Unity of Thought and Constitution of Selfhood in Descartes

In this talk I will consider Descartes’ view of unity of thought particularly in the light of his definition of “idea” as a term that means “the form of any given thought, immediate perception of which makes me conscious of this thought.” I will argue on the basis of Descartes’ commitment to unified nature of thinking that consciousness acquaints us only with the objects of our ideas. I will then relate this discussion to the question of how what I take to be my self is constituted.