英語短文名人故事 哲學(xué)思想家 第26期:勒內(nèi)·笛卡兒
7 Rene Descartes 勒內(nèi)·笛卡兒
Rene Descartes was a French philosopher and writer who spent most of his adult life in the Dutch Republic. 勒內(nèi)·笛卡兒是一名法國哲學(xué)家，成年后大部分時(shí)間卻住在荷蘭。
He has been dubbed the “Father of Modem Philosophy”，and much subsequent Western philosophy is a response to his writings, which are studied closely to this day. 他被認(rèn)為是現(xiàn)代西方哲學(xué)的奠基人，在他之后的西方哲學(xué)相當(dāng)一部分是對(duì)他的作品和思想的回應(yīng)。他的著作在今天仍受到廣大學(xué)者的仔細(xì)研究。
In particular, his Meditations on First Philosophy continues to be a standard text at most university philosophy departments. 尤其是他的《第一哲學(xué)沉思集》一直是眾多大學(xué)哲學(xué)系的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)教材。
Descartes’ influence in mathematics is equally apparent. 笛卡兒在數(shù)學(xué)上的影響也同樣顯著，
He is credited as the father of analytical geometry, the bridge between algebra and geometry. 他還被稱為“解析幾何之父”。
Descartes was also one of the key figures in the Scientific Revolution. 笛卡兒也是科學(xué)革命中的主要人物。
Descartes was born in La Haye en Touraine (now Descartes), Indre-et-Loire, France. 笛卡兒生于法國安德爾-盧瓦爾省的圖賴訥（現(xiàn)笛卡爾，因笛卡兒得名）。
When he was one year old, his mother died. His father was a member in the provincial parliament. 他一歲多時(shí)母親就去世了。他父親是省議會(huì)的議員。
At the age of eight, he entered the Jesuit College Royal Henry-Le-Grand at La Fleche. 8歲時(shí)笛卡兒就進(jìn)入拉夫賴士（La Fle che)的耶穌會(huì)學(xué)校接受教育，
After graduation, he studied at the University of Poitiers, earning a Baccalaureat and Licence in law in 1616， 畢業(yè)后到普瓦捷大學(xué)學(xué)習(xí)法律，1616年，
in accordance with his father’s wishes that he should become a lawyer. 如父親所愿，獲得中學(xué)畢業(yè)證書及法律執(zhí)業(yè)資格。
He spent most of his youth traveling, visiting courts and armies, mixing with people of diverse temperaments and ranks, gathering various experiences. 笛卡兒年輕時(shí)花費(fèi)了大量時(shí)間游歷各方，參觀王宮和軍隊(duì)，與各種性格和階層的人們交往，積攢不同的經(jīng)歷。
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. 盡管經(jīng)常遷移，他的主要作品仍然是在他20多歲時(shí)在荷蘭完成的，他試圖掀起一場數(shù)學(xué)和哲學(xué)的革命。
In 1633, Galileo was condemned by the Roman Catholic Church, and Descartes abandoned plans to publish Treatise on the World, his work of the previous four years. 1633年，迦利略被羅馬天主教會(huì)控告有罪，使笛卡兒放棄了出版《世界》，這是他前四年的心血的結(jié)晶。
Nevertheless, in 1637 he published part of this work in three essays: 然而, 在1637年，他將這本書中的部分內(nèi)容發(fā)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). 《折光學(xué)》、《氣象學(xué)》和《幾何學(xué)》，書的序言就是他著名的《方法論》。
Descartes continued to publish works concerning both mathematics and philosophy for the rest of his life. 笛卡兒余生里繼續(xù)出版關(guān)于數(shù)學(xué)和哲學(xué)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日在瑞典斯德哥爾摩逝世，之前他受瑞典女王邀請(qǐng)來到瑞典，為克里斯蒂娜皇后當(dāng)老師。
The cause of death was said to be pneumonia — he may have suffered a detrimental effect on his health due to Christina’s demands for early morning study. 據(jù)說他感染了肺炎，可能是因?yàn)榭死锼沟倌纫笤缙饘W(xué)習(xí)，
The lack of sleep could have severely compromised his immune system. 長期的缺乏睡眠嚴(yán)重影響了他的免疫系統(tǒng)，給他的健康帶來了慢性損害。
