The Discourse on the Method is a
philosophical and
mathematical treatise published by
René Descartes in
1637. Its full name is Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting the Reason, and Searching for Truth in the Sciences (French title: Discours de la méthode pour bien conduire sa raison, et chercher la verité dans les sciences). The Discourse on Method is best known as the source of the famous
quotation "Je pense, donc je suis" ("I think, therefore I am"), which occurs in Part IV of the work. (The similar statement in Latin,
Cogito ergo sum, is found in §7 of
Principles of Philosophy.) In addition, in one of its appendices,
La Géométrie, is contained Descartes' first introduction of the
Cartesian coordinate system.
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