Philosophy I Think Therefore I Am Essay

‘Cogito ergo sum’, meaning I think therefore I am, Rene Descartes is the man credited to these few words. The quote originally written in French, comes from The Discourse on Method, but also appears written as the famous Latin, â€Å"Cogito ergo sum,† in his Meditations on First Philosophy, which was an attempt to find foundational truths for knowledge. The book contains six meditations that attempt to discover what is real by first doubting absolutely everything and starting from scratch. In this way, Descartes starts at the bottom and works his way up into believing in the existence of worldly things. For Descartes the essence of the self is the ability to think, in order to actually have an identity, you must be able to think. In many of Descartes works he emphasizes this point. In order for one to have an identity, you would have to be aware of your thinking, reasoning, perceiving processes. If someone was consistently unconscious of all of the for-mentioned things than it is impossible to actually have a perception of the self. Cogito, ergo sum is one principles of Descartes theory, where he is basically saying that if someone can not think, or have a conscience mind then they do not exist as an individual. It was the foundation upon which knowledge could be built. Although we can doubt our senses, we cannot doubt our thinking as doubting is a thought. And as one cannot think without existing and as we think, it follows that we exist. Many people now reject Descartes’ point of view, but I completely agree. If we can’t not think how can we truly understand our surroundings and adapt as all humans are naturally born to do. Our ability to think is completely dependent on all of the things we perceive with our minds. Though sometimes our senses can be a deceiving it is completely up to our minds and our thinking ability to be the decipher, the clear thought in the sea of confusing and discourse.