Philosophy, Cartography, Language

In cartographic terms, the Meditations can be conceived as describing the drawing of a map from point A, siting in front of a fire, to B, the Cogito, and, thereafter, to the existence of God, Mathematics, etc.  Now, the primary dispute with this map in Modern Philosophy has been regarding point B, e. g. for some B is, instead, a sense-datum.  In contrast, it has been suggested here that A is, more properly, writing at a desk, a suggestion based on a shift of perspective--to the description itself as a map, i. e. in which B is the determination of a starting-point, C is a demonstration that other points can be reached from B, etc.  In other words, from that perspective, the book is fundamentally a primer in what might be called 'theory-construction', and it is in that respect that it has been most influential.  So, as Empiricism, Phenomenalism, etc. evince, the greater historical significance of the Meditations is its use of Language, not its attempted allusion to some non-verbal state.