French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist (1596–1650)
René Descartes (March 31, 1596 – February 11, 1650) was a highly influential French philosopher, mathematician, physicist and writer. He is known for his influential arguments for substance dualism, where mind and body are considered to have distinct essences, one being characterized by thought, the other by spatial extension. He has been dubbed the "Father of Modern Philosophy" and the "Father of Modern Mathematics." He is also known as Cartesius.
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To begin with, I see that it is impossible that God should ever deceive me. Only someone who has something wrong with him will engage in trickery or deception. That someone is able to deceive others may be a sign of his skill or power, but his wanting to deceive them is a sign of his malice or weakness; and those are not to be found in God. Next, I know from experience that I have a faculty of judgment; and this, like everything else I have, was given to me by God. Since God doesn’t want to deceive me, I am sure that he didn’t give me a faculty of judgment that would lead me into error while I was using it correctly.
For since, with a little well-directed effort, one can change the movements of the brain in animals devoid of reason, it is clear that this can be done even more successfully in human beings, and that even those who have the weakest souls could acquire a very absolute command of all their passions, if one were to take the trouble to train them and guide them properly.
Mientras que el amor de un buen padre siente por sus hijos es tan puro que no desea obtener nada de ellos y no quiere poseerlos de otro modo que como lo hace, ni unirse a ellas más estrechamente de lo que lo está ya; si no que, considerándolos como otros él mismo, procura el bien de ellos como el suyo propio, o incluso con más celo, porque, pareciéndole que el y ellos constituyen un todo del cual no es él la mejor partes, prefiere a menudo los intereses de ellos antes que los suyos y no teme perderse por salvarlos.
Η ικανότητα να κρίνει κανείς ορθά και να διακρίνει το σωστό από το λάθος- γεγονός στο οποίο ακριβώς εγκείται αυτό που ονομάζεται κοινός νους και λογική- είναι από τη φύση της ίδια σε όλυος τους ανθρώπους, και ότι, για τον λόγο αυτόν, η διαφορετικότητα των απόψεων μας δεν εξαρτάται από το γεγονός ότι κάποιοι είναι περισσότερο λογικοί απ' ό,τι άλλου, παρά μόνο από το ότι ακολουθούμε με ετις σκέψεις μας διαφορετικούς δρόμους και δεν λαμβάνουμε υπόψη μας τα ίδια πράγματα.