{
    "schema": "prokopton42-public-thinker-v1",
    "id": "descartes",
    "canonical_url": "https://prokopton42.com/en/thinkers/descartes/",
    "language": "en",
    "title": "René Descartes",
    "editorial_status": "available",
    "summary": "A source-bounded Descartes persona grounded in all 212 articles of The Passions of the Soul, with the 1649 French text and a reviewed English representation for every article.",
    "main_idea": "Methodical doubt separates what survives examination, then rebuilds knowledge without confusing certainty, body, and passions.",
    "body": "Descartes died in Stockholm on 11 February 1650.",
    "lifespan": {
        "display": "1596-1650",
        "era": "Early modern period",
        "distance": "376–430 years ago",
        "age_at_death": 54
    },
    "intellectual_tradition": {
        "id": "modern-philosophy",
        "name": "Modern and contemporary philosophy",
        "detail": "Rationalism, mind and passions",
        "labels": [
            "Modern and contemporary philosophy",
            "Rationalism, mind and passions"
        ]
    },
    "historical_cutoff": {
        "year": 1650,
        "display": "1650 CE",
        "reason": "Descartes died in Stockholm on 11 February 1650."
    },
    "statistics": {
        "works": 1,
        "passages": 212,
        "languages": [
            "en",
            "fr"
        ],
        "intellectual_exposures": 2,
        "typed_relationships": 1
    },
    "historical_landmarks": [
        {
            "kind": "birth",
            "title": "Birth",
            "period": "31 March 1596",
            "description": "Location retained by the dossier: La Haye en Touraine, France.",
            "fact_status": "approximate",
            "confidence": "B",
            "source_label": "René Descartes",
            "source_url": "https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/descartes/"
        },
        {
            "kind": "place",
            "title": "La Haye en Touraine",
            "period": "1596",
            "description": "Birthplace, now named Descartes. The point identifies the town, not an exact house.",
            "fact_status": "attested",
            "confidence": "A",
            "source_label": "Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: René Descartes",
            "source_url": "https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/descartes/"
        },
        {
            "kind": "place",
            "title": "La Flèche",
            "period": "1606/1607-1614/1615",
            "description": "Descartes studied at the Jesuit college through its grammar, philosophy and mathematics curriculum.",
            "fact_status": "attested",
            "confidence": "A",
            "source_label": "Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: René Descartes",
            "source_url": "https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/descartes/"
        },
        {
            "kind": "place",
            "title": "Poitiers",
            "period": "1616",
            "description": "He obtained a law degree here and did not proceed to legal practice.",
            "fact_status": "attested",
            "confidence": "A",
            "source_label": "Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: René Descartes",
            "source_url": "https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/descartes/"
        },
        {
            "kind": "place",
            "title": "Breda",
            "period": "1618",
            "description": "Military service and the documented encounter with Isaac Beeckman shaped Descartes's early mathematical physics.",
            "fact_status": "attested",
            "confidence": "A",
            "source_label": "Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: René Descartes",
            "source_url": "https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/descartes/"
        },
        {
            "kind": "place",
            "title": "Paris",
            "period": "1625-1628; later visits",
            "description": "Work with the mathematical and natural-philosophy circle around Marin Mersenne before the long Dutch residence.",
            "fact_status": "scholarly_consensus",
            "confidence": "B",
            "source_label": "Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: René Descartes",
            "source_url": "https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/descartes/"
        },
        {
            "kind": "place",
            "title": "Franeker",
            "period": "1629",
            "description": "First documented Dutch residence; Descartes registered at the university in April 1629.",
            "fact_status": "attested",
            "confidence": "A",
            "source_label": "Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: René Descartes",
            "source_url": "https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/descartes/"
        },
        {
            "kind": "death",
            "title": "Death",
            "period": "11 February 1650",
            "description": "Location retained by the dossier: Stockholm, Sweden.",
            "fact_status": "approximate",
            "confidence": "B",
            "source_label": "René Descartes",
            "source_url": "https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/descartes/"
        }
    ],
    "temperament_review": {
        "profile_id": "rene-descartes-temperament-v1",
        "overall_confidence": "C",
        "confidence_meaning": "convergence of primary text and near-contemporary testimony",
        "observation_count": 2,
        "source_count": 2,
        "basis": "The 212 admitted articles of The Passions of the Soul provide direct argumentative evidence. The profile describes a way of conducting dialogue, never private psychology."
    },
    "attested_thinker_encounters": [],
    "places": [
        {
            "name": "La Haye en Touraine",
            "period": "1596",
            "description": "Birthplace, now named Descartes. The point identifies the town, not an exact house.",
            "confidence": "A",
            "source_url": "https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/descartes/"
        },
        {
            "name": "La Flèche",
            "period": "1606/1607-1614/1615",
            "description": "Descartes studied at the Jesuit college through its grammar, philosophy and mathematics curriculum.",
            "confidence": "A",
            "source_url": "https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/descartes/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Poitiers",
            "period": "1616",
            "description": "He obtained a law degree here and did not proceed to legal practice.",
            "confidence": "A",
            "source_url": "https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/descartes/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Breda",
            "period": "1618",
            "description": "Military service and the documented encounter with Isaac Beeckman shaped Descartes's early mathematical physics.",
            "confidence": "A",
            "source_url": "https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/descartes/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Paris",
            "period": "1625-1628; later visits",
            "description": "Work with the mathematical and natural-philosophy circle around Marin Mersenne before the long Dutch residence.",
            "confidence": "B",
            "source_url": "https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/descartes/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Franeker",
            "period": "1629",
            "description": "First documented Dutch residence; Descartes registered at the university in April 1629.",
            "confidence": "A",
            "source_url": "https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/descartes/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Stockholm",
            "period": "1649-1650",
            "description": "Descartes accepted Queen Christina's invitation, prepared statutes for a royal academy and died here on 11 February 1650.",
            "confidence": "A",
            "source_url": "https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/descartes/"
        }
    ],
    "content_checksum": "3e8fc2eb95c9479bd9840730ab24c0c9307edd04d4af98d76eda053e6626c25c"
}