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Am I the jerk for thinking that Descartes is the best and most interesting philosopher that has ever existed? I, 20 female, was having a depressive episode, so to distract myself, I started to go through the internet in order to try to ignore the voices screaming inside my head. After a few hours of scrolling through social media, i found a link that took me to an article when i clicked on it. This article contained loads of information about Mr. Descartes. It included fun and very interesting facts about him and what he did during his time on this earth. Mr. Descartes lived from 1596 to 1650. He was a mathematician and a metaphysician. In mathematics, he developed the techniques that made possible algebraic geometry. Fun fact, actually: He’s the reason your math teacher makes you check your work. Descartes was obsessed with certainty.In his book Rules for the Direction of the Mind, he wanted to create a general method to simplify and standardize a way for people to gain knowledge about the world.. His advice included this classic chestnut: To solve a big problem, break it up into small, easy-to-understand parts—and check each step often. In metaphysics, Descartes provided arguments for the existence of God, promoted free will and the theory of mind called body dualism. Descartes used methodic doubt as a baseline for most of his works. He claimed that true knowledge could only be acquired through simple truths and pure reasoning. As a result, he concludes one of his most important works, Meditations, where he famously argues “I think, therefore I am” . Descartes wanted to find a foundation for knowledge that was absolutely certain and indubitable. Making use of what can be considered as of "aggressive skepticism", he started by questioning everything he thought he knew. He started discarting all possible types and sources of knowledge that would compose his beliefs, until he was left with one single thing that he couldn't doubt: the fact that he was thinking. Since you can't doubt that you're thinking, Descartes argued, you can be certain that you exist as a thinking being. I honestly thought it was pretty cool of him to deceive us as “thinking beings”, it makes me feel swaggy. Descartes is known for many other contributions to the field of physics and morals. He wrote Principles of philosophy, where he compiles physics and metaphysics in 1664 and also Discourse on the Method in 1637 where he advocated for the use of reason in order to discover truths in science, contributing to the explanations of many physical phenomenons such as the law of refraction and the rainbow. I could keep talking about how great this guy is and how interesting his works are, I actually had an argument with my mom because she was telling me how James was cooler than Descartes. She said really mean things to me to prove her point, so i told her i was gonna run away to start a new life and be just like Descartes. My doctor said i was just having another schizophrenic episode because i’ve never met my parents before, but I’m sure that Descartes is the most valuable philosopher, therefore he should be the winner and, my imaginary mom should just disappear. So, am I the jerk for thinking that Descartes is the best and most interesting philosopher that has ever existed?