Who is considered the "Father of Modern Philosophy"?

The story behind the answer

René Descartes is called the “Father of Modern Philosophy” because he broke from medieval scholasticism and grounded knowledge in reason and systematic doubt. His famous method—question everything that can be doubted—led to “Cogito, ergo sum” (“I think, therefore I am”), a secure starting point for knowledge. This shift toward individual reason and clarity laid the foundation for modern rationalism and influenced the scientific method.

Context: Descartes also pioneered analytic geometry (Cartesian coordinates), linking algebra and geometry—another hallmark of modern thinking. Remember it this way: the “cart” in Descartes carries philosophy into the modern era. By contrast, Plato is ancient Greek philosophy, Antoine Lavoisier is the father of modern chemistry, and Albert Einstein revolutionized physics, not philosophy.