Subjectivism given consciousness is dependent on that consciousness. This has its philosophical basis in the writings of Descartes (see "cogito ergo sum"), and forms a cornerstone of Søren Kierkegaard's philosophy. Recently, more modest versions of metaphysical subjectivism have been explored. For example, I might hold that it is a "fact" that chocolate is tasty, even though I recognize that it is not tasty to everyone. This would imply that there are facts that are "subjective". (Analogously, one might hold that it is a fact that it is winter in the Northern Hemisphere, even though this is not always the case, implying
Cogito and the History of Madness operative norms of his language and project of self-reflection. Cogito and the History of Madness "Cogito and the History of Madness" is a paper by Jacques Derrida that critically responds to Michel Foucault's book the "History of Madness". In this paper, Derrida questions the intentions and feasibility of Foucault's book, particularly in relation to the historical importance attributed by Foucault to the treatment of madness by Descartes in the "Meditations on First Philosophy". Derrida's paper began a high-profile exchange between Derrida and Foucault as well as a considerable amount of attention from scholars. Foucault responded directly to Derrida in an