On March 3rd1596, rene descartes (1596- 1650) was born in The Hague (180 1 renamed Descartes The Hague, 190).

I think, therefore I am. I think I was there. Man is a way of thinking, and the starting point of thinking will be at different levels in different periods of man, which is gradual and leaping. This is the leap-forward difference between Descartes' "I think before" and "I think after". He stood at a new height. This is also what happened to him. "I think, therefore I am", and the absoluteness of my thinking has made the absoluteness of "I". So Descartes thinks that "I" is beyond doubt, because I think itself is beyond doubt, which becomes the first principle of Descartes' philosophy and the basis and starting point of his philosophy. However, can I really be the proof of "I"? I think it really goes without saying? Descartes saw the irrefutability of thinking, but the irrefutability of thinking does not mean the correctness of my thinking. Here is a keyword I. To understand "I think so" and "I am", we must first understand my true meaning.

In Descartes' words, "I think therefore I am" means "I have discovered the existence of" I ",and the process of discovery is also a process of thinking. Since I discovered "I", what is my relationship with "I"? This I seem to have existed before "I" was discovered, and I confidently guided my thinking as the commander of my thinking. The latter's "I" Descartes has clearly said that it is a spiritual entity, so we understand that Descartes' spiritual "I" is spiritual, not material, nor anything else. For the first me, Descartes seems to take it for granted without any explanation. So what was the first me? It seems that it came earlier than "I". Historically, my appearance is a process in itself, a process in which self-consciousness germinates, develops and matures until it is abstracted into some spiritual entity, and the separation of subject and object is the most crucial step. In the process of physical existence-the birth of my concept-the appearance of the spiritual entity "I", the abstract concept of me came earlier than the spiritual "I", and there was a more basic existence before them, that is, the existence of the physical body. My birth seems to have gone through at least 10 thousand years of historical romance. So does Descartes have the ability to complete the process of distinguishing ontology from the other in just a few years of childhood? It turned out that he was finished, not only him, but all people with normal thinking like him were finished. It sounds like a miracle, a miracle of time, but no one will be surprised. For everyone, this process is more like an innate experience, so it often feels as if I have my ideas from the moment the individual is born, and then the identity of the ontology is just a transcendental instinct. In fact, human history has abstracted me as a transcendental concept and cognitive basis in its own development and evolution, which is inherent in the subconscious of future generations. So at the beginning of the individual's birth, I had my idea in my mind, which guided the individual to quickly identify the ontology and distinguish the other body, and this detached me was the one I thought before. It can be said that Descartes unconsciously regarded transcendental self as the initiator of thinking while saying "I think therefore I am", and drew an arrow between me and thinking.

So what is this transcendental me? Judging from various signs, it seems to be an abstract transcendental concept and a conscious instinct accumulated in history. However, it cannot exist and be realized independently. In fact, its production itself is the abstraction and collection of individual existence, and it is the reflection of individual existence. On the one hand, my idea exists in everyone's subconscious, which is sex. At the same time, I can only achieve it through one-to-one correspondence with each individual. Only to identify each specific ontology, which is the embodiment of my private ownership. The same is true, the abstract I can't live without the concrete individual, that is, the existence of the body. The body is the material carrier and ultimate destination of self-transcendence. Without the existence of the body, the transcendental self has no support and loses its connotation. When the subject itself as a material form does not exist, the transcendental self used to stimulate the consciousness of distinguishing between subject and object naturally loses its value and reason for existence. Transcendental self is inseparable from the existence of spiritual self. As consciousness, the inspiration of transcendental self can only rely on spiritual self. Transcendental self has a natural mission, which is to identify with the body through spiritual self. Without the spiritual self, transcendence cannot be realized, and naturally it loses its value and significance. When meat gives the transcendental self a carrier, the spiritual self makes it possible to combine the two. Therefore, what accompanies me must be the combination of spirit and flesh in reality. Only this combination can stimulate the transcendental self and make it possible to identify the noumenon and distinguish the other. An empty body won't care about me, because when the soul leaves, I disappear. For other groups, this simple body can only be him, her or it, but not me.

Just as the transcendental self is inseparable from the combination of spiritual self and physical self, "I think so" transcendental self is not so much a transcendental self as a combination of spiritual self and physical self. When Descartes said "I think so" and "I am", the pre-ego has actually been recognized as a combination of Descartes' physical ego and spiritual ego representing the current thinking under the guidance of transcendental ego. When Descartes, as an individual, named himself after me for the first time to distinguish him from others, the existence of this combination has become a reality.

In this way, Descartes' "I think so" and "I am" have the absolute problem of my thinking. The question is: since the thinking self itself contains the combination of spirit and body, how can Descartes guarantee my absoluteness when the authenticity of the physical self is doubted and the absoluteness of the spiritual self has not been proved? When my absoluteness cannot be guaranteed, the directionality of thinking will be lost. Then, it seems that even my thoughts have become something Descartes can doubt. In other words, when the former self is recognized, the existence of the physical self and the spiritual self is recognized at the same time. If Descartes wants to doubt the authenticity of the body, he must first doubt the authenticity of his former self, which is beyond doubt in the author's view.

At this point, it seems that the whole proposition is disturbed by a thoughtful self, and this thoughtful self seems to be a stumbling block for Descartes to unconsciously let go of himself under the influence of transcendental self. Perhaps Descartes' proposition can be realized without thoughtful self-entanglement. Thinking about "I" seems to have got rid of the contradiction caused by thinking about me before. However, once thinking about it loses its directionality, the "I" behind it becomes abrupt. There is a certain connection between thinking and "I", which is realized by thinking about my former self. On the one hand, thinking about the former self is the initiator of thinking, which makes thinking directional; On the other hand, the pre-ego contains the "I" as the spiritual self. When I was destroyed as an intermediate, the bond of contact was broken. Simply put, it is impossible to deduce the existence of directionality without directionality, and "I" is the object I point to. From this perspective, it is not a question of written expression, but the contradiction of the thought itself behind this expression.

Generally speaking, an absolutely objective environment is needed to draw a correct conclusion. There is nothing at first, so you can think without being affected.

The key point is "nothing", and now it is out of nothing, because if you want to think, you must have a subject of thinking. What is this? It's me. I'm thinking. Because of thinking, I exist. I think, I exist, I think, so I'm here.

In the eyes of people who believe in empiricism and materialism, Descartes has a fatal handle, that is, his famous saying that has echoed for centuries: "I think, therefore I am." This famous saying, regarded by Descartes as the starting point of his own philosophical system, was regarded as the general representative of extreme subjective idealism in eastern European academic circles in China in the past and now, and was severely criticized. Many people even regard Descartes as "putting the cart before the horse" and "ridiculous" on the grounds that "existence must precede consciousness" and "there can be no thought without body". In our reading forum, a netizen specially wrote the pseudonym "I am thinking" for himself to show his firm belief in materialism.

Absolute doubt

Descartes' philosophy course is extremely difficult. The starting point of his philosophical pursuit is the most fundamental and thorough doubt about human cognitive ability. Descartes once described the beginning of his thinking process like this: "I think that everything closest to' truth' comes from feeling and the transmission of feeling. However, I find that these things often deceive us. Therefore, the only wise thing to do is never completely believe those things that have deceived us even once. " The help of the outside world to our cognition is so unreliable. So, what are our active perceptual activities (called "practice" by dialectical materialism) and thinking? These activities often appear in dreams, making it impossible for us to distinguish between "dreams" and "waking up". Therefore, I have to wonder whether the whole world is just a dream (we remember the story of Zhuangzi and Butterfly).

Starting from these simple and preliminary "doubts", Descartes pushed his doubts to the extreme: "I would like to assume that the source of all truth is not a kind God, but an equally cunning and magical devil, who tried his best to lead me astray. I am willing to assume that the sky, air, land, shape, color, sound and all external things are just the presentation of that deceptive dream, and the devil will exchange them for my credulity. I want to observe myself like this: it seems that I have neither hands nor eyes, no body, no blood, and no organs, but I just foolishly believe in these. " (Discourse of Method)

It can be seen that Descartes' doubts are not doubts about certain specific things and specific principles, but absolute doubts about mankind, the world and God. From this absolute doubt, Descartes should lead to unquestionable philosophical principles.

Understanding "Being" from "Thinking"

Descartes went on to say, "Just when I was trying to believe that all this was false, I found something essential (for my doubt), and that was' thinking me'! Because the fact that' I think therefore I am' transcends the doubts of all skeptics, I will regard it as the first principle of the philosophy I pursue. " Discourse of method

Through Descartes' exquisite description of his philosophical course, we can clearly know that the meaning of this famous saying is not: because I think, I exist. But: I realized (my) existence through thinking, and I knew "existence" from "thinking".

The Chinese expression of "I think, therefore I am" is very vague and inaccurate, which is basically the cause of our compatriots' misunderstanding of Descartes. However, in this case, we in China are not the only lost sheep in philosophy. For hundreds of years, European philosophers have treated him in the same way. The root of this misunderstanding is the Latin translation of Descartes' French masterpiece Discours de la Methode. In the Latin translation of this book, you can see: cogito ergo sum! ("I think, therefore I am!" If the meaning of "I" is removed from the translation of this sentence, it is probably more in line with the original intention to translate it directly into cogitans sum. Because most of the philosophical works at that time used Latin, and French was only a local language, this Latin spread like wildfire and became synonymous with Descartes' philosophy, while the original French texts Jepense and DoncJesuis could not be overwhelmed. Descartes' original intention was to establish an unquestionable academic method system, but the starting point of his philosophical principles was widely misunderstood from the beginning, and history was so unfair.