuw boek Peter van den Berg: De Schoenmaker en de Filosoof | date=3 June 2022 }}</ref>
[[File:Jan Baptist Weenix - Portrait of René Descartes.jpg|thumb|right|Portrait of René Descartes by [[Jan Baptist Weenix]], 1647–1649]]
[[Christia Mercer]] suggested that Descartes may have been influenced by Spanish author and Roman Catholic nun [[Teresa of Ávila]], who, fifty years earlier, published ''[[The Interior Castle]]'', concerning the role of philosophical reflection in intellectual growth.<ref name="CM2017">Mercer, C., [https://philpapers.org/rec/MERDDT "Descartes' debt to Teresa of Ávila, or why we should work on women in the history of philosophy"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816214227/https://philpapers.org/rec/MERDDT |date=16 August 2021 }}, ''[[Philosophical Studies]]'' 174, 2017.</ref><ref>Craig, D. J., [https://magazine.columbia.edu/article/she-thinks-therefore-i-am "She Thinks, Therefore I Am"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816214229/https://magazine.columbia.edu/article/she-thinks-therefore-i-am |date=16 August 2021 }}, ''Columbia Magazine'', Fall 2017.</ref>

Descartes began (through Alfonso Polloti, an Italian general in Dutch service) a six-year correspondence with [[Elisabeth of the Palatinate|Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia]], devoted mainly to moral and psychological subjects.<ref>Harth, E., ''Cartesian Women: Versions and Subversions of Rational Discourse in the Old Regime'', ([[Ithaca, New York|Ithaca]]: [[Cornell University Press]], 1992), [https://books.google.com/books?id=9Mpe59dmSfEC&pg=PA67 pp. 67–77] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816214230/https://books.google.com/books?id=9Mpe59dmSfEC&pg=PA67 |date=16 August 2021 }}.</ref> Connected with this correspondence, in 1649 he published ''Les Passions de l'âme'' (''[[The Passions of the Soul]]''), which he dedicated to the Princess. A French translation of ''Principia Philosophiae'', prepared by Abbot Claude Picot, was published in 1647. This edition was also dedicated to Princess Elisabeth. In [[Principles of Philosophy#Preface to the French edition|the preface to the French edition]], Descartes praised true philosophy as a means to attain wisdom. He identifies four ordinary sources to reach wisdom and finally says that there is a fifth, better and more secure, consisting in the search for first causes.<ref>Blom, John J., ''Descartes, His Moral Philosophy and Psychology''. New York University Press, 1978. {{ISBN|0-8147-0999-0}}</ref>

====Sweden====
[[File:Dispute-of-queen-cristina-vasa-and-rene-descartes.png|thumb|250px|right|Descartes in conversation with [[Queen Christina of Sweden|Queen Christina]] in [[Stockholm]]]]

By 1649, Descartes had become one of Europe's most famous philosophers and scientists.<ref name=":5" /> That year, [[Queen Christina of Sweden]] invited him to her court to organize a new scientific academy and tutor her in his ideas about love.<ref name="Åkerman 1991">{{cite book |author-last=Åkerman |author-first=Susanna |year=1991 |title=Queen Christina of Sweden and her Circle: The Transformation of a Seventeenth-Century Philosophical Libertine |chapter=Christina and Descartes: Disassembling A Myth |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E-V5DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA44 |location=[[Leiden]] and [[Boston]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |series=Brill's Studies in Intellectual History |volume=21 |pages=44–69 |doi=10.1163/9789004246706_004 |isbn=978-90-04-24670-6 |issn=0920-8607}}</ref> Descartes accepted, and moved to the [[Swedish Empire]] in the middle of winter.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Math and mathematicians: the history of math discoveries around the world|last=Bruno|first=Leonard C.|date=2003|orig-year=1999|publisher=U X L|others=Baker, Lawrence W.|isbn=978-0-7876-3813-9|location=Detroit, Mich.|pages=[https://archive.org/details/mathmathematicia00brun/page/103 103]–04|oclc=41497065|url=https://archive.org/details/mathmathematicia00brun|url-access=registration}}</ref> Christina was interested in and stimulated Descartes to publish ''The Passions of the Soul''.<ref name="Smith">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Smith |first=Kurt |title=Descartes' Life and Works |encyclopedia=[[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]] |date=Fall 2010 |url=http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/descartes-works/ |access-date=2 May 2005 |archive-date=23 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210323211048/https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/descartes-works/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

He was a guest at the house of [[Pierre Chanut]], living on [[Västerlånggatan]], less than 500 meters from Castle [[Tre Kronor (castle)|Tre Kronor]] in [[Stockholm]]. There, Chanut and Descartes made observations with a [[Evangelista Torricelli|Torricellian]] mercury barometer.<ref name="Åkerman 1991"/> Challenging [[Blaise Pascal]], Descartes took the first set of barometric readings in Stockholm to see if [[atmospheric pressure]] could be used in forecasting the weather.<ref>''Modern meteorology: a series of six lectures: delivered under the auspices of the Meteorological Society in 1878'', 1879, [https://archive.org/details/modernmeteorolog00mete/page/72/mode/2up?q=Stockholm p. 73].</ref>

=== Death ===
Descartes arranged to tutor Queen Christina after her birthday, three times a week at 5 am, in her cold and draughty castle. However, by 15 January 1650 the Queen had actually met with Descartes only four or five times.<ref name="Åkerman 1991"/> It soon became clear they did not like each other; she did not care for his [[Mechanical philosophy#Descartes|mechanical philosophy]], nor did he share her interest in [[Ancient Greek language]] and [[Ancient Greek literature|literature]].<ref name="Åkerman 1991"/> On 1 February 1650, he contracted [[pneumonia]] and died on 11 February at Chanut.<ref>{{cite book |title = Math and mathematicians: the history of math discoveries around the world |last=Bruno |first = Leonard C. |year=2003 |orig-year=1999 |publisher = U X L |others = Baker, Lawrence W. |isbn=978-0-7876-3813-9 |location = Detroit, MI |page=[https://archive.org/details/mathmathematicia00brun/page/104 104] |oclc=41497065 |url = https://archive.org/details/mathmathematicia00brun |url-access=registration }}</ref>

{{blockquote|"Yesterday morning about four o'clock a.m. has deceased here at the house of His Excellency Mr. Chanut, French ambassador, Mr. Descartes. As I have been informed, he had been ill for a few days with pleurisy. But as he did not want to take or use medicines, a hot fever appears to have arisen as well. Thereupon, he had himself bled three times in one day, but without operation of losing much blood. Her Majesty much bemoaned his decease, because he was such a learned man. He has been cast in wax. It was not his intention to die here, as he had resolved shortly before his death to return to Holland at the first occasion. Etc."<ref>[https://dwc.knaw.nl/wp-content/bestanden/2012_Rijks-_Correspondence_Van_Nierop.pdf The Correspondence of Dirck Rembrantsz van Nierof, (1610–1682), pp. 61, 84 ]</ref>}}

The cause of death was pneumonia according to Chanut, but [[pleurisy|peripneumonia]] according to Christina's physician Johann van Wullen who was not allowed to bleed him.<ref>{{cite web |title = Il y a des preuves que René Descartes a été assassiné |url = https://www.nouvelobs.com/rue89/rue89-rue89-culture/20100212.RUE5003/il-y-a-des-preuves-que-rene-descartes-a-ete-assassine.html |access-date = 27 September 2020 |website = L'Obs |date = 12 February 2010 |language = fr |archive-date = 20 May 2019 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190520025901/https://www.nouvelobs.com/rue89/rue89-rue89-culture/20100212.RUE5003/il-y-a-des-preuves-que-rene-descartes-a-ete-assassine.html |url-status = live }}</ref> (The winter seems to have been mild,<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.int-res.com/articles/cr/17/c017p055.pdf| title = "Severity of winter seasons in the northern Baltic Sea between 1529 and 1990: reconstruction and analysis" by S. Jevrejeva (2001), p. 6, Table 3| access-date = 27 January 2020| archive-date = 9 March 2021| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210309061205/https://www.int-res.com/articles/cr/17/c017p055.pdf| url-status = live}}</ref> except for the second half of January which was harsh as described by Descartes himself; however, "this remark was probably intended to be as much Descartes's take on the intellectual climate as it was about the weather.")<ref name="Smith" />

{{multiple image
|total_width = 400
|image1 = DescartesAshes.jpg
|image2 = Rene Descartes monument in the Adolf Fredriks Kyrka Stockholm 2.jpg
|footer = (left) The tomb of Descartes (middle, with detail of the inscription), in the [[Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés]], Paris; (right) memorial to Descartes, erected in the 1720s, in the Adolf Fredriks kyrka
}}

[[:de:Eike Pies|E. Pies]] has questioned this account, based on a letter by the Doctor van Wullen; however, Descartes had refused his treatment, and more arguments against its veracity have been raised since.<ref>Pies Е., ''Der Mordfall Descartes'', Solingen, 1996, and Ebert Т., ''Der rätselhafte Tod des René Descartes'', Aschaffenburg, Alibri, 2009. French translation: ''L'Énigme de la mort de Descartes'', Paris, Hermann, 2011</ref> In a 2009 book, German philosopher Theodor Ebert argues that Descartes was poisoned by Jacques Viogué, a Catholic missionary who opposed his religious views.<ref>{{cite news |url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/feb/14/rene-descartes-poisoned-catholic-priest |title = Descartes was "poisoned by Catholic priest" – ''The Guardian'', Feb 14 2010 |newspaper = The Guardian |date = 14 February 2010 |access-date = 8 October 2014 |archive-date = 9 September 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130909130505/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/feb/14/rene-descartes-poisoned-catholic-priest |url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Ebert |first=Theodor |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1XKvPwAACAAJ |title=Der rätselhafte Tod des René Descartes |year=2009 |publisher=[[:de:Alibri Verlag|Alibri Verlag]] |isbn=978-3-86569-048-7 |language=de |access-date=11 August 2020 |archive-date=16 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816214228/https://books.google.com/books?id=1XKvPwAACAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> As evidence, Ebert suggests that [[Catherine Descartes]], the niece of René Descartes, made a veiled reference to the act of poisoning when her uncle was administered "communion" two days before his death, in her ''Report on the Death of M. Descartes, the Philosopher'' (1693).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ebert |first=Theodor |date=2019 |title=Did Descartes Die of Poisoning? |journal=Early Science and Medicine |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=142–185 |doi=10.1163/15733823-00242P02|s2cid=199305288 }}</ref>
<!--In May 1654, Queen Christina abdicated her throne to convert to Catholicism half a year later in [[Antwerp]]. -->

His last words were reported to have been:
{{blockquote|My soul, though has long been held captive. The hour has now come for  thee to quit thy prison, to leave the trammels of this body. Then to this separation with joy and courage!<ref>{{cite book |last=Green |first=Jonathon |author-link=Jonathon Green |title=Famous Last Words |publisher=Kyle Cathie |location=Enderby, Leicester |year=1997 |isbn= 978-1856-2626-44 |page=72}}</ref>}}

As a Catholic<ref name="books.google.be">{{cite book |last=Garstein |first=Oskar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SJxEw4nVDXQC&q=queen+of+sweden+descartes+catholicism&pg=PA510 |title=Rome and the Counter-Reformation in Scandinavia: The Age of Gustavus Adolphus and Queen Christina of Sweden, 1622-1656 |year=1992 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-09395-9 |language=en |access-date=3 October 2020 |archive-date=3 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210803081336/https://books.google.com/books?id=SJxEw4nVDXQC&q=queen+of+sweden+descartes+catholicism&pg=PA510 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="KrR-5EKLSQMC p. 207">{{cite book |last=Rodis-Lewis |first=Geneviève |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KrR-5EKLSQMC&q=descartes+catholic&pg=PA207 |title=Descartes: His Life and Thought |year=1999 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=978-0-8014-8627-2 |language=en |access-date=3 October 2020 |archive-date=25 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210725133035/https://books.google.com/books?id=KrR-5EKLSQMC&q=descartes+catholic&pg=PA207 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Gh_BAAAQBAJ p. 107">{{Cite book|last1=Oppy|first1=Graham|author1-link=Graham Oppy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8Gh_BAAAQBAJ&q=descartes+catholicism&pg=PA107|title=Early Modern Philosophy of Religion: The History of Western Philosophy of Religion, volume 3|last2=Trakakis|first2=N. N.|author2-link=Nick Trakakis|date=2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-54645-0|language=en|access-date=3 October 2020|archive-date=16 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816024632/https://books.google.com/books?id=8Gh_BAAAQBAJ&q=descartes+catholicism&pg=PA107|url-status=live}}</ref> in a Protestant nation, he was interred in the churchyard of what was to become [[Adolf Fredrik Church]] in Stockholm, where mainly orphans had been buried. His manuscripts came into the possession of [[Claude Clerselier]], Chanut's brother-in-law, and "a devout Catholic who has begun the process of turning Descartes into a saint by cutting, adding and publishing his letters selectively."<ref>{{cite web |url = http://andrefabre.e-monsite.com/pages/histoire-de-la-medecine/descartes-in-sweden.html |title=Andrefabre.e-monsite.com |access-date=21 December 2014 |archive-date=5 November 2014 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141105143616/http://andrefabre.e-monsite.com/pages/histoire-de-la-medecine/descartes-in-sweden.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>[[Richard Watson (philosopher)|Watson, R.]], ''Cogito, Ergo Sum: The Life of René Descartes'' ([[Boston]]: [[David R. Godine, Publisher|David R. Godine]], 2002), [https://books.google.com/books?id=IRvIQkLFD60C&pg=PA137 pp. 137–54] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210725062333/https://books.google.com/books?id=IRvIQkLFD60C&pg=PA137 |date=25 July 2021 }}.</ref>{{rp|137–154}} In 1663, the [[Pope Alexander VII|Pope]] placed Descartes's works on the [[Index Librorum Prohibitorum|''Index of Prohibited Books'']]. In 1666, sixteen years after his death, his remains were taken to France and buried in [[Saint-Étienne-du-Mont]]. In 1671, [[Louis XIV]] prohibited all lectures in [[Cartesianism]]. Although the [[National Convention]] in 1792 had planned to transfer his remains to the [[Panthéon]], he was reburied in the [[Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés]] in 1819, missing a finger and the skull.{{NoteTag|The remains however are not in the tomb in the present day.}} His alleged skull is in the [[Musée de l'Homme]] in Paris,<ref>{{cite web |url = https://strangeremains.com/2015/07/23/the-heads-of-these-5-people-were-stolen-from-their-graves/ |title = 5 historical figures whose heads have been stolen |date = 23 July 2015 |website = Strange Remains |access-date = 29 November 2016 |archive-date = 22 December 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161222005508/https://strangeremains.com/2015/07/23/the-heads-of-these-5-people-were-stolen-from-their-graves/ |url-status = live }}</ref> but some 2020 researches confirm that it may be a forgery. The original skull was probably divided into pieces in Sweden and given to private collectors; one of those pieces arrived at the [[University of Lund]] in 1691, where it is still preserved.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/descartes-alleged-skull-fragment | title=(Alleged) Piece of Descartes' Skull }}</ref>