René Descartes is considered one of the fathers of modern philosophy. As you read the book you will understand why. The book contains an introduction section where it gives the reader a concise biography of Descartes and of the time period in which he lived. The book of course contains the Discourse On The Method and the explanatory notes by Ian Maclean.
Descartes understood that the human senses while good were prone to error. So, Descartes thought to inject a principle where if anything gave him a slight hint of doubt it would have to be deemed as false. Descartes' aim in his project was to attain conclusions that gave him absolute certainty. Descartes concluded that since he was able to doubt "he existed!" Thus, he rationalizes "I think therefore I am."
Perhaps even more intriguing is the fact that Descartes set to make a system that broke away from Scholastic-Aristotelian thought, which was the predominant philosophy in Descartes' time. In the book you will find all sorts of information about a man that set his standards so high it changed the world of philosophy forever. A good book and very much worth the read.
