Rene Descartes states the purpose of his essay right on page six. He states, “So my aim here is not to teach the method that everyone must follow for the right conduct of his reason, but only to show in what way I have tried to conduct mine,” (6). He wants his essay to be a useful guide to people for actions they should imitate, and not follow.

However, I believe Descartes is concerned with how people utilize their minds. He wanted to be very clear that each person is given the same tools for success (good sense and reason). Descartes said, “The diversity of our opinions arises not from the fact that some of us are more reasonable than others, but solely that we have different ways of directing our thoughts, and do not take into account the same things. For it is not enough to possess a good mind, the most important thing is to apply it correctly,” (5).

By telling people his story, he is encouraging them to use their own minds and form their own conclusions. Descartes wants people to gain as much knowledge as they can in their life time and reap all the benefits from it. As Anya said, he wants people to know how to use their intelligence and interpret their learning’s with it.

In his essay, A Discourse on the Method, Descartes is concerned for the common good of the people. He wants people to get as much out of their lives as possible, and live their lives to the fullest extent by learning.