Descartes and science It is evident that Descartes was a scientific mind.

What is not evident is why h e wanted to file all knowledge under the rubric of science. True, science was an activity widely promoted by Ancient philosophy, but it did not aim, in that con text, at subordinating all knowledge. Aristotle, for example, did not believe th at the whole purpose of his philosophy was to bring about scientific knowledge. It is precisely what Descartes believes. He clearly says that all his philosophi cal efforts aim to make us the masters of Nature. Conquest is what is at stake a nd Descartes can be thought of as the Great Alexander in philosophy and science. This shift in the importance given to science reveals a whole new way of thinkin g that started at Descartes' time. With Galileo's idea in 1623 that Nature is wr itten in mathematical language, something deep was about to change. Nature now a ppeared as the materialization of mathematics, its sensible illustration. The wo rld is quietly governed by mathematics. In order for mankind to participate in t his governance, the knowledge of mathematics is necessary. Since mathematics use d in conjunction with physics can anticipate future events, we can be in control of our destiny. Since everything is computable, we can master all causes and ef fects and apply rigorously our scientific knowledge to the world. Modern scientific research sprang from this conception of the world. The world a ppears from now on as a malleable plasticine that can be moulded according to ma n's needs. The world is a stock of energy ready to be exploited. Descartes opens the way to the supremacy of science in the modern age, a supremacy not always q uestionned. Even though Descartes' project was to observe his inner thougts, his philosophical project uses this inner knowledge (i.e his cogito, similar, in it s inwardness, to Socrates' "know yourself") as a stepping stone to the foundatio n of science and its prospective applications.