Cartesians

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. People who follow or support the philosophy and principles of René Descartes, emphasizing reason and doubt as tools for acquiring knowledge
2. Adherents of Cartesianism, a philosophical system that highlights rationalism, the existence of the self, and the method of systematic doubt
3. Individuals associated with Cartesian ideas, focusing on dualism between mind and body and the use of logic and analytical thinking in philosophy or mathematics

Etymology: René Descartes, the French philosopher, signed his Latin works with the name "Renatus Cartesius," a Latinized form of his surname. Scholars in the following centuries took that Latin form and built a new adjective from it: "Cartesianus" in New Latin, the scholarly Latin of the early modern period. From there the adjective passed into the vernacular languages, and English speakers came to use "Cartesian" for anything relating to his ideas or method. The plural "cartesians" is simply the plural of that adjective used as a noun, referring to the people who followed Descartes or adopted his system. Those adherents were people who accepted his rationalism, his view of the self as a thinking thing, and his method of systematic doubt, which started from questioning every belief that could be doubted.

Synonyms: descartes, rationalists

Antonyms: empiricists