what does " I think therefore I am" mean?

Question

it does not make sense to me..how does thinking make you real, don't you have to be in order to think?

but if you cannot think you still are..didn't popeye say..I am what I am

so you cannot be conscious without thought?

Answer 1

Your last comment held the answer in it. You cannot experience anything with out knowledge. Meaning, you cannot know what you do not know. All knowledge is an instrument of thought. No thought, no understanding. No understanding, no separation. No separation, no "I". Only one. 'I think therefore I think I am separate from the universe.'

Answer 2

Descartes' original goal was to set a firm foundation for the rest of his philosophy. To do this, he tried to eliminate everything about which he could not be absolutely certain.

Information from his senses was one of the very first things he threw out. As anyone who has seen an illusionist can tell you, what you see is not always what is really going on. The more we learn about our senses, the more we find that our brain is filling in completely made-up information into what only SEEMS to be a continuous and accurate picture of what's going on around us.

This left Descartes in a bit of a dilemma. For if ALL our sensory information is suspect, that takes with it everything in the entire universe. What is left that does not include possibly illusionary external phenomenon?

Descartes concluded that the very least he could be certain of was that he did have thoughts. The CONTENT of thoughts may be influenced by those external phenomenon which were suspect, but their EXISTANCE was not. This led to the famous line 'cogito ergo sum' (I have thoughts, therefore I am). If thoughts are present, then Descartes must also exist, as the person who has those thoughts. He may or may not have any physical apparatus, but he at least is a thinking being who has thoughts.

It's not that the act of thinking made him real by itself... just that thinking was one of the very few things he could be SURE was really, really happening. And if THAT was real... well, hopefully much of the rest follows.

Answer 3

Since I can think, I think I exist, I think I dream, I think I....whatever. It's all mind, or at least that's what some would think!0!

Just remember, the real saying goes like this: Cogito, ergo cogito sum. Something like: I think, therefore I think I exist.

You can be conscious without thought, but you cannot think without being conscious. Consciousness is not only about thinking, but also about perception.

You should try other stuff too, for example: Esse est percipi. And also: Esse est percipere. This is more in the line of: I feel, therefore I exist.

Good luck with that!

Answer 4

Descartes started scrutinizing things and realized that he cannot trust his senses and thus cannot trust the reality which he perceives with his senses and then he asked himself that 'Is there anything he can be sure of in this universe?' Then he came up wtih 'Cogito Ergo Sum.' It simply means that for him to exist he must think and since he is thinking that statement he exists. That's his first axiom. And from thereon, he began building his entire philosophy.

But, nowadays, philosophers will disagree with his mind-body duality ideology. So will the Zen Buddhists.

There is no logical 'connexion' that states that for one to exist one must think. Descartes was making a leap from one part to another.

But what's important is what You think.

Answer 5

Descartes was embarking on a systematic project of doubting everything so that he could find something that he could be certain of.

This was it. He could not doubt his own existence as to doubt it he would have to think it - and to think it he would have to exist! Case closed: he new he existed.

People do have a tendency to read too much into this. It is NOTHING about life-affirming **** such as "you have to think to be really alive", "if you think you are great you are" etc. At root its a pretty dry logical argument. So it isn't that thinking makes you real or causes you to be real. Its that thinking is great evidence that you exist.

Answer 6

I think it's the best philosophical sentence of descarte's age.

throughout the life, when you realize what the world means, what life means, what you mean and the others, you'll find out it's your brain that is creating the life of you, how it works, directly can affect your life, and then you realize that you are part of this world, cause you can make effect on it just with your brain, so I think, Therefore I am...

Rock on my firend

Answer 7

The rest of that statement is a description of the authors limitations at being on a human. Not a God-type.
Taken out of context it can be confusing.

Yet " I think therefore I am" is a human trait, I strongly believe that currently, we consider that your Dog is wondering about the "Dogma of Religion or Which kibble is more nutritious" ? do you? Therefore, it won't apply.

Answer 8

Watch HAL in "2001: A Space Odyssey."

Answer 9

Rene Descartes wrote this famous phrase, although he wrote it in Latin, "Cogito ergo sum." His argument was much the same as yours. Since he was aware of his thoughts, there most be someone doing the thinking.

Answer 10

the human subconciense brain excepts anything good or bad as true within and up to 90 days...I know its true I have used it several times to loose weight, quit smoking...in the Bible it tells us as a man thinks so is he.....if you study the laws of cause and effect and the laws of attraction you will see that what you give your attention to grows...and your brain is like a garden...you cant plant tomatoes and get corn...have you ever heard of gigo....good in..good out or garbage in garbage out a really good site to go to to see this first hand is thesecret.tv...watch the movie it will explain it much better than you can imagine...hope it helps..