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Mar 18, 2010
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Dictionary of Phrase and Fable—C

Cartesian Philosophy

The philosophical system of René Descartes (Latin, Cartesius ), of La Haye, in Touraine. The basis of his system is cogito ergo sum. Thought must proceed from soul, and therefore man is not wholly material; that soul must be from some Being not material, and that Being is God. As for physical phenomena, they must be the result of motion excited by God, and these motions he termed vortices. (1596-1650.)

Of course, he begs the whole question in his first assertion. (See Cogito.)

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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