In the Meditations, Descartes aims to specify what knowledge really is. We think we know many things. However, how solid is this knowledge? Descartes looks at the set of all the things we think we know, and tries to set aside those elements in this set which have at least some doubt attached to them. He tries to pinpoint whatever elements have the least amount of doubt attached to them. He aims for solid, true, and reliable knowledge.
He concludes that the mind, the intelligence, the intellect, is something whose existence cannot be doubted, and this conclusion contributes to the importance of the Meditations overall. If a doubt is introduced about the existence of our intelligence, this doubt itself comes from our intelligence, and so it is impossible to doubt the existence of our mind, our intelligence.
Descartes distinguishes between material nature and intellectual nature, and identifies the former as being infinitely divisible, and the latter as indivisible. From this premise, he justifies the proposition that the mind, or the soul, is immortal, and this is another lasting impact of the work.
He also offers that the idea of a perfect being, known as God, is more knowable and certain than even the existence of the world and its contents, since the perfection of this existence, which is held to be God, is necessary even for the cognition of the truths of geometry. In terms of the history of philosophy, this particular point surfaces again in the work of Immanuel Kant, where it is stated that a certain a priori cognition of space is necessary to know and do geometry.
Finally, Descartes offers an example of clear and careful thinking, and the work shows the importance of adhering to a sound method of reasoning in order to arrive at sound and stable conclusions. This is my summary of what seems to be the importance of Descartes’ Meditations, as a whole.
