|
The Cartesian 'self' is the counterpart to the Cartesian Other. According to Descartes, there is a divide intrinsic to human consciousness, such that you cannot ever bridge the space between your own consciousness and that of another.
Descartes concluded famously that Cogito Ergo Sum, "I think, therefor I am", but realized that (according to his Wax hypothetical, as discussed on the wiki page for Descartes) you could never similarly demonstrate the existence of the 'other'. However, the Cartesian Self, he concluded, is thus almost entirely self evident: the existence of some being asking about itself necessarily implied that such a being existed.
|
