Rene Descartes, Autonomy, and the Mind
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Rene Descartes, Autonomy, and the Mind is part of the 2016 Contextual Lecture Series: Taking Liberties.
Rene Descartes was an important innovator in mathematics, metaphysics and physics in the 17th century. His connection to Magna Carta is conceptual rather than historical. His picture of the human mind and its autonomy justifies respect for people, equality under the law, and political liberty for rational agents—all associated with the mythologized Magna Carta. But in his own lifetime he resorted to immigration, self-censorship, literary subterfuge and a kind of invisibility to negotiate the illiberalism of church and state authorities.
Prof. Tom Sorell is Professor of Politics and Philosophy and Head of the Interdisciplinary Ethics Research Group in PAIS. He is an RCUK Global Uncertainties Leadership Fellow (2013-2016). Contributor to many books and publications including, Minority Report, 2012
