Ywip:254

Caring about thinking for me means caring about the quality of thinking results. For this, the methodological rules of R. Descartes [from: C.Adam, P.Tannery (Eds.), Oeuvres de Descartes, first ed., 1638, Paris, 1969] are very helpful:

1. Rule of evidence: Never accept anything as true which is not clearly and distinctly seen to be so. That is, take case not to act hastily or with prejudice, and admit _only_ those judgements that appear to the mind so clearly and distinctly as not to afford the least doubt.

2. Rule of analysis: Devide each of the difficulties under examination into as many parts as possible.

3. Rule of synthesis: Order knowledge, beginning with the objects that are the simplest and easiest to know and so proceed, gradually, to knowledge of the more complex, also somehow ordering knowledge that is naturally devoid thereof.

4. Rule of proof: always make lists and inspections that are exhaustive enough to assure that there are _no_omissions_ .

• http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Rules_for_the_Direction_of_the_Mind
• ( WikiPedia:Rules_for_the_Direction_of_the_Mind)
• http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext93/dcart10.txt