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Rene Descartes created the famous phrase “Cogito, ergo sum” (I think, therefore I am). Descartes was a skeptical person and believed that in order to get true knowledge he doubted all beliefs, matter, and thoughts. The only thing he realized couldn’t be doubted was his own existence.

https://philife.nd.edu/descartes-meditations-doubt-everything/

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Descartes uses God as a way to fill the gap between doubt and certainty. He says that without God there is no way to trust if our truths are true because our own senses could deceive us. He argues since God is not a deceiver it was crucial to use God’s existence as a way to establish certainty in human knowledge.

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/descartes-ontological/

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Descartes believed that the mind and body are two distinct substances. He said that the mind is nonphysical and deals with thought, emotion, and consciousness. He argues that the body is a physically extended non-thinking thing. He believes the body can interact with the real world and our minds work independently from it.

https://iep.utm.edu/descartes-mind-body-distinction-dualism/

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View of the Physical World: Descartes believed that the physical world and the human body are mechanically governed by physical laws. He thinks that the material world can be explained by arranged movement of parts. He sees these mechanical processes distinct from the mind.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/systems-view-of-life/mechanistic-view-of-life/36832DB72812880B917F6AC329DEA3CD

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Rene Descartes was the first modern rationalist. He believed that primary knowledge comes from reason instead of sensory experience. As an example, the propositions that “God exists” and “the human soul is immortal” are rational the same way the proposition 2+2=4 is.

https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-010-9144-2_7

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Enlightenment's Influence on the Declaration of Independence 

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Enlightenment's Influence on the Declaration of Independence 

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Descartes indirectly had an influence on the Declaration of Independence. Enlightenment had an influence on the Declaration of Independence and Descartes was a rationalist. He would deny everything that is true and try to find what was in fact true. The reason this plays a role is because it advocates for equality, natural rights, and government by consent.

https://blogs.baruch.cuny.edu/eng2850jmafall2016/?p=67

https://cards.algoreducation.com/en/content/IksZBzvU/declaration-independence-enlightenment