The Cartesian Cogito

A Discourse on the Challenges of Rational Inquiry

Abstract

Every Philosophy is contextual within the circumstantialities that can be said to be summative condition of its development. Contextualization is a factor of relevance. The cogito is a timely response to the need to emphasize the priority of the application of reason in the systematic pursuit of the truth of the case. Descartes claims that the rational criterionis foundational to the further development of thought. A clear factor in the background is the Cartesian appreciation of mathematical precision, clarity and indubitability in establishing the case; a process transformed into a methodology for application in rational inquiry. The methodic doubt introduced utilitarian skepticism into the rational quest for the irreducible claim that would defy doubt or rather utilize doubt positively in the confirmation of its indubitability. The goal of rational inquiry here, beyond the mere identification of the cogito as the unpuncturable proof of the existence of the self is the utilitarian value of this discovery: systems of truths can be built with this trustworthy verity as its foundation. It is the existence of the self, first; and then, the universalization of this conceptual scheme to the whole of the epistemological and metaphysical edifice. The paper proffered critical insights into the cogito with a view to achieving hermeneutic simplicity. It also attempted insightful explorations into the challenges of rational inquiry for contemporary times. It concluded by proposing the Cartesian mode of truth as not only significant for rational inquiry but also as the bedrock upon which any development paradigm can seek to sit for any lasting gains expectations.