Descartes cogito Flashcards
What is the cogito?
Cogito ergo sum - I think therefore I am.
What is the significance of the cogito?
Descartes cogito shows that he has finally come up with a foundation of knowledge - he thinks so therefore he must exist.
What is I?
David Hume argues that we cannot know for definite what ‘I’ is. Hume argues it would be more accurate to say ‘It’.
Descartes response - The cogito seems self-evidently true, and the logical steps appear impossible to doubt, even using methods described in Meditation 1. Nevertheless, questioning your own existence is a challenging idea to consider. Can everything that exists exist only in thought?
The Malicious Demon and reason
Criticism - The Malicious Demon and Reason
If the cogito is the foundation on which Descartes intends to build his knowledge, then he must be sure he can fully trust his ability to reason. How does he know this logic is not the work of the malicious demon? Some philosophers argue that Descartes should have accepted that this argument undermines his reasoning.
Descartes’ response
Descartes believed the cogito was a perfect self-justifying statement. The thought validates the indubitable truth of the statement, and it has no additional premises for the demon to challenge. He thought it unreasonable to call all thought into doubt, but our reasoning process must be dependable or else meditating, or thought, is impossible.
The malicious demon and words
If the malicious demon can alter simple mathematical concepts, what is to stop the demon from playing with the rules of language? Descartes assumed that the meanings of the words he used would not change. If we are unsure of the meaning of concepts such as thinking or existing, then perhaps ‘I am: I exist’ is not indubitable.
Descartes’ response
Descartes might say in response that, despite a deceiving god or malicious demon, we know two plus three cannot equal anything but five. The concept of language must be understood, or there is no point in the Meditations.
