We explain what the phrase “I think, therefore I am” meant by the philosopher René Descartes. Also, the criticism he received, his objections and more.
What does “I think, therefore I am” mean?
The phrase “I think, therefore I am” refers to the fact that one cannot think without existing. Therefore, if a person is thinking, that necessarily means that he exists.
This statement belongs to the French philosopher and mathematician René Descartes (1596-1650) and was formulated for the first time in his book Discourse of the method (1637). It represents a break in Western philosophy, since it gives rise to European rationalism. That is why Descartes is considered the father of modern philosophy.
This phrase, known as the “cogito Cartesian” due to its Latin formulation (cogito ergo sum), It is the starting point of Descartes' entire philosophy.. This is the first obvious certainty that answers the methodical doubt.
Methodical doubt is the procedure that Descartes uses to reach the truth, and it consists of doubting everything that is known. When something is doubtful, it is suspended until its truth can be proven. Only things that are clear and different from others can resist doubt. Therefore, the first obvious certainty is “I think, therefore I am”, which for Descartes is a clear and distinct idea.
He cogito Cartesian, also called ego cogitoappears in several of Descartes' works. In addition to Discourse of the methodis taken up in Metaphysical meditations (1641) and Principles of philosophy (1644).
Whether for or against, all philosophy after Descartes has had to take a position on the ego cogito. Even from the moment of its formulation and publication, “I Think, Therefore I Am” was subjected to criticism and tests by its contemporaries. Many of these objections were taken up by Descartes himself, who published them at the end of the first reissue of Metaphysical meditations along with the possible answers to each of them.
You can exist without thinking, but you cannot think without existing.. That is why it is said that existence is the condition for thought to arise. On the other hand, without thought there is no knowledge of existence: only in the moment when I am thinking do I discover that I exist and, then, I can affirm that I think.
Context of the phrase “I think, therefore I am”
Of all Descartes' contributions to philosophy, the most important are methodical doubt and the phrase “I think, therefore I am.”
One of the philosophical objectives that Descartes pursued during his investigations was the possibility of finding a truth that was considered a “first” truth. Thus, he looked for an accurate and self-evident foundation, which did not depend on anything else to initiate thought.
To achieve this, Descartes used methodical or “hyperbolic” doubt as a method: an exaggerated way of doubting.. In this sense, it was proposed not to accept as true anything that was not clear and self-evident: Everything that could be doubted, at least in part, could not be considered true..
Descartes questioned, for example, that knowledge that originates through the senses, and also that which originates through reason, such as mathematics and logic. By taking the method of doubt to the extreme, he understood that all his opinions could be questioned and, with them, all the knowledge he had until then.
In this context, there arises the ego cogito, the “I think”, as a response to the skepticism generated by doubt. The phrase “I think, therefore I am” appears as the first obvious truth on which Descartes will build all future knowledge, since it is the first certainty: Whoever is thinking, in order to do so, must exist, and therefore, upon discovering that he thinks, he exists..
Before the phrase “I think, therefore I am”, there were other formulas that also expressed the idea of cogito ergo sum Cartesian. For example, in the 5th century, Saint Augustine maintained: “If I make a mistake, I exist.” (If fail, sum). This formula is known as the Augustinian cogito.
Explanation of the phrase “I think, therefore I am”
He ego cogito It appears as a solution to the problem that brought about the Cartesian doubt and consists of a clear and distinct truth.
For Descartes, the criteria for finding the truth are clarity and distinction. Calls clear to the idea that is presented to the person who reflects and calls different to the idea that is precise and different from the others.
Thus, “I think, therefore I am” is not a reasoning in which the act of thinking is a premise and the act of existing is its conclusion. As Descartes explains, this phrase must be taken as a first truth as a whole. If it were an argument, even if it were an abbreviated one, it could not be a first truth, since it would depend on other previous truths. That is why it is always presented as a single formulation: cogito ergo sum.
For Descartes, thinking is the very fact of self-consciousness, it is the immediate and intuitive confirmation of the fact of existing: if you are doubting, you must necessarily exist, since I couldn't doubt if it didn't exist. Thanks to doubt, one can move on to thinking and, in this way, affirm that by thinking one exists. That's why the only thing that is in doubt is the fact of being doubtinggiven that every action (including thought) supposes a subject that performs it, that is, an “I”.
The temporary nature of ego cogito
By stating that it exists, Descartes asks himself how long he does it, and the answer is that he does it for as long as he thinks. Thus, temporality appears in the ego cogito to mark that, precisely, there is no time between thinking and existing.
This means that these actions occur simultaneously: thinking and existing occur at the same time, as a whole, given that between the perception of thought and the perception of existence there is no mediated operation or steps that are taken successively.
The nature of ego cogito
The other question that Descartes asks when he discovers that it exists is what kind of thing it is. Faced with this, he offers some possible answers, such as that it is a body, a man and a rational animal, but all are discarded and he is left with the idea that it is a “thinking substance” (sum res cogitansin Latin), that is, a thing that thinks. This, he affirms, is the only thing he can know about himself and, from there, begins the path to knowing the world.
Criticisms and objections to “I think, therefore I am”
He cartesian cogito either ego cogitothat is, the phrase “I think, therefore I am”, has been the subject of various criticisms and objections. The most frequent focused on the following points:
- The logical-formal interpretation. He argues that the cogito is an abbreviated syllogism (a logical formula), where the major premise (I think) guarantees the truth of the conclusion (I exist)and this leads to a vicious circle.
Descartes answers to this objection by stating that when faced with the cogito ergo sum It is perceived as a primary notion, that is, it is not extracted from any syllogism, since the two actions occur simultaneously. - The psychological interpretation. He argues that the cogito It is the verification of a psychological fact whose possibility is given only through introspection. This means that self-awareness is the simple act of becoming aware of a psychic process, and not of existence.
Descartes answers to this objection by saying that there would be no agreement between a psychological and individual fact and the cogito as a necessary truth for those who use the method of doubt and want to build knowledge from scratch.
References
- Descartes, R. (1904). Metaphysical meditations (Vol. 22). Direction and Administration.
- Descartes, R. (2004). Discourse of the method. Colihue.
- Gómez, AA (1968). The meaning of the Cartesian “cogito”, according to Heidegger. Philosophy Magazine, 27(104), 91.
- Muñoz, SV (1950). The Cartesian cogito. Philosophy Magazine, 1(4), 532-534.
- Rojas Cuautle, AM (2011). Epistemological constitution of the Cartesian cogito. Scaffolding, 8(16), 241-260.
