Questioning everything was the key to the enlightenment, and that is what he did. He even began doubting his own exsistance
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For Descartes, this was the fact that he existed as a thinker. He was perfectly sure he was thinking; and he was likewise convinced that to be thinking he had to exist as some kind of substance.
Rene Descartes made a huge impact on the Age of Enlightenment. He promoted theories on philosophy, mathematics, and science based on ideas that he got while dreaming.
Rene Descartes was a French philosopher and brilliant mathematician. He is considered by many to be an early leader and father of the enlightenment movement.
Short answer: Descartes' doubt was like WWI - the doubt to end all doubt. Only by doubting everything could Descartes hope to find anything that was certain (even if the only certainty is that nothing else is certain!).
Descartes contributed to mathematics and physics, adding to the advances of the scientific revolution. The skepticism expressed in his philosophical theories also influenced thought in the scientific revolution and the Enlightenment.