René Descartes ʁəne dekaʁt; (31 March 1596 – 11 February 1650) (Latinized

Latinisation (literature)

Latinisation is the practice of rendering a non-Latin name in a Latin style. It is commonly met with for historical personal names, with toponyms, or for the standard binomial nomenclature of the life sciences. It goes further than Romanisation, which is the writing of a word in the Latin alphabet...

 form: Renatus Cartesius; adjectival form: "Cartesian") was a French philosopher and writer who spent most of his adult life in the Dutch Republic

Dutch Republic

The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...

. He has been dubbed the 'Father of Modern Philosophy', and much subsequent Western philosophy

Western philosophy

Western philosophy is the philosophical thought and work of the Western or Occidental world, as distinct from Eastern or Oriental philosophies and the varieties of indigenous philosophies....

 is a response to his writings, which are studied closely to this day. In particular, his Meditations on First Philosophy

Meditations on First Philosophy

Meditations on First Philosophy is a philosophical treatise written by René Descartes and first published in 1641 . The French translation was published in 1647 as Méditations Metaphysiques...

continues to be a standard text at most university philosophy departments.