Rene Descartes, Early Modernity, and the Wars of Religion - Philosophers in the Midst of History

Check out the 8-Week Rene Descartes' Meditations, Objections, & Replies class - https://reasonio.teachable.com/p/rene... Request personal videos on Cameo - https://www.cameo.com/gregorybsadler Get Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy - https://amzn.to/3OMf8QQ Support my work here -   / sadler   or here - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/A4quYdWoM Philosophy tutorials - https://reasonio.wordpress.com/tutori... Take classes with me - https://reasonio.teachable.com/ In this third installment of our quarterly series, Philosophers in the Midst of History, I discuss the life, thought, and importance of Rene Descartes in his historical context. Descartes is rightly regarded as a "father of modern philosophy", and even as one of the fathers of modernity. But what is modernity, and what does it mean to be modern? Those are questions we begin with. A good bit of discussion is devoted to the extent and effects of the Wars of Religion that swept across Europe for over a hundred years following the beginnings of the Protestant Reformation. Descartes himself grew up in a culture that had seen wars over religious perspectives and political power, and his philosophical enterprise can be understood - at least in part - to be motivated as a response to those conflicts. The wars also provided a kind of backdrop for some of his own activities and travels. We discuss certain of Descartes' key ideas and achievements in philosophy, including the 4 rules of method, the tree of knowledge, mind-body dualism, the role of God and religion, the Cogito, as well as many others. . . You can watch all the talks in this ongoing series here:    • Philosophers in the Midst of History | A Q...   For the longer playlist containing over 50 of my recent talks, click here:    • Presentations and Invited Lectures   Interested in booking me for a talk, discussion, or workshop? Click here: https://reasonio.wordpress.com/talks-...