For the most subtle historians of thought, Descartes is not only the founder of modern philosophy, according to Hegel, but also the prophet of the science of the future. Before René Descartes (1596-1650) proclaimed the autonomy of reason, Renaissance thought struggled in confusion, lacking an expository method. Descartes gathered the fruits of the Renaissance philosophers, to project on his reflections the light of reason, giving channels of argumentative expression.