Existence "
When I doubt the existence of everything, I don't have to doubt my own thoughts, because the only thing I can be sure of at this time is
The existence of my own thoughts. "
The authoritative explanation is: "I can't deny my existence, because when I deny and doubt, I already exist!" So it is contradictory to deny one's existence. Denial and doubt are a kind of thinking activity, so he said, I think, therefore I am. Not the usual "I think, therefore I am!" " *
"I think, therefore I am" was said by the French philosopher Descartes.
Descartes: I think therefore I am.
Supreme metaphysics
At the turn of time
Your shadow is everywhere.
Cross-century dust
Because of an idea, your light shines all the way.
In the garden of human spirit
You are an evergreen leaf.
"I think therefore I am"
Nonsense from philosophy sounds like a shuttle.
At every intersection.
The wise man said so.
It may be an exaggeration to say that rene descartes is the greatest philosopher in French history. Heidegger, a great German existentialist, once said, "Since Leibniz, the great development (change) of Descartes' basic theory has not surpassed this basic theory at all, but only expanded its metaphysical breadth, thus creating a premise for19th century. "
However, 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 to never completely believe what your eyes see again. " 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, nor body, nor blood, nor all organs, but I just 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.