Descartes and the Legacy of Modern Rationalism

Descartes: The Father of Modernism

NEWS: René Descartes is considered the father of modernism. Modern thought is characterized by recovering the autonomy of reason against faith. His rationalism was an attempt to regain the lost confidence in the effectiveness of our knowledge, to reassess the "thinking self" or "human subject" in the face of reality.

The Cartesian System and the Thinking Self

The Cartesian system suggests we can attain clear and distinct truths (i.e., "true" knowledge). As we know, this overconfidence led Descartes to use reason to rationally prove God's existence. So much so that many of his arguments recall Saint Augustine.

On the other hand, "Cogito, ergo sum" is one of the most significant statements in the history of thought. It is not that Descartes advocates a "subjectivist relativism," as our author believed that reason was unique to all men. The merit of our author lies in his appreciation of the self—the thinking subject.

Rationalism in the Post-Modern Era

Currently, rationalism is no longer fashionable. In the post-modern man, the "universal self or thinker" has become an "individual self," an "I" that aims to become the center and measure of all things. The present self is an "I" that does not think, but lives for "fun" in many things, such as:

• The laughter in television spots selling other people's lives.
• Being lost in the commercial relations of a capitalist society.

The Synthesis of Reason and Experience

However, whenever we want to provide an explanation of an event or face reality, we turn to reason. At our core, we need theories and models to explain the order of reality. We need the mind to organize what is happening, interpret the facts, and deduce likely consequences; all this has provided tremendous progress in the fields of science and art.

But consider, for example, that the same reason that led us to explore space also created the Atomic Bomb. Experience is also a teacher of life. Interestingly, excessive confidence in reason can lead us into "unreason." Thus, we should consider that:

• Reason is not enough without experience.
• Experience does not help us without reason.

Reason and experience must be the sources of our knowledge and lead the way when it comes to humanizing our world. Finally, we must agree with Immanuel Kant: reason and experience must go hand in hand because both are part of human knowledge, and both are the tools we have to progress.