<p>This paper examines Gaston Bachelard’s transition from the philosophy of science to poetics, arguing that his shift represents a continuation of his search for alternative epistemologies to Cartesian thought. While Bachelard himself treated his scientific and poetic works as separate, this study highlights how both are united by a common critique of Cartesian epistemology. By exploring Bachelard’s engagement with contemporary scientific ideas and his subsequent embrace of poetic reverie, the paper contends that Bachelard’s poetics, specifically his phenomenology of reverie, functions as a reformulation of the Cartesian cogito. Ultimately, the paper concludes by examining the implications of the “dreamer’s cogito,” Bachelard’s proposal for a new epistemological approach that moves beyond the limits of Cartesian rationalism.</p>