It is, under everything we know. In fact, I would agree that doubt is thought under another part of Philosophy, but here I am arguing under the ambit of Descartes's LOGIC. This appears to be not false equivalence, but instead false non-equivalence. There for since Descartes is thinking he must exist. I can doubt everything, but my observation or that "Doubt is thought" (Rule 2) But nevertheless it would be a useful experiment if presented as only an intellectual pinch on radical skeptics to have them admit their own existence by starting from their own premise that absolute doubt is possible. There is no logical reason to doubt your existence if you can question your existence as you are required to pose the question. Indeed, in the statement "I think therefore I am" there are several statements presumed certain a priori and they go well beyond the convention that doubt is a form of thought, for the whole statement presumes knowledge of semantics involved, that is of what "I", "think", "therefore" and "am" mean and more significantly some logical principles such as identity, non-contradiction and causality! Excluding science, philosophy, etc., it is clear that I think; it is something that experience shows; so, this is an empirical truth. Therefore, I exist, at the very least as a thinking thing. Why does RSASSA-PSS rely on full collision resistance whereas RSA-PSS only relies on target collision resistance? Mine is argument 4. There is nothing clear in it. What if the Evil Genius in Descartes' "I think therefore I am" put into our minds the action of doubting? Therefor the ability to complete this thought exercise shows that Descartes exists. Hi, you still have it slightly wrong. Is Descartes' argument valid? The cogito (at least in my interpretation) basically is a placeholder for that meditation, so we can't just say, "cogito ergo sum" -- boom I'm done! Descartes in his first assumption says that he is allowed to doubt everything. This is where the cogito argument enters, to save the day. If I attempt to doubt my own existence, then I am thinking. My idea: I can write this now: An argument is valid if and only if there is no possible situation in which all the premises are true and the conclusion is false' Click to expand And what if there is a possible situation in which all the premises are true but the conclusion is false. How would Descartes respond to Wittgenstein's objection to radical doubt? Therefore I exist. Are there any of my points that you disagree with as well? Whilst Nietzsche argues that the statement is circular, Descartes argument hinges upon Doubt is thought ( Rule 2) Humes objections to the Teleological Argument for God, Teleological Argument for the existence of God. (2) If a man cant have some kind of sensation because there is something wrong with his eyes, ears etc., he will never be found to have corresponding ideas. "There is an idea: therefore, I am," it may be contended represents a compulsion of thought; but it is not a rational compulsion. Disclaimer, some of this post may not make sense to you, as the OP has rewritten his argument numerous times, and I am not deleting any of this so So let's doubt his observation as well. Your comment was removed for violating the following rule: All answers must be informed and aimed at helping the OP and other readers reach an understanding of the issues at hand. "I think" begs the question. Can an overly clever Wizard work around the AL restrictions on True Polymorph? This is an interactive blog post, where the philosophyzer gives you a stimulus and questions, and asks you to provide the answers! But, much more importantly, "cogito ergo sum" doesn't appear at all in the strongest formulation of Descartes' argument, The Second Meditation. Stack Exchange network consists of 181 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. It's because any other assumption would be paradoxical. Descartes starts questioning his existence, and whether or not he thinks. It does not matter here what the words mean, logic here at this point does not differentiate between them. 25 Feb 2023 03:29:04 I my view, Descartes's argument even though maybe imperfectly articulated is a useful mental exercise if only for yielding a better understanding of our mind and our existence. But I think; therefore, I am is a truncated version of this argument. It only takes a minute to sign up. Can a VGA monitor be connected to parallel port? For Avicenna therefore existence of self was self-evident and needless of demonstration and any attempt at demonstration would be imperfect (imperfections of the Cogito being a testimony). So far, I have not been able to find my it simply reflects the meanings of "doubt" and "thought". In fact - what you? It is Descartes who says doubt is thought. Other than demonstrating that experience is dependent, conditional, subject to a frame of reference, the statement says no thing interesting. WebNow, comes my argument. But for us to say this " I think, therefore I AM", we need to go under argument number 3, which is redundant. Changed my question to make it simpler. Well, then I'm doubting and that means that I exist. The poet Paul Valery writes "Sometimes I think, sometimes I am". He may not be able to doubt that "doubt is a thought" either, on the basis of analyticity, but again, this is moot. Webthat they think isnt derived from this source. Here (1) is a consequence of (2). So, we should treat Descartes' argument as a meditative argument, not a logical one. Drop a ball, any ball, a million times from a certain height. So on a logical level it is true but not terribly Read my privacy policy for more information. WebWhen looking at this statement, it is evident that Srigley knew how his readers think and feel about the subject (as parents they want the best education possible for their child), knew their likes (their own children) and dislikes, this argument obviously appeals to them.Srigley made effective arguments because Srigley knew his audience. @novice it is a proof of both existence and thought. Let me explain why. Is my argument against Descartes's "I think, therefore I am", logically sound? After doubting everything in the external world, Descartes turns to attempting to doubt his internal word, that of his own mind. Is there a flaw in Descartes' "clear and distinct" argument? A fetus, however, doesnt think. eNotes Editorial, 30 July 2008, https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/arguments-against-premise-think-therefore-am-387343. This brings us back to the essence of the Cogito, however the question remains, did I really need to deduce my own existence if it can be shown that it is an evident prior intuition. How to measure (neutral wire) contact resistance/corrosion. (Though this is again not necessary as doubt is a type of thought, sufficient to prove the original.). 'Cogito ergo sum', 'I am thinking, therefore I am' or 'I think therefore I must be' is an existence conditioned on thought. Once thought stops, you Disclaimer: OP has edited his question several times since my answer, to the point where his/her original point has all but disappeared. Hence, at The answer is complicated: yes and no. How do you catch a paradox? What is the best way to deprotonate a methyl group? The ego of which he thinks is nothing but a holder together of ideas. Descartes starts with doubting, finds an obstacle, and concludes "I, who thus doubted, should be something". It only takes a minute to sign up. Try reading it again before criticizing. Since "Discourse on Method", have there been any critiques or arguments against the premise "I think, therefore I am"? Latest answer posted May 09, 2013 at 7:39:38 PM, Clearly state in your own words the surprise ending in part 5 ofDescartes' Discourse on the method. Why does the Angel of the Lord say: you have not withheld your son from me in Genesis? My observing his thought. @infatuated. One first assumption or rule is "I can doubt everything", the second rule is " I cannot doubt my observation", or doubt that " doubt is thought", both statements cannot be simultaneously absolutely true. A doubt exists, a thought exists to doubt everything, and everything(Universe) exists, which contains both thought and doubt. In philosophy, it is often called the cogito argument, due the to Latin version of the argument: cogito ergo sum (which might be the most popular tattoo for philosophy undergrads); but perhaps it should be called the dubito argument since the full argument relies on what is called methodic doubt, a strategy to find absolute certainty by doubting everything that is possible to doubt. There is NO logic involved at all. @Novice how is it an infinite regression? Could 'cogito ergo sum' possibly be false? Yes, we can. Benjamin Disraeli once observed in response to an antisemitic taunt in the House of Commons, that while the ancestors of the right honourable gentleman were brutal savages in an unknown island, mine were priests in the temple of Written word takes so long to communicate. I'm doubting that I exist, right? If you find this argument convincing, stick around for a future article where I will argue for what I call the logical uncertainty principle, claiming that everything has a degree of uncertainty, even Descartess cogito argument. He compares them to chains, whose continuity the mind would experience by checking the links one by one. For example the statement "This statement is false." New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. valid or invalid argument calculator. When he's making the cogito, he's already dropped the doubt level down several notches. In the same way, I began by taking everything that was doubtful and throwing it out, like sand - Descartes. It's a Meditation, where he's trying to determine if anything exists. If you could edit it down to a few sentences I think you would get closer to an answer. Descartes does not assume that he can (as in, is able to) doubt everything upon consideration, only that he can (as in, allows himself to) doubt everything at the outset. Ackermann Function without Recursion or Stack, "settled in as a Washingtonian" in Andrew's Brain by E. L. Doctorow. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. But Descartes has begun by doubting everything. It is a logical fallacy if you do not make the second assumption which I have mentioned. Awake or asleep, your mind is always active. WebI was encouraged to consider a better translation to be "I am thinking, therefore I am." Descartes might have had a point if he said that our intuitive, non-discursive, non-deduced self-knowledge doesn't depend on recognition of prior principles of logic but the Cogito is meant as an argument not a pointing to our intuition. In that, we can look at the concepts/structures he's proposing, and we can certainly put forth a charge similar to what Nietzsche did (depending on our other notions - as mentioned elsewhere). @novice But you have no logical basis for establishing doubt. It does not matter BEFORE the argument. Can 'I think, therefore I am' be reduced to 'I, therefore I am'? The logic has a flaw I think. Since my argument is minus one assumption, compared to Descartess, it is a stronger truth. This is incorrect, as you're not applying logic to beat Descarte's assertion, but you're relying on semantics more than anything else. An argument is valid iff* it is impossible for the premises of the argument to be true while the I know it empirically, not logically, as I perform the action of thinking. And you do get credit for recognizing the flaw in that assumption and the weakness in the argument. Answers must portray an accurate picture of the issue and the philosophical literature. This is not the first case. 26. WebIt is true that in the argument I [think], therefore I am, any action could replace "think" without changing the structure. But thats *not* what Descartes cogito ergo sum says: it says *if* you think, you must exist; it does *not* say that if something exists, Youve committed the formal fallacy of affirming the consequent ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affirming_the_consequent ) This actually has amusing consequences, as you are basically interpreting Descartes to say only thinking things can exist, which means in order for, for instance, a rock to exist, it must think. Having made a little diversion now time to sum up the answer: Cogito is an imperfect argument if taken as an argument as Descartes didn't comprehensively address and follow many questions and implications associated with what can be considered a useful mental exercise. First off, Descartes isn't offering a logical argument per se. This may be a much more revealing formulation. 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