display all the ideas for this combination of texts
2 ideas
| 2573 | To perceive or think is to be conscious of our existence [Aristotle] |
| 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). | |
| From: Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics [c.334 BCE], 1170a32) | |
| 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? |
| 3828 | Thinking must involve a self, not just an "it" [Searle] |
| Full Idea: We should not say "It thinks" in preference to "I think". If thinking is an active, voluntary process, there must be a self who thinks. | |
| From: John Searle (Rationality in Action [2001], Ch.3.IX) |