Summary
Rene Descartes is frequently considered the first modern philosopher. His
first publication, Discourse on Method (1637), was the touchstone of the
scientific method. A response to the lack of clarity he saw in the world of
science, Discourse describes how scientific study should be prosecuted so
as to achieve the utmost clarity, by using deductive reasoning to test
hypotheses. Descartes explained that the test of an alleged truth is the
clarity with which it may be apprehended, or proven. "I think, therefore I am,"
(cogito ergo sum) is Descartes' famous example of the most clearly apprehended
truth. In effect, the evidence of thought proves the hypothesis of existence.
Descartes dabbled extensively in the study of cosmology and the nature of
matter, developing theories on the make up of matter and the formulation and
operation of heavenly bodies. Though Descartes' astronomical explanation failed
to account for many observed phenomena, his great prestige propelled his theory
into fashion among the educated elite intellectuals of Europe. Descartes was
even about to publish a book on cosmology, entitled The World, in 1653,
when he heard of Galileo Galilei's condemnation by the
Church and thought better of
it. Descartes tried to apply his physical theories and expand upon them in his
works on human anatomy, which, though pioneering in some respects, were largely
erroneous. He further wrote about the spiritual nature of man and theorized
about the existence of the soul. The Cartesian philosophy (derived from his
name, Descartes) won many followers during the seventeenth century.
Francis Bacon, also called Lord Verulam, was somewhat less renowned and less
successful than Descartes, but nevertheless highly influential. Bacon advocated
the collection of all possible facts and phenomena and the processing of these
through a sort of automatic logical mill. Bacon warned scientists against four
famous false notions, called Idols.
1. Idols of the Tribe were fallacies in humankind, most notably man's proneness
to believe that nature was ordered to a higher degree than it actually was.
2. Idols of the Cave were misconceptions inherent in individuals' thoughts,
spawned by private prejudices.
3. Idols of the Marketplace were errors that arose from received systems of
thought.
