René Descartes (31 March 1596 – 11 February 1650), was a French philosopher, mathematician, and physicist. He has been dubbed the “Father of Modern Philosophy,” and much of subsequent Western philosophy is a response to his writings. Many of his works are still studied today – in particular, his Meditations on First Philosophy. Descartes is also known for his contribution to mathematics and even is credited as the father of analytical geometry. Descartes was also one of the key figures in the Scientific Revolution. His famous phrase cogito ergo sum (“I think therefore I am”) is perhaps the most well known philosophical phrase. This phrase encapsulates Descartes attempt to find something he could not doubt – an indubitable. And for him, that thing was the very fact that he was thinking.

Participants: Camden Bucey, Jared Oliphint, Jonathan Brack, Nate Shannon