[thinktwice]

"... the most famous phrase in Western philosophy: Cognito ergo sum."

Posted for reference and discussion.

[DocCincy]

Terry McAwful refutes this philosophy.

[eastsider]

Cognito ergo sum

Close. It's Cogito ergo sum.

[ctdonath2]

Few know how Descartes died. He walked into a bar, sat down dejected, and when asked by the bartender if he wanted a drink, Descartes replied "I think not" and disappeared in a puff of logic.

[cornelis]

Why not sum ergo cogito?

Descartes admitted the idea of infinity as real. Hobbes wouldn't. In the Meditations, Descartes has reasons: his own finitude implied divine infinity.

[BikerNYC]

I've never thought the "I" in "I exist" is the "thing" that does the thinking. The "I" is actually an object of consciousness. You can never catch consciousness by itself, but rather consciousness is always consciousness of something, in this case, "me." The "I" that Descartes talks about isn't actually doing the thinking, rather, it is an object of a pre-reflective consciouesness that cannot really be captured. It's always out of our reach.

But anyway, now for something completely different...

[Semper]

I think, therefore I exist

In the spirit of doubting or analyzing I contend that it would be better to say: "I am aware, therefore I exist". Thought/intelligence could originate from our Source and just be manifested through us. I like: "God thinks, therefore we exist".

[Aquinasfan]

"... the most famous phrase in Western philosophy: Cognito ergo sum."

And the most disastrous. Of course, his axiom assumes the truthfulness of its terms. It is impossible to doubt the terms with which one thinks. Therefore truth (which exists) precedes reasoning or thought.

Descartes finds that he has no trouble doubting the existence of real objects/events – our senses too easily deceive us.

Also false. Our senses do not deceive although they can deteriorate. For example, I can look at a fake apple and think it real until I pick it up or feel or taste it. The sense that perceives and makes sense out of the input of the five senses is called in Thomism the "common sense."

The common sense has the following functions:(Regarding these functions, see Aristotle, De anima, III, 2 (426b8-427a15); De somno 2 (455a5). cf: St. Thomas, In de anima III, lect.3, nr. 599 ff.)

1. To know all the sensations of the external senses which are known separately by the external senses.
2. To compare and distinguish these qualities, e.g., color and taste.
3. To be aware of the operations of the external senses.
4. To distinguish the real objects from the images of the fantasy, e.g., to know whether we are dreaming, and to realize that our dreams are not reality.

[eastsider]

Obviously, I exist if I doubt that I exist. My doubt that I exist proves that I exist, for I have to exist to be able to doubt. Therefore I can’t doubt that I exist. Hence, there is at least one fact in the universe that is beyond doubt. “I am, I exist is necessarily true each time that I pronounce it, or that I mentally conceive it.

Cogito ergo sum was Descartes' first axiom, and solved the problem of absolute skepticism and prove the existence of a physical world. To solve the problem of solipsism, he repeated Anselm's ontological argument for the existence of God (which was later refuted by Kant).

If providing a foundation for science was the intellectual context of Descartes' "Meditations," why did he spend so much time discussing God? The intellectual context of the "Meditations" was that the Aristotelian world view was being challenged by the scientict revolution sweeping Europe that began with Copernicus' "De Revolutionibus." Descartes hoped to provide a foundation for science, with the implicit goal of harmonizing science and religion and convincing the leaders of his day that they could believe in a new world view while maintaining their traditional theology.

[GeekDejure]

I think, therefore I'm a FReeper !!!

[<1/1,000,000th%]

What's the Latin for, "I lurk, therefore I am?"

[dyed_in_the_wool]

'sum' means 'I am' (Latin)
'suis' means 'am' (French)
Both have root at 'being'.
The concept of existence, especially the Philosophic notion (seperate and distinct from the concept of 'being') wasn't really bandied about until the 19th century. In fact, it grew out of the very questions Descartes raised.
The implication is that Descartes settled the questions he created by saying "I think therefore I exist" when, in fact, he said "I think, therefore I am."
No, I won't go into all of the nitty, gritty details here. Suffice it to say that an essentialist could never even phrase things in terms an existentialist would consider a worthwhile format.
By raising the question of 'being', the next question became "What is the nature of 'being'?" Many people made the jump from being to existence, some did not. Called 'existentialists' the problem before them had more to do with the nature of this existence and how we come to know things (empiricism) and less to do with the empirical certainty Descartes asserted.
Don't muddle things by changing the definition of the word after the fact. That's very clinton-esque.

[Semper]

..one of the catchiest ideas yet created by the human mind.

It may "appear" that the human mind creates ideas but it may be that just like a computer does not create ideas, our bio-computers do not create ideas but just manifest intelligence emanating from a Source beyond our human perception.

[DrNo]

"... the most famous phrase in Western philosophy: Cognito ergo sum."

Or, as Ambrose Bierce said in the Devil's Dictionary, what he should have said is:

Cigito, cogito, ergo, cogito sum

"I think I think, therefore, I think I am!"

[mg39]

Leaving aside the merits of Cartesian philosophy, Descartes was a heartless bastard who infamously nailed the paws of his wife's dog to a table and vivisected the animal without any concern for its pain. In a letter to a friend Descartes wrote: "They [animals] merely went through the external motions which in man were symptomatic of pain, without experiencing any of it's mental sensation."

Accordingly, Descartes decided to open up these "beast machines" to see just how they worked. Apart from dissecting dead animals and attending public vivisections, Descartes enjoyed practising vivisection. Amongst other things, rabbits were utilised by Descartes. The purpose of this was to observe the operations of the heart and the movement of the blood in the arteries.

According to Rupke, Descartes 'Beast Machine' theory provided a twofold advantage. It protected scientists' mechanistic view of both animals and human beings against charges of heresy, and protected the reserved immortality for man, which was the favoured doctrine promoted by Catholicism.

Descartes theory, therefore, entered medical and certain ecclesiastical circles. Two clergymen, Father Nicholas Malebranche and the theologian Antoine Arnauld, emphasised their commitment to Cartesian ideology by practising severe cruelty to animals. Malebranche, who took dualism one step further than Descartes, claiming that such action as the movement of a limb was a direct result of God's intervention, is said to have demonstrated his commitment to automata theory by kicking a pregnant dog, and declaring when reproached: "Don't you know that it has no feelings at all"? Indeed, Nicolas Fontaine, a secretary of prominent Jansenist Fathers eventually reported the equally violent Arnauld, to the monastery Port Royal.

Descartes legacy, though, had beaten him to it. Fontaine reports: "The solitaries
beat their dogs with the utmost indifference, and laughed at people who still
maintained they could feel pain...They nailed the poor animals to boards by four
paws to dissect them while still alive, in order to watch the circulation of the
blood, which was a great subject of discussion." (Fontaine quoted in Rupke,
27:1990)

[TX Bluebonnet]

On a lighter note: I used to have a skunk under my house that I never actually saw. I knew it was there because my cat got sprayed a couple of time.

Its motto: I stink, therefore I am.

By the way, don't ever try to bathe a cat in tomato juice. Your bathroom will end up looking like a scene from "Psycho"

[savedbygrace]

"I think. Therefore I exist."

Unnecessarily long. Can be: "I. Therefore I exist." Having a concept of I proves thinking has taken place, so it is not necessary to add the argument "think."

[cornelis]

"... the most famous phrase in Western philosophy . . ."

Are the ratings going UP? Where can I freep?

[HIDEK6]

Cognito ergo sum

It's Cogito ergo sum.

[Bounceback]

Rene Descartes walks into a bar.

"Hi, Rene," says the bartender, "what'll it be this afternoon, your usual?"

"I think not," says Rene Descartes ... and disappears.

[rightwingreligiousfanatic]

I post, therefore I ping.

I ping, therefore I post.

I'm pissed, therefore I FReep.