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Single Idea 13003
[filed under theme 11. Knowledge Aims / B. Certain Knowledge / 5. Cogito Critique
]
Full Idea
To say 'I think therefore I am' is not really to prove existence from thought, since 'to think' and 'to be thinking' are one and the same, and to say 'I am thinking' [je suis pensant] is already to say 'I am' [je suis].
Gist of Idea
The Cogito doesn't prove existence, because 'I am thinking' already includes 'I am'
Source
Gottfried Leibniz (New Essays on Human Understanding [1704], 4.07)
Book Ref
Leibniz,Gottfried: 'New Essays on Human Understanding', ed/tr. Remnant/Bennett [CUP 1996], p.411
A Reaction
This is the objection which was offered by A.J. Ayer, and I take it to the one of the two principle objections to the Cogito (i.e. that it may be a tautology), along with the objection about the assumption of the continuity of the same thinker.
The
32 ideas
with the same theme
[objections to the necessary existence of a thinker]:
1117
|
The Cogito proves subjective experience is basic, but makes false claims about the Self
[Russell on Descartes]
|
1369
|
It is a precondition of the use of the word 'I' that I exist
[Ayer on Descartes]
|
2873
|
Maybe 'I' am not the thinker, but something produced by thought
[Nietzsche on Descartes]
|
5360
|
The thing which experiences may be momentary, and change with the next experience
[Russell on Descartes]
|
2870
|
'I think' assumes I exist, that thinking is known and caused, and that I am doing it
[Nietzsche on Descartes]
|
5188
|
A thought doesn't imply other thoughts, or enough thoughts to make up a self
[Ayer on Descartes]
|
3624
|
That I perform an activity (thinking) doesn't prove what type of thing I am
[Hobbes on Descartes]
|
4526
|
The Cogito assumes a priori the existence of substance, when actually it is a grammatical custom
[Nietzsche on Descartes]
|
5579
|
How can we infer that all thinking involves self-consciousness, just from my own case?
[Kant on Descartes]
|
3120
|
Autistic children seem to use the 'I' concept without seeing themselves as thinkers
[Segal on Descartes]
|
3623
|
The Cogito only works if you already understand what thought and existence are
[Mersenne on Descartes]
|
5580
|
My self is not an inference from 'I think', but a presupposition of it
[Kant on Descartes]
|
5587
|
We cannot give any information a priori about the nature of the 'thing that thinks'
[Kant on Descartes]
|
5588
|
The fact that I am a subject is not enough evidence to show that I am a substantial object
[Kant on Descartes]
|
13923
|
Descartes' claim to know his existence before his essence is misleading or absurd
[Descartes, by Lowe]
|
6930
|
Modern self-consciousness is a doubtful abstraction; only senses and feelings are certain
[Feuerbach on Descartes]
|
5638
|
'I think' is useless, because it is contingent, and limited to the first person
[Spinoza, by Scruton]
|
12996
|
I know more than I think, since I know I think A then B then C
[Leibniz]
|
13003
|
The Cogito doesn't prove existence, because 'I am thinking' already includes 'I am'
[Leibniz]
|
19334
|
I can't just know myself to be a substance; I must distinguish myself from others, which is hard
[Leibniz]
|
5590
|
'I think therefore I am' is an identity, not an inference (as there is no major premise)
[Kant]
|
7146
|
Belief in the body is better established than belief in the mind
[Nietzsche]
|
22159
|
If we posit 'I' as the starting point, we miss the mind's phenomenal content
[Heidegger]
|
7112
|
The Cogito depends on a second-order experience, of being conscious of consciousness
[Sartre]
|
7114
|
The consciousness that says 'I think' is not the consciousness that thinks
[Sartre]
|
7119
|
Is the Cogito reporting an immediate experience of doubting, or the whole enterprise of doubting?
[Sartre]
|
19459
|
To say 'I am not thinking' must be false, but it might have been true, so it isn't self-contradictory
[Ayer]
|
19460
|
'I know I exist' has no counterevidence, so it may be meaningless
[Ayer]
|
19461
|
Knowing I exist reveals nothing at all about my nature
[Ayer]
|
6619
|
Perhaps 'I' no more refers than the 'it' in 'it is raining'
[Lowe]
|
12399
|
There was a young student called Fred...
[Sommers,W]
|
12407
|
Barman to Descartes: Would you like another drink?...
[Sommers,W]
|