Simply Descartes

The philosopher who taught us to question everything.

What can we know for certain? René Descartes began with that deceptively simple question and helped transform Western philosophy. In Simply Descartes, philosopher Kurt Smith offers an accessible introduction to the life and ideas of the thinker best known for the famous claim, "I think, therefore I am." Smith explains how Descartes used radical doubt to challenge everything that could possibly be mistaken, searching for a foundation on which to build reliable knowledge. Along the way, he explores Descartes' ideas about the mind and body, God, mathematics, science, and the nature of reality, showing how his arguments still shape how we think about knowledge and consciousness. Rather than treating Descartes as a distant historical figure, Simply Descartes shows why his questions remain surprisingly relevant whenever we ask how we know what we think we know.