As stated, Descartes was dissatisfied with his Scholastic education at the Jesuit college of La Flèche. Even though it was one of the most renowned schools in Europe, he thought that the course of instruction bowed too politely in the direction of the ancients.

In essence, his life's philosophy centered around three goals. The first was to eliminate doubt and find certainty. All he had heard were conflicting opinions from various philosophers. The only certainty in his learning was uncertainty. Opinions in conflict also weakened the foundations of the various sciences.

A second goal, like the first, falls under the theory of knowledge. It was his quest for a set of principles, or starting points, from which he could deduce all answers to scientific questions. Is there some certain proposition that would serve as solid bedrock upon which to build a system of knowledge?

His third goal was a metaphysical one. As a man of science and mathematics, Descartes sought to reconcile his mechanistic view of the universe with his own religious perspective. If the world was a deterministic machine as Hobbes and other materialists had argued, then how would there be room for human freedom? What need was there for God in such a universe? Descartes wanted to be loyal to two important masters: science and spirituality.