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Rene Descartes history and literature history philosophy culture and society
René Descartes passed away on this day in 1650. Celebrate his legacy with his Mechanical Philosophy (1644), which posited that the universe operated as a continuously running machine which God had set in motion. Since he rejected Newton’s theory of gravity and idea of a vacuum in space, Descartes argued that instead the universe was composed of a ‘subtle matter’ he named ‘plenum,’ which swirled in vortices like whirlpools and actually moved the planets by contact. Here, these vortices carry the planets around the Sun.

René Descartes passed away on this day in 1650. Celebrate his legacy with his Mechanical Philosophy (1644), which posited that the universe operated as a continuously running machine which God had set in motion.

Since he rejected Newton’s theory of gravity and idea of a vacuum in space, Descartes argued that instead the universe was composed of a ‘subtle matter’ he named ‘plenum,’ which swirled in vortices like whirlpools and actually moved the planets by contact. Here, these vortices carry the planets around the Sun.
2-11-2013
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