英语短文名人故事 哲学思想家 第26期:勒内·笛卡儿

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Rene Descartes was a French philosopher and writer who spent most of his adult life in the Dutch Republic.  勒内·笛卡儿是一名法国哲学家，成年后大部分时间却住在荷兰。

He has been dubbed¹ the “Father of Modem² Philosophy”，and much subsequent Western philosophy is a response to his writings, which are studied closely to this day.  他被认为是现代西方哲学的奠基人，在他之后的西方哲学相当一部分是对他的作品和思想的回应。他的著作在今天仍受到广大学者的仔细研究。

In particular, his Meditations³ on First Philosophy continues to be a standard text at most university philosophy departments.  尤其是他的《第一哲学沉思集》一直是众多大学哲学系的标准教材。

Descartes’ influence in mathematics is equally apparent.  笛卡儿在数学上的影响也同样显著，

He is credited as the father of analytical⁴ geometry, the bridge between algebra⁵ and geometry.  他还被称为“解析几何之父”。

Descartes was also one of the key figures in the Scientific Revolution. 笛卡儿也是科学革命中的主要人物。

Descartes was born in La Haye en Touraine (now Descartes), Indre-et-Loire, France.  笛卡儿生于法国安德尔-卢瓦尔省的图赖讷（现笛卡尔，因笛卡儿得名）。

When he was one year old, his mother died. His father was a member in the provincial⁶ parliament.  他一岁多时母亲就去世了。他父亲是省议会的议员。

At the age of eight, he entered the Jesuit College Royal Henry-Le-Grand at La Fleche.  8岁时笛卡儿就进入拉夫赖士（La Fle che)的耶稣会学校接受教育，

After graduation, he studied at the University of Poitiers, earning a Baccalaureat and Licence in law in 1616， 毕业后到普瓦捷大学学习法律，1616年，

in accordance with his father’s wishes that he should become a lawyer. 如父亲所愿，获得中学毕业证书及法律执业资格。

He spent most of his youth traveling, visiting courts and armies, mixing with people of diverse temperaments⁷ and ranks, gathering⁸ various experiences.  笛卡儿年轻时花费了大量时间游历各方，参观王宫和军队，与各种性格和阶层的人们交往，积攒不同的经历。

Despite frequent moves he wrote all his major work during his 20 plus years in the Netherlands, where he managed to revolutionize mathematics and philosophy.  尽管经常迁移，他的主要作品仍然是在他20多岁时在荷兰完成的，他试图掀起一场数学和哲学的革命。

In 1633, Galileo was condemned⁹ by the Roman Catholic Church, and Descartes abandoned plans to publish Treatise¹⁰ on the World, his work of the previous four years.  1633年，迦利略被罗马天主教会控告有罪，使笛卡儿放弃了出版《世界》，这是他前四年的心血的结晶。

Nevertheless, in 1637 he published part of this work in three essays:  然而, 在1637年，他将这本书中的部分内容发表在三篇小散文中：

Les Meteores (The Meteors), La Dioptrique (Dioptrics) and La Geometrie (Geometry), preceded by an introduction, his famous Discours de la Metode (Discourse on the Method). 《折光学》、《气象学》和《几何学》，书的序言就是他著名的《方法论》。

Descartes continued to publish works concerning both mathematics and philosophy for the rest of his life.  笛卡儿余生里继续出版关于数学和哲学的著作。

He died on 11 February 1650 in Stockholm, Sweden, where he had been invited as a tutor for Queen Christina of Sweden.  他于1650年2月11日在瑞典斯德哥尔摩逝世，之前他受瑞典女王邀请来到瑞典，为克里斯蒂娜皇后当老师。

The cause of death was said to be pneumonia¹¹ — he may have suffered a detrimental¹² effect on his health due to Christina’s demands for early morning study.  据说他感染了肺炎，可能是因为克里斯蒂娜要求早起学习，

The lack of sleep could have severely¹³ compromised his immune system. 长期的缺乏睡眠严重影响了他的免疫系统，给他的健康带来了慢性损害。

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