ABSTRACT
Descartes has suffered more than most philosophers from the habit of treating one philosopher merely as a means to another. In fact, though Descartes's antipathy to history is part of his philosophy, his philosophy in its turn has its historical setting. The two principal preoccupations of Descartes were his mathematical method and his personal approach to philosophy. Descartes's conception of philosophy is still that of Thomas Aquinas; and the role he planned for himself was that of a new Aristotle, who should found a new Scholasticism on the basis of recent scientific discovery. The apprehension of the theologians is well described by Descartes when he complains, as late as 1629, that 'theology is so entirely under the power of Aristotle, that it is practically impossible to expound another philosophy which does not at first sight seem to conflict with faith'.
