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Dreams
Rene Descartes being a Catholic in the 16th Century was exposed to many critics that did not agree with his work. Just like how Galileo was tortured for his views on Heliocentrism by the Inquisition, Descartes had to be very careful with what he expressed. Descartes was driven by his dreams. He changed his career path of being in the military to study and reform all knowledge based on three dreams that he had on November 10, 1618. -
Meditations on First Philosophy
The Meditations show that it can be applied to the fundamental philosophical questions including skepticism, existence of soul, nature of God, truth, human knowledge of the external world and the relation between the body and mind. “Philosophers.co.uk.” Cicero, Philosopher.co.uk, 2012, www.philosophers.co.uk/rene-descartes.html. -
I think therefore I am.
Rene Descartes is most commonly known for the phrase "I think therefore I am." Which essentially means that as humans our minds are constantly thinking even when you might feel that you're not. This means that since we think, we exist. There was so much speculation about what is real and not real during the Scientific Revolution that even our existence came into debate. What is there to prove that we are actually real? Well Descartes proved this with his famous saying. -
Rationalism
Descartes refused to believe the work of previous philosophers until it was proven and checked twice. Whenever Descartes approached a scientific problem or mathematic problem, he would write and solve the problem as if he were the first to encounter it and then check over his work repetitively. He is one of the main founders of why we are always told to check our work before coming to a conclusion. -