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Single Idea 2573

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

Full Idea

To be conscious that we are perceiving or thinking is to be conscious of our existence (for we have seen that existence is sensation or thought).

Gist of Idea

To perceive or think is to be conscious of our existence

Source

Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics [c.334 BCE], 1170a32)

Book Reference

Aristotle: 'Ethics (Nicomachean)', ed/tr. ThomsonJ A K/TredennickH [Penguin 1976], p.306


A Reaction

A lovely glimpse of Descartes' Cogito, which was made more explicit by Augustine. Is an animal (which presumably perceives) conscious of its existence?