He was a pioneer who brought innovative, original thinking back into fashion after more than five centuries of talking about people instead of ideas. Before Descartes and a few others, there yawned back into the shadows the nearly 1,000-year-long, oppressive Dark Ages, during which ‘reasoning’ was an act of power. Because of this, ad hominem arguments for one’s views – arguments based on some person’s reputation rather than the ideas at the heart of their arguments – were the standard.
