“Cogito ergo sum;” I think therefore I am. This philosophical statement spurred a renaissance in the field of philosophy, creating modern Western philosophy as it is known today. This important notion was dictated by René Descartes in his 1641 metaphysical work, Mediations on First Philosophy, and influenced all modern philosophical works written after Descartes' revolutionary achievement. This work was written in an era when modern physics was developed as a mathematization of nature. The principles of metaphysics contained in the Meditations were developed to serve as the basis for this new system of physics. In it, Descartes refutes many Aristotelian beliefs that were popular and accepted by the clergy throughout almost all of Christianity, especially the idea that all knowledge originates from the senses. Descartes' magnum opus introduces a completely new philosophical method, radically different from the traditional Socratic method, and uses it to open your eyes and see beyond your own false opinions. In Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes uses his methodology for determining truth to doubt the foundations of everything he knows, in order to determine that it exists, what it is, how he knows it better than anything physical, and how he knows that God exists . First, the meditator begins by noting that he held numerous false opinions as a young man, and that any beliefs he held later developed into other opinions whose validity is questionable. To develop strong, lasting beliefs that could have a momentous impact, he realizes he must start over. To achieve this effort, he uses Descartes' philosophical methodology, the so-called hyperbolic do... in the center of the paper... a single statement that cannot be indisputably proven true. In this way he demonstrates his existence, the existence of God, and how he is sure of it. His provocative experiment with wax demonstrated how the senses can be deceived and how the intellect can combine with the senses and imagination to provide firm perception. This is related to Gestalt psychology, where the parts of the mind form the whole and objects are perceived in their entirety before the perception of their individual parts. Descartes' works will continue to be the basis for modern Western philosophy and influence how beliefs and opinions can be separated from truth. Works Cited Descartes, Rene and Donald Cress. Mediations on first philosophy in which the existence of God and the distinction of the soul from the body is demonstrated. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 1993. Print.