“objects” of perception, thought, and knowledge. This “listening” dimension is often described as part of the process of “understanding” in contrast to the more rational, cognitive, or critical dimension of “explanation.” Some writers, including James Robinson, expound this principle as a “reversal of the traditional flow” in epistemology, or in the theory of knowledge.15 In the rationalism of Descartes and other rationalist philosophers, the human self, as active subject, scrutinizes and reflects