Rene Descartes and His Influence on the Relationship Between Science and Religion

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An Investigation into the influence of one of Descartes’s theories had on the relationship between science and religion. BY RICHARD COUSE I have chosen this essay because it gives me the opportunity to analyze and investigate the theories of Rene Descartes who was a great philosopher. I have an interest in the relationship between science and religion and this essay allows me to learn more about this topic. We also studied Rene Descartes this year as part of our course and I found him very interesting. This essay will entail how Descartes’s theories influenced the relationship between science and religion and developed them. To begin this essay I went with my religion class to the school library to research information and gather sources on Descartes. I mainly used the Internet to research my essay however I also searched for information on Descartes in books in the school library but I struggled to find books relating to my topic. Luckily my religion teacher provided me with a book entitled “Religion and Science” by Fachtna McCarthy. This book provided me with lots of great information not only about Descartes and his theories but also about how his theories developed the relationship between science and religion, which perfectly applies to my question. Rene Descartes was born in France at the end of the 16th century in 1596. Descartes was a French philosopher who has been dubbed “the father of modern philosophy”. It has been recorded that even from a very young age, Descartes used to lie awake late into the night and late in the mornings thinking about philosophy and life. When he grew older he began to tackle and attempt to solve them. At the age of 23 Descartes had three dreams on 10th November 1619, these dreams convinced him that all knowledge is mathematical. Descartes life of devotion to philosophy can be traced back to its
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