Lecture on Descartes' Cogito Argument

Introduction

• Presented by Stefan Schmid, Humboldt University, Berlin.
• Topic: Descartes' famous Cogito Argument ("I think, therefore I am" or "Cogito ergo sum").
• The argument has permeated popular culture and even jokes.

Who Was Descartes?

• René Descartes: 17th-century French philosopher.
• Dissatisfied with the scholastic philosophy of his time.
  • Scholastic philosophy: focused on abstract ideas, mainly from Aristotle.
• Wanted a new philosophy that accommodates rising mechanistic physics, explaining phenomena mathematically.

Descartes' Philosophical Reboot

• Descartes sought a "fundamental reboot" of philosophy.
• Proposed building new philosophy on a strong, stable foundation.
• The foundation: absolutely certain and unshakable beliefs.

Descartes' Method of Radical Doubt

• Descartes' method: radical doubt.
  • Subject all beliefs to radical doubt.
  • Identify beliefs that withstand doubt as absolutely certain.
• Examples of questioned beliefs:
  • Watching a video, brushing teeth, mathematical truths (e.g., 2+2=4).
  • Possibility of deception by an "evil demon" or manipulation.

The Cogito Argument

• Descartes finds certainty in the act of doubting itself.
  • Doubting is a form of thinking.
  • Cannot doubt that one is thinking, hence, one exists while thinking.
• "I think, therefore I am" – the one unshakable certainty.
• Serves as a foundation for Descartes’ new philosophical system.

Challenges and Extensions of Certain Beliefs

• The certainty of existence while thinking is limited.
• Descartes tries to restore certainty in common beliefs (e.g., living on Earth, mathematical truths).
• Process involves abandoning some commonly accepted beliefs (e.g., material things having sensory properties).

Extending Certain Beliefs

• Descartes uses the cogito to extend certainty about his nature.
• Recognizes himself as a "thinking thing" – mind/intellect/reason.
• Further exploration needed to determine the existence of the body.

Conclusion

• Descartes' method involves "squeezing out" further certainties from existing ones.
• Encouragement to explore more in Descartes' "Meditations on First Philosophy."
• The lecture leaves open-ended questions about body existence and sensory deception.