The idea that Descartes proposed, âI think, therefore, I existâ (in the original sounds like Cogito ergo sum), is a statement that was first made a very long time ago, back in the 17th century. Today it is considered a philosophical utterance that constitutes a fundamental element of the thought of the New Age, more precisely, Western rationalism. The statement has remained popular in the future. Today, the phrase "think, therefore, exist" knows any educated person.
Descartes thought
Descartes put forward this judgment as truth, the primary certainty that cannot be doubted and, therefore, with which you can build a "building" of true knowledge. This argument should not be taken as an inference of the form âthe one who exists thinks: I think, and therefore exist.â The essence of it, on the contrary, is self-confidence, the evidence of existence as a thinking subject: any thought act (and more broadly - an experience of consciousness, a representation, since it is not limited to cogito thinking) discovers a practitioner who thinks with a reflective look. This refers to the self-discovery of the subject in the act of consciousness: I think and discover, contemplating this thinking, of myself, behind its contents and acts.
Formulation Options
The variant Cogito ergo sum (âto think, therefore, to existâ) is not used in Descartes' most significant work, although this formulation is erroneously cited as an argument with reference to the work of 1641. Descartes feared that the wording used by him in his earlier work allowed an interpretation different from the context in which he applied it in his conclusions. At the same time, trying to get away from the interpretation that creates only the appearance of a specific logical conclusion, since in fact it implies a direct discretion of truth, self-evidence, the author âthinks, therefore, existsâ removes the first part of the above phrase and leaves only âI existâ (âI amâ ) He writes (Meditation II) that whenever the words âI existâ, âI amâ are uttered, or they are perceived by the mind, this judgment will be true if necessary.
The usual form of utterance, Ego cogito, ergo sum (in translation - âI think, therefore, existâ), the meaning of which now, we hope, is clear to you, appears as an argument in a 1644 work entitled âThe Beginning of Philosophyâ. It is written by Descartes in Latin. However, this is not the only formulation of the idea âto think, therefore, to exist.â There were others.
Descartes predecessor, Augustine
Not only Descartes came to the argument "I think, therefore, I exist." Who said the same words? We answer. Long before this thinker, St. Augustine proposed a similar argument in his polemic with skeptics. It can be found in the book of this thinker entitled âOn the City of Godâ (11th book, 26). The phrase is: Si fallor, sum ("If I am mistaken, then, therefore, I exist.")
The difference between Descartes and Augustine
The fundamental difference between Descartes and Augustine, however, lies in the consequences, objectives and context of the argument "to think, therefore, to exist."
Augustine begins his thought with the assertion that people, looking into their own souls, recognize the image of God in themselves, because we exist and know about it, and love our knowledge and being. This philosophical idea corresponds to the so-called triple nature of God. Augustine develops his thought by saying that he is not afraid of any objections to the aforementioned truths from various academics who might ask: âWhat if you are being deceived?â The thinker would answer, that is why he already exists. Because he who does not exist cannot be deceived.
Looking with faith in his soul, Augustine as a result of using this argument comes to God. Descartes, on the other hand, looks there with doubt and comes to consciousness, a subject, a thinking substance, the main requirement of which is distinctness and clarity. That is, the cogito of the first pacifies, transforming everything in God. Second - everything else is problematic. Since, after the truth about a personâs own existence is gained, one should turn to the conquest of a reality different from the "I", constantly striving for distinctness and clarity.
Descartes himself noted the differences between his own argument and the statement of Augustine in a reply letter to Andreas Colvius.
Hindu parallels âI think, therefore, I existâ
Who said that such thoughts and ideas were inherent only in Western rationalism? In the East, they also came to a similar conclusion. According to S.V. Lobanov, a Russian Indologist, this idea of ââDescartes in Indian philosophy is one of the fundamental principles of monistic systems - Advaita-Vedanta of Shankara, as well as Kashmiri Shaivism, or para-Advaita, the most famous representative of which is Abkhinavagupta. The scientist believes that this statement is put forward as primary reliability, around which knowledge can be built, which, in turn, is reliable.
The meaning of this statement
The statement âI think, therefore, existâ belongs to Descartes. After him, most philosophers attached great importance to the theory of knowledge, and they owed it to this to a large extent. This statement makes our consciousness more reliable than even matter. And, in particular, our own mind is more reliable for us than the thinking of others. In all philosophy, the beginning of which was laid by Descartes (âI think, therefore, I existâ), there is a tendency to the presence of subjectivity, as well as to the consideration of matter as the only subject that can be known. If at all it is possible to do this by drawing a conclusion from what we already know about the nature of the mind.
For this 17th-century scientist, the term âthinkingâ so far only implicitly includes what will be further designated by thinkers as consciousness. But on the philosophical horizon the themes of a future theory are already appearing. In the light of Descartesâs explanations, the awareness of actions is presented as a hallmark of thinking.