Descartes' rationalist epistemology and the thinking self

Descartes' rationalist epidemiology

Rene Descartes is undoubtedly one of the most important thinkers in the field of philosophy. His thoughts on mind-body dualism spurred many debates and consequent theories. His work on Mediations on First Philosophy gives us a view of his ideas on our faculty of reason.

Descartes's Meditations strengthens the domain of rational epistemology by arguing that although our senses are valid as this is the only way by which we can gain information about the world, it is still the human mind which is capable of judgment at the end of the day. This is because our senses may deceive us. Meditations tells us that our faculty of reason is of paramount importance. Moreover, our faculty of reason is capable of judgment because it is rational and as epistemology would maintain, the way we should think; our proper reasoning -- it should entail logic and objectivity (Landauer & Rowlands, 2001).

The formulation Cogito ergo sum (I think therefore I am) is perhaps one of the most popular phrases not only in the range of Descartes' work but in the area of philosophy, by and large. This phrase talks about the first bit of knowledge in Descartes' philosophy, i.e. The existence of thinking self. This is "... The clearest, and best known substance for him [thinking individual]. Upon this foundation, Descartes builds all his other knowledge claims" (Hauptli, 2008, Chapter 27). The formulation argues that one's existence is deemed true the moment one raises its existence or this existence is conceived in human mind (Descartes in Newman, 2005).