Rene Descartes 1596-1650 Rene Descartes 1596-1650

I. I. The Search for Intellectual Certainty:6. From his experience with the book of the world, Descartes decided “to believenothing too certainly of which I had only been convinced by example andcustom.”7. He resolved to continue his search for certainty and on 10 November 1619,had three dreams, which unmistakably convinced him that he must constructthe system of true knowledge upon the powers of human reason alone.8. Descartes broke with the past to give philosophy a fresh start. His system oftruth will be derived from his own rational powers; he will no longer rely onprevious philosophers for his ideas, nor accept any idea as truly only because itwas expressed by someone with authority. Aristotle’s reputation nor theauthority of the church could suffice to produce the kind of certainty hesought.10