Descartes's influence on modern philosophy cannot be denied. After all, as a man of science and faith, he set the agenda for epistemology and metaphysics to follow.

Some argue that Descartes's references to God in his works — especially in his Meditations in 1641 — were insincere and only an attempt to appease the church and escape the wrath that awaited other modern thinkers. But it might be argued that his piety was genuine. This is made clear by his pilgrimage to the shrine in Italy. Besides, the existence of God in his system plays too central a role to be a mere public relations gambit.