Born in The Hague, France, which was later renamed Descartes in honor of his compelling revolutionary work, René Descartes (see figure 1) was an innovative thinker, often called the father of philosophy modern. Having lived to the age of 53 (1596-1650), a relatively short age compared to our times, Descartes certainly made the most of his five decades on this earth. He was educated at the propitious Jesuit college of La Flèche, where he studied, among other things, traditional Aristotelian philosophy. After graduating from La Flèche, he left Anjou for Paris to attend the University of Poitiers, where he obtained a law degree (CUP, 2013). After his expedition with a formal education, Descartes joined the imperial armies at the start of what is now called the Thirty Years' War. In 1621 he managed to withdraw before the war worsened, but before that he had the great honor of being part of the winning side of the Battle of Prague (Flew, 1971, pp. 177-178). After retiring from the ranks of the army, he found himself stuck in Germany due to the inability to travel due to bad winter weather. There, while locked in a room with no one or nothing to distract him, he began the deep reflection necessary to later write, in 1637, his essay entitled Discourse. In this essay, he states: “My purpose has never gone beyond the attempt to reform my own opinions and to build on a foundation which is entirely my own (Descartes, 1931, part I). » This implies that the first essay he ever published – which later proved to be a groundbreaking work on topics such as the most effective ways of approaching philosophy – was entirely for himself; to explain itself, and not affect middle of paper......philosopher, mathematician and scientist, and radically revolutionized these three fields, impacting their modern state to this day. Intellectuals such as René Descartes are certainly a rare commodity, and he will surely be praised and studied for centuries to come, as were Aristotle and Plato. Works Cited Columbia University Press [CUP] (2013). Rene Descartes. Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th edition. Vancouver, British Columbia: Columbia University Press. Craig, E. (2012). Rene Descartes. Britannica Biographies. Vancouver, British Columbia: Insomniac PressDescartes, René. (1931). Philosophical works. Cambridge, England: CUPFlew, Anthony. (1971). An introduction to Western philosophy: ideas and arguments from Plato to Sartre. London, England: Thames and Hudson. Harpur, Patrick. (2002). The secret fire of philosophers. London, England: Penguin Books.