Although Descartes theories weren’t perfect by any means but given the time period when he came up with them, they were really advanced and showed a complex understanding of the human mind. During the era of Descartes, people didn’t really seem to question nearly as much as we do now. Ideas were just accepted as truth, rarely based on logic or fact. What was the reason for absolute monarchy? Why were women treated as if they were less important than men. How come those of different races were treated so badly? These things were rarely questioned, they just were. A “thats just the way it is and the way it’ll always be” type of time period. So when descartes published ideas about the need to think critically and the need to doubt almost everything he’s ever encountered he was extremely ahead of his time. I don’t agree with all of his philosophies however there is definitely truth spoken in his words. I agree on the need to order thoughts from simple to complex and to analyze heavily as to not have any oversights. Unlike descartes however I wouldn’t deem my senses and perception unreliable simply because I have no proof they really exist. To the best of knowledge I trust in my senses because without them I feel I really wouldn’t have anything to count on. I find it kind of ironic how Descartes was a firm believer in god because many people who’ve studied his theories and came after reject the notion of a god. I think this proves that Descartes had faith in something in some form and didn’t truly rely on logic for everything, even thats the way it seemed.
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The importance of Descartes’ ideas mentioned in the Age of Enlightenment are the abilities to critically and rationally think of life through the scientific method approach. Instead of being mesmerized by the ecclesiastical and monarch regimes’ influence on everyday life, people needed to become self conscious and question what they never questioned. Descartes’ philosophical approach was unique because he first rejected skeptical idea that were doubted, only to then reestablish them on a premise for further knowledge. Simply put, this was a way for skepticism to lead towards a route of knowledge rather than block it off through ignorant doubt. This Cartesian doubt obviously did lead to scientific discoveries that forever changed the Old and New Worlds of the 18th century. To study society and the universe at the same time were challenged notions of feudalistic societies, but this void of unknown knowledge was why Descartes urged intellectuals to go beyond the doubts and explore the wonders of knowledge for innovative purposes.
As to why he as a Christian was able to simultaneously exhibit his religious faith while showing his rational behavior and works to intellectuals, can be explained through his theory on dualism. It states that the mind and body are two completely or binary entities, both being able to influence each other on somewhat different levels. The mind he explained was completely immaterial which is how he believed that using your mind to proliferate the expansion of new knowledge was God’s blessing towards humans. The dual link between God and creationism could be allegorically explained through the link between humans and innovation, both having an immaterial prowess for making new discoveries and inventions. Knowing this, I believe that Descartes would have firmly believed that if God made humans in the image of mankind, then man-kind would then as well have certain aspects of God such as being able to create, learn, and destroy.