Augmenting home economists' understanding of Cartesian philosophy

Home economics literature that references Cartesian philosophy often assumes a basic level of knowledge about Rene Descartes's work. To address this erroneous assumption, this paper seeks to shed light on thinking that has been shaped over the past millennium. This paper provides an historical critique of Descartes' philosophy in relation to how he thought that human knowledge was possible. Aside from explaining several basic elements of his philosophy (especially dualism), this article celebrates Descartes method of doubt as the foundational tool for scientific inquiry and critical self-reflection. However, the paper also asserts that this scientific approach to home economics practice negates respect for the complexity of life, and for ways of knowing that are not informed by scientific knowing (including spirituality, wisdom, consciousness, and intuition).