Rene Descartes' "I think, therefore, I am" became the foundational element of the Western Philosphy. My literal translation would mean, If I want proof that I exist, I have to be able to think, "I think, therefore, I am".
I had to research Descartes in order to get to know him better. He was a French philosopher and mathematician. He was educated by the Jusuits. While we was being educated by the Jusits, he realized how much he didnt' know. I learned that Descartes thirst for knowledge. He viewed everything through his eyes as mathematical. In other words, everything had to have a purpose and everything could be explained mathematically. Everything had to be precise and exact in his mind. There could be no room fo doubt.
This is where it doesn't make sense when he admits to thinking that there is a God, because in his mind, there had to be some higher being. Religion is based on Faith and that contradicts his philosophy. I'm glad he realized that there had to be a higher being but when you look back at how he viewed the world it doesn't make sense.
I need to go back to the original statement "I think, therefore, I am". That statement could not be so simple as it sounds because Descartes was too complicated of a man to have said something that didn't have a deeper meaning. For example, Descartes introduced the concept of mind and body into scientific philosophical debate.
I believe he was challening us to start to think differently. I once read somewhere that "the way we think, affect the way we feel, the way we feel, affects the way we act". What if Descartes wanted us to challenge even the most simplist things, for example, Is up really down, or is right really wrong, what if light was really darkness. I know it's sound crazy but, Descartes was way ahead of his time. He was in another class.
The fact that he reconized that the mind and body is one is an example of how way ahead of his time he was. I believe he wanted us to go forward and take everything we had learned and rethink it. I like the fact that he reconized that there had to be a Higher Being, God!!
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Descartes believes that it is the mind that makes us real. This is why Descartes phrase, "I think, therefore I am" is paramount to his argument of perfection versus imperfection. The body is a temporary shell where, dreams, senses, emotions and biological feeling can all be deceiving. Only through reason can the mind achieve a perfect thought and perfect thoughts derive from a perfect being. This is because human beings are imperfect, due to their emotions and tendency to be unreasonable.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Descartes conclusion that perfection comes not from ourselves but from a perfect being. It is Descartes comparison and contrast between perfect and imperfect that shows such a logical conclusion. When his theory is applied to reality, it is sound. For example, even a genius (who we can all agree tends to formulate more right answers than wrong) is still subject to an unreasonable nature. Geniuses are still subject to the failings of the body whether it be emotional or through deceptive senses. This means that the genius is not 100% perfect 100% of the time. So how can a genius (or any of us) achieve perfect thought? According to Descartes, the answer is reason derived from perfection. This type of perfection can only come from something that is perfect. Clearly our bodies are not.
Francisco,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your own translation of the phrase, it makes a lot of sense when you put it that way. However, like you say Descartes was not a simple man and his phrase wasn’t meant to be easy. This phrase sounds so simple but in reality it is very complex; I agree that Descartes was challenging us to deeply examine the simple. The fact that Descartes was a scientist and a mathematician makes me think that with this phrase he is contradicting the common “scientific” way of thinking. For the most part I have experienced that people separate science and God, but Descartes challenged that when he contemplates about a higher being.