Doubting 'I think therefore I am'

Originally posted: 9/23/2022
I was rebuffed at the end of this rabbit trail… 😆

Transcription:

I was vigorously jotting down notes of disagreement in the margin this morning as I read a lecture by John-Paul Sartre because his whole deal is based on personal responsibility being real. At one point he makes his case with Descartes's classic claim, "I think, therefore I am." Since I was already enjoying being oppositional, I was primed to be like, "Actually..." Then I vaguely remembered having questioned Descartes before, so I went and I searched my old notes and I found it. Ages ago, I'd simply written, "Shouldn't it be, I think, therefore thoughts are?"

Now since nobody ever has an original idea. I sat in my blue chair this morning and I wondered who has already said this, and I found it. The internet is amazing. In a footnote on page 280 of Hannah Arendt's The Human Condition. She writes that Descartes', "I think, therefore I am" does not prove that I am, but only that consciousness is. Hey, that's what I said.

This was observed by Nietzsche as she points out in his book, [German 00:00:50]. Well, now I need a translation of that. Easy, The Will to Power #484. Nietzsche says you can reduce "I think, therefore I am" to "there is thinking, therefore there are thoughts." Hey, that's what I said. So I ran back to Arendt's note to see what else her superlatively intelligent mind had to say about our shared idea, and here's how she closes. "This is another matter and need not interest us." Oh, okay. Yeah. That's fair. Hey, thanks for watching. Come along if you feel like it.

#philosophy #existentialism #sartre

[nameless-ydko]

Cogito, ergo sum.
"I think, therefore I am!"
~~~ Thought = Ego (= Duality).
No thought = no (concept of an) individuated duality living mortal self.

[henrygames]

What are we but consciousnesses really?

[Creationweek]

Tbf descartes full quote can be translated to something like I doubt therefore I think therefore I am

[Rottwiler]

If we really Occam razor this, it would be “thing happens thus are” or, from a logic stand point “if event, than is”

[obcl]

I feel so less alone in this world with your stories.
This is exactly what any random Sunday afternoon looks like for me - which explains why i may have felt one prior to your videos lolol

[person]

I love that you think I think. Are you sure we exist?

[spnyp]

Wouldn't it be the case "I, therefore I am" ?

[olympiaelda]

I know by your logic (which I agree with) my idea would be just “I feel therefore emotions exist”. But I thought it still would be a closer shot to reality. Because people love to think that they think things, therefore they are logical, therefore they are right. But so much of our thoughts on everything, even the biggest and most complex of issues are informed by our experiences and feelings attached to them. Not to mention experiences of big influence on our lives are usually so big because they are cementified by a big encompassing emotion. And also I just hate how the word ‘emotional’ have a huge negative connotation like as it only was a useless maid to the superior intellect.

[hilman]

I heard that a more accurate translation of the original text would be to say "I puzzle therefore I am. Like the fact that one cares to wonder about wether they exist or not kinda indicates that one does in fact exist.
I'm not sure why anyone believes they need to puzzle over this though.🤔

[andromedaspark]

The nature of consciousness isn't something that can be so easily dismissed, surely. Can you separate your sense of self, your perception of your total state of being, from consciousness? Really, think about it. Also...you can't even attempt to identify the difference between without those thoughts I asked you to use. Your sense of "you" cannot exist independent of thought. You exist only if you are conscious. (You may say, "other people can see your body even when you're in a dreamless sleep". For all intents and purposes that's equivalent to dead, what makes you "you" aren't truly there.)

[Illiescu]

You and your dead philosopher friends are all ignoring the obvious. "I think, therefore I am" begins with "I". If there is no "I" doing the thinking, then how can there be thoughts?

[saskiaschnoodlebaboodle]

Your German pronunciation is beautiful :-) It's music to my German ears.

[XMeK]

Nietzsche wrong on this one. While thinking does, indeed, prove that thinking exists. It begs the question "Who or what is doing the thinking"? And the only answer to that is... I am. Therefore I exist.