ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on dichotomy between mind and body in western thinking derives from Descartes' differentiation between the laws governing the external physical world and the private facts of the subjectively experienced mental life. Systematic doubt about the certainty of knowledge concerning the objects of thought is what gives cogito its cogency, and indicates simultaneously the limited nature of human knowledge, a tenet that underlies all Descartes' thinking. When the focus is shifted from the objects of investigative thought to the constitutive grounds of Descartes' conclusion, another important perspective is revealed. For this reason it has been subjected to criticism and even described as Descartes' error. Jeanne Brochard calls it a universal law and regards it as formative for the development of, and respect for, the abstract reality principle, which creates the preconditions for an understanding of the intrinsic meaning of facts and the need for scientific coherence, both of which were precious ideals for Descartes.
