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René Descartes

1596–1650 · Philosopher and mathematician

Portrait of René Descartes
After Frans Hals · Wikimedia Commons, Public domain

Bio

French philosopher and mathematician who sought certain knowledge through systematic doubt, formulating the principle usually rendered as I think, therefore I am. He developed analytic geometry, linking algebra and geometry through the coordinate system that bears his name, and his mind-body dualism set terms for centuries of debate in philosophy of mind.