Single Idea 21862

[catalogued under 11. Knowledge Aims / B. Certain Knowledge / 4. The Cogito]

Full Idea

Consciousness is in the first place not a matter of 'I think' but of 'I can'.

Gist of Idea

Consciousness is based on 'I can', not on 'I think'

Source

Maurice Merleau-Ponty (Phenomenology of Perception [1945], p.159), quoted by Beth Lord - Spinoza's Ethics 2 'Sensation'

Book Reference

Lord,Beth: 'Spinoza's Ethics' [Indiana 2010], p.67


A Reaction

The point here (quoted during a discussion of Spinoza) is that you can't leave out the role of the body, which seems correct.