The Discourse On Method By Rene Descarte Analysis

Many people look to gain more knowledge throughout their lives either to invent new technology, understand how it is exactly that certain things function, or to just be up to date on the things going on in the world. The idea of gaining more knowledge is something that does not just happen in our society today but has occurred all throughout history. René Descartes was one of the people in the late 1500’s and early 1600’s who wanted to be able to acquire as much knowledge as possible, but wanted it to be knowledge that was backed up by facts. In “The Discourse on Method” René Descartes provides four rules in order to be able to gain better knowledge. These four rules are rules that have given people a guide to follow when looking toward gaining …show more content…
This means that if he did not have enough information to back up what he was studying or trying to understand he would not accept it. He would only accept until he saw himself that it was proven. This is something that not only affected the people during his time but has also affected many of the generations that have followed. Descartes rule made people realize that they believed things that were not backed up by evidence. During this time people might have decided to start looking to prove their ideas, ask questions, and not just believe what they were told but to look for evidence. This idea of not believing until one sees is something that happens even today, people talk about not believing until they see something with their own eyes. Descartes second rule was to “divide each of his difficulties into as many portions as were possible as it was required for their solution” (Descartes, 1637). This means that when Descartes was having difficulty understanding or solving something he separated it and tried to solve it one by one and not altogether. He didn’t just look for one solution but looked for many options to see which would give the best result. This rule showed people to not just consider one way to solve and issue, but to consider all of the possible ways to solve it as well as the effects and which solution had the best …show more content…
This means that he would write things down, look closely at the material, and in many places so that he would not miss anything that was important. This shows that Descartes did not just look to one source for information, but considered many different options. This showed people that when trying to learn and comprehend something it was important to consider other works and places than just one source. This is an idea that is used by many people today, especially during research, people don’t just consider one source they compare many sources to make sure that the information is