Rene Descartes and religion

Answer 1

The religious beliefs of René Descartes have been rigorously debated within scholarly circles. He claimed to be a devout Roman Catholic, claiming that one of the purposes of theMeditations was to defend the Christian faith. However, in his own era, Descartes was accused of harboring secret deist or atheist beliefs. Contemporary Blaise Pascal said that "I cannot forgive Descartes; in all his philosophy, Descartes did his best to dispense with God. But Descartes could not avoid prodding God to set the world in motion with a snap of his lordly fingers; after that, he had no more use for God."[24]

Stephen Gaukroger's biography of Descartes reports that "he had a deep religious faith as a Catholic, which he retained to his dying day, along with a resolute, passionate desire to discover the truth."[25] After Descartes died in Sweden, Queen Christina abdicated her throne to convert to Roman Catholicism (Swedish law required a Protestant ruler). The only Roman Catholic with whom she had prolonged contact was Descartes, who was her personal tutor.[citation needed]

Answer 2

Rene Descartes was a French philosopher known for his rationalist approach to knowledge and skepticism towards religious beliefs. He embraced the idea of separating faith from reason, arguing that the latter should be the foundation for knowledge. While Descartes acknowledged the existence of God in his philosophy, his focus was on establishing a method for acquiring knowledge through reason rather than relying solely on religious doctrine.