Critically Assess Descartes View of the Soul.

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Critically assess Descartes view of the soul. René Descartes, who was born in 1596 in France was very much a product of the French renaissance, was greatly influenced by Aristotle, a Greek philosopher and scientist born in the city of Stagirus, in 384 BCE, enjoying a 17 year stint at Plato’s Academy. Descartes was also greatly influenced by the Christian world view, which is the framework of ideas and beliefs through which a Christian can use to interpret the world around them and ways in which to interact with it. He sought to lay a new foundation for philosophy with the mathematical method. Most famous for his quote, “I think therefore I am”, Descartes was a respected philosopher, mathematician and writer in the 17th century. Descartes was a self-proclaimed devout Catholic, saying that the Meditations, a philosophical written piece of work dealing formally and systematically with the existence of God and the immortality of the soul, written by himself and first published in 1641, were to defend the Christian faith. However this did not stop accusations that Descartes was a harbourer of secret deist or atheist beliefs. A fellow philosopher in the era of Descartes, Blaise Pascal, shared many similarities with Descartes; they both were products of the French renaissance and shares the Christian world view from the Catholic perspective. Pascal said "I cannot forgive Descartes; in all his philosophy, Descartes did his best to dispense with God. But Descartes could not avoid prodding God to set the world in motion with a snap of his lordly fingers; after that, he had no more use for God." Maybe Pascal should of ignored Descartes teachings just as Descartes did to those who had proceeded him. Although Descartes was well acquainted with their works he built his own system as if he knew nothing of them. He was not
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