1970s reference theory rejected the self-present Cartesian subject avant la lettre.

Evidence

Lyautey, one might say, conceived of the nature of colonial order in the same terms as Descartes conceived of the nature of the human subject. The colonial city was to be constructed, like a world exhibition, as a representation set up before the mind of an observing subject. The Cartesian mind was conceived, in a similar way, as an interior space in which representations of external reality are inspected by an internal eye – in other words, again, like an exhibition set up before an observer. — Timothy Mitchell, Colonising Egypt, 547 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The Cartesian cogito is the only absolute truth grounding all other knowledge. — Jean-Paul Sartre, Existentialism Is a Humanism, 21; Colonial order and the Cartesian mind both rest on a spectator facing a world-show — Timothy Mitchell, Colonising Egypt, 547; Bantu personhood rejects Cartesian cogito in favor of relational compassion (+1 more)

Related

• Colonial order and the Cartesian mind both rest on a spectator facing a world-show (similarity 0.90)
• Colonial order required subjects believing reality equals what can be represented (similarity 0.81)
• The Cartesian cogito is the only absolute truth grounding all other knowledge. (similarity 0.80)
• Pre-Cartesian Mediterranean thought conceived personhood as possessing reason, not a representing mind (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Colonial order and the Cartesian mind both rest on a spectator facing a world-show #corroborates (0.75) — Timothy Mitchell, Colonising Egypt, 547
• Bantu personhood rejects Cartesian cogito in favor of relational compassion #corroborates (0.72)