🕯️ Welcome to the René Descartes Course for Everyday People
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🕯️ Welcome to the René Descartes Course for Everyday People
René Descartes (1596 to 1650) was a French philosopher, mathematician, and sometime soldier who lived through the upheaval of the Scientific Revolution and is remembered today as the father of modern philosophy. He did his most revolutionary thinking alone, often lying in bed late into the morning, and he traced his entire life's mission to three vivid dreams one winter night in a stove-heated room; decades later he died of the cold in Sweden, summoned to tutor a queen who insisted on her philosophy lessons at five in the morning. Underneath everything he wrote ran a single, almost reckless question: is there anything at all that can be known with complete certainty, and if so, how would anyone ever find it?
This course teaches Descartes pure to himself, with no other thinkers or modalities blended in. It is written in plain, emotionally relatable language that anyone can follow, whether you have read philosophy for years or this is your very first step into it. It is not academic training and it is not a history lecture; it is Descartes's actual ideas, taught clearly enough that you can genuinely understand them and carry them into the way you see your own life. Each module offers real teaching, concrete real-life illustrations, and an honest telling of both the brilliance and the flaws, the genius alongside the blind spots. And every lesson ends with a simple IFS and parts work practice, so the ideas become something you can actually work with rather than just read about.
This course is self-paced, with no tests, exams, or homework. Feel free to go through it in order, or to jump around to whatever interests you most.
If Descartes leaves you curious about where his ideas went next, the thinker who took them furthest, and then turned many of them on their head, was Baruch Spinoza, and he has his own course here.
Course outline
Click any lesson below to begin.
The Basics
Rebuilding Certainty
Living It
Disclaimer:
Everything IFS Academy is an independent educational platform and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the IFS Institute. While we strive for accuracy, errors can occur, and users are encouraged to cross-reference critical information. These courses present the ideas of historical philosophers for educational and self-reflection purposes only. They describe what these thinkers taught and argued and do not constitute an endorsement of any philosophical position, nor do they constitute religious instruction or professional advice of any kind. They do not constitute therapy, mental health treatment, clinical training, or crisis support, and they should not be used as a substitute for professional mental health care.
Crisis Support: 🚨
If you are experiencing a mental health crisis, feel unsafe, feel at risk of harming yourself or someone else, or feel too overwhelmed to safely use self-directed practices, please pause this material and reach out for immediate support. Contact a licensed mental health professional, call or text 988 in the U.S. or Canada, or use your local emergency or crisis resources.
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