PHILOSOPHER

René Descartes

1596 - 1650

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René Descartes ( or UK: ; French: [ʁəne dekaʁt] (listen); Latinized: Renatus Cartesius; 31 March 1596 – 11 February 1650) was a French-born philosopher, mathematician, and scientist who spent a large portion of his working life in the Dutch Republic, initially serving the Dutch States Army of Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange and the Stadtholder of the United Provinces. One of the most notable intellectual figures of the Dutch Golden Age, Descartes is also widely regarded as one of the founders of modern philosophy. Many elements of Descartes's philosophy have precedents in late Aristotelianism, the revived Stoicism of the 16th century, or in earlier philosophers like Augustine. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of René Descartes has received more than 7,211,634 page views. His biography is available in 154 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 149 in 2019). René Descartes is the 7th most popular philosopher, the 3rd most popular biography from France (up from 4th in 2019) and the most popular French Philosopher.

René Descartes is most famous for his philosophical statement, "I think, therefore I am."

Memorability Metrics

  • 7.2M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 92.74

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 154

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 15.59

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 4.14

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

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Among PHILOSOPHERS

Among philosophers, René Descartes ranks 7 out of 1,089. Before him are Aristotle, Plato, Socrates, Confucius, Gautama Buddha, and Immanuel Kant. After him are Avicenna, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Friedrich Nietzsche, Niccolò Machiavelli, Augustine of Hippo, and John Locke.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1596, René Descartes ranks 1. After him are Michael of Russia, Frederick V of the Palatinate, Pietro da Cortona, Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia, Pieter Claesz, Jan van Goyen, Nicola Amati, Baldassare Longhena, Emperor Go-Mizunoo, Joan Blaeu, and Andreas Cellarius. Among people deceased in 1650, René Descartes ranks 1. After him are William II, Prince of Orange, Dorgon, Tukaram, Matthäus Merian, Charlotte Marguerite de Montmorency, Christoph Scheiner, Catalina de Erauso, Bernhardus Varenius, Jean Rotrou, and Claude Favre de Vaugelas.

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Others Deceased in 1650

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In France

Among people born in France, René Descartes ranks 3 out of 5,234. Before him are Napoleon (1769) and Louis XIV of France (1638). After him are Joan of Arc (1412), Charlemagne (748), Voltaire (1694), Blaise Pascal (1623), Louis Pasteur (1822), Victor Hugo (1802), Claude Monet (1840), Montesquieu (1689), and Jules Verne (1828).

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Among PHILOSOPHERS In France

Among philosophers born in France, René Descartes ranks 1. After him are Montesquieu (1689), Auguste Comte (1798), Michel de Montaigne (1533), Michel Foucault (1926), Henri Bergson (1859), Peter Abelard (1079), Jean Bodin (1530), Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (1809), Roland Barthes (1915), Gilles Deleuze (1925), and Charles Fourier (1772).

French born Philosophers

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