Descartes

American  

[dey-kahrt, dey-kart] / deɪˈkɑrt, deɪˈkart /

noun

1. René 1596–1650, French philosopher and mathematician.

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Descartes British  

/ ˈdeɪˌkɑːt, dekart /

noun

1. René (rəne). 1596–1650, French philosopher and mathematician. He provided a mechanistic basis for the philosophical theory of dualism and is regarded as the founder of modern philosophy. He also founded analytical geometry and contributed greatly to the science of optics. His works include Discours de la méthode (1637), Meditationes de Prima Philosophia (1641), and Principia Philosophiae (1644)

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Descartes Scientific  

/ dā-kärt′ /

1. French mathematician and philosopher who discovered that the position of a point can be determined by coordinates, a discovery that laid the foundation for analytic geometry.

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Example Sentences

Instead, Ryan says AI will increase the value of companies like Descartes because customers rely on far more than software code.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 13, 2026

Aristotle believed that animals and humans share similar emotions while Descartes argued that animals were more like machines, lacking the capacity for emotions or consciousness.

From Science Daily • Nov. 14, 2024

In 1641, French philosopher René Descartes, writing his famous “Meditations on First Philosophy,” observed that a mind is fundamentally different from the body which contains it.

From Salon • Nov. 10, 2024

"This unholy trinity, of language, intelligence and consciousness goes back all the way to Descartes," he told BBC News, with a degree of annoyance at the lack of questioning of this approach until recently.

From BBC • Jun. 15, 2024

Others, though, argued that it was quite clear that general laws of the sort described by Descartes could never produce the perfect design that one could find in the paw of a dog.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton