Rene Descartes is widely considered the father of modern philosophy because he attempted to replace the old foundation of Scholasticism with a new foundation of subjective experience.  His cogito, ergo sum (I think, therefore I am) is still celebrated and influential today.  As it turns out, building a foundation on subjective experience has limitations, but we can take inspiration from Descartes’s attempt to build a philosophical foundation on fundamental principles. Political debate usually boils down to disagreements about principles.  For example, in the case of abortion, one side might argue that the “sanctity of life” should define the issue.  The other side might argue that a woman’s “right to choose” should define the issue.  As long as both sides stick to their principles and merely repeat them, real debate stalls, because two conflicting principles can have some overlap — the...(Read Full Post)