ABSTRACT
It is a common opinion that Descartes ushered in a new era of philosophical thought. It is also clear that he had a close connection with mediaeval philosophy. At the same time, there are manifest differences between him and the scholastics. One of the most pertinent is constituted by his belief that it is possible to devise a method by means of which truth can be attained. It is a common presupposition of the philosophers of the 17th and 18th centuries that philosophy requires a method. The initial stimulus to the new self-consciousness about method lies farther back, in the rise of experimental science, which was so largely due to Galileo. The emergence of the new experimental science of physics encouraged thinkers in the belief that it provided the key to the system of the universe. This is noticeable in two ways in particular.
