Descartes - I think, therefore I blog

René Descartes was born in a small town, which now bears his name, located about one hour east of Tours.

As I have been steeped in Humanism and Renaissance philosophy this week, it was quite refreshing to visit Descartes' later philosophy which broke with tradition. In fact he is often considered as the "Father of Modern Philosophy". His house was quite recently turned into a museum and it is very well laid out, situating both the man and his ideas in the larger context of France and of the world. (unfortunately no photos were allowed inside as I was told numerous times as I instinctively reached for my new favourite thing - my digital camera!). I bought a copy of his Discours sur la Méthode and will try to read it within his context as well as my modern day one, since he lays out some very interesting "methods" for examining life and for conducting one's self. We'll see how this goes...