The Father of Modern Philosophy

Descartes: Meditations on First Philosophy

In this course, Professor Cottingham (University of Reading) explores René Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy. In the first module, we provide a brief introduction to Descartes himself and his philosophical system, as described in his Discourse on the Method. After that, we move through the Meditations themselves, focusing in turn on Descartes' method of doubt, his famous philosophical proposition cogito ergo sum, his belief in the existence of God and the reliability of science, and his understanding of the relationship between the body and the mind, a position known today as Cartesian dualism.

The Father of Modern Philosophy

This module provides a brief introduction to Descartes himself, focusing in particular on his overall approach to philosophy as described in his Discourse on the Method (1638).