Whether the philosopher is aware of it or not, the notions he connects hold together by means of the living Cogito, and the latter, instead of being pure form, is an act which expresses itself at different levels. Consequently, philosophy remains the restoration, or the methodical recovery, of an act that transcends its multiple expressions. Philosophy mediatizes this act, it depends on it, it returns on it; it is able neither to supplant it nor to immerse it in an objective series.¹