A consideration of philosophical thought from Descartes to Fichte aims to show that today our understanding of self and the world is shaped by a slowly transforming and evolving skepticism. This skepticism is also conditioned by the assertive expression through which we understand things and ourselves. Skepticism leads thought into a reflection that takes us beyond assertive expression, allowing us to perceive the presence of the world and ourselves as the listening to a discourse in which humanity reveals itself in the unconditional manifestation of life. However, humans still understand themselves as a given and self-existing I that recognizes the world and itself. In the reflection of this introspection, the supposed existence and givenness of the knowing I itself enters into the unfolding of humanity and the world in manifestation. The I no longer comprehends itself as the asserting and asserted I; rather, it is as I a self-calling, from which life and knowing also occur in 'common sense' as self-being and manifestation.