Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting One’s Reason and of Seeking Truth


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(4.5 stars; 61 reviews)

The Discourse on Method is best known as the source of the famous quotation “cogito ergo sum”, “I think, therefore I am.” …. It is a method which gives a solid platform from which all modern natural sciences could evolve. With this work, the idea of skepticism was revived from the ancients such as Sextus Empiricus and modified to account for a truth that Descartes found to be incontrovertible. Descartes started his line of reasoning by doubting everything, so as to assess the world from a fresh perspective, clear of any preconceived notions.
(Summary by Wikipedia) (2 hr 29 min)

Chapters

Chapter 1 17:05 Read by Stefan Schmelz
Chapter 2 23:40 Read by Patrick
Chapter 3 19:48 Read by Rainer
Chapter 4 19:46 Read by Gesine
Chapter 5 35:13 Read by deadwhitemales
Chapter 6 34:20 Read by Richard Grove

Reviews

good book well read


(5 stars)

Descartes is very subtly wrong, so I’m not sure how good he is for newbies. If you haven’t gotten into philosophy before this, go to Plato’s dialogues

Such a tease!


(5 stars)

The end of the book is a tantalizing advertisement to descartes other work, and this text is a fantastic preparatory reading fir people new to philosophy.


(5 stars)

Excellent book. I first read it in high school, and found it fascinating. More than twenty years later, I enjoyed rediscovering this masterpiece.

apology of a philosopher


(4 stars)

Descartes traces his impulse to philosophical inquiry, the uncovering of root causes, and the philosopher's debt to posterity.

Fascinating. Need better reading for the middle sections.


(4 stars)