>> The process of rejection is commonly considered to have begun with Descartes and to have culminated in Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection. Th

>> The process of rejection is commonly considered to have begun with Descartes and to have culminated in Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection. That seems unlikely, as Descartes was a vocal gnostic and a proponent of a designer god idea. He did not believe that "potential being" could be construed as an actual being.