Simply Descartes

The philosopher who taught us to question everything.

What can we know for certain? René Descartes began with that deceptively simple question and helped transform Western philosophy. In Simply Descartes, philosopher Kurt Smith offers an accessible introduction to the life and ideas of the thinker best known for the famous claim, “I think, therefore I am.” Smith explains how Descartes used radical doubt to challenge everything that could possibly be mistaken, searching for a foundation on which reliable knowledge could be built. Along the way, he explores Descartes’ ideas about the mind and body, God, mathematics, science, and the nature of reality, showing how his arguments continue to influence the way we think about knowledge and consciousness. Rather than treating Descartes as a distant historical figure, Simply Descartes shows why his questions remain surprisingly relevant whenever we ask how we know what we think we know.

• An accessible introduction to René Descartes’ life and philosophy
• Explains the famous “I think, therefore I am” and Descartes’ method of radical doubt
• Explores his ideas about knowledge, mind and body, God, mathematics, and reality
• Places Descartes within the scientific and intellectual revolution of seventeenth-century Europe
• Shows how Descartes helped lay the foundations of modern philosophy

Available in multiple formats:

Paperback — Elegant print edition presenting the complete, unabridged text, and ships in 3–5 business days.
Hardcover — Elegant print edition presenting the complete, unabridged text, and ships in 5–7 business days.
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Audiobook — Professionally narrated, complete and unabridged. Available on Audible, Spotify, Apple Books.

Clear and approachable without reducing Descartes’ arguments to simple formulas, Simply Descartes provides an inviting introduction to a philosopher whose insistence on doubt and reason changed the course of Western thought.

About the Author

Kurt Smith is a philosopher and scholar whose work focuses on the history of philosophy, epistemology, and the development of modern philosophical thought. He has written and taught extensively on René Descartes and early modern philosophy, exploring questions about knowledge, reason, mind, and reality. In Simply Descartes, Smith brings these challenging ideas to a general audience, providing a clear guide to one of the most influential philosophers of the modern era.