The Nature of the Self

Descartes' method of philosophizing requires a first principle something other than an abstract common notion. It requires the concrete thinking self. If people understood the method, therefore, they should have gone a long way towards understanding Descartes' treatment of the problem of the nature of the self. Descartes has said that the Meditations are a body of results produced by applying the method to metaphysical objects. By examining the Meditations, therefore, they should be able to derive the method from their structure. They may commence with Descartes' attempt to discover what he is, since for him metaphysics consists in discovering what is contained in the idea of a thinking thing. The followers of Descartes are explicit in stating that the rejection of the tree of Porphyry implies the triumph of geometry in metaphysical matters. Descartes commences his search for truth by inquiring into his own nature.