I think, therefore I am: meaning, origin and explanation of the phrase

"I think, therefore I am" (Cogito ergo sum) is one of the most famous phrases of the French philosopher René Descartes, which is reflected in his work Discourse of the method (1637).

This sentence has become one of the most famous in the history of thought and represents the beginning of the modern rationalism. But what is its meaning? Where does this phrase from Descartes come from?

Meaning

The phrase “I think, therefore I am” comes from the French “Je pense, donc je suis”. Later it was translated into Latin as "Cogito, ergo sum", whose more precise translation would be: "I think, therefore I am" ("I think, therefore I am").

Beyond the literal translation of it, this sentence turns out to be an evident truth and the first principle of knowledge. Well, according to discards, the only thing that cannot be doubted is precisely that we doubt. And therefore, if I doubt, my thought exists and so do I.

Origin and explanation

To understand the meaning of "I think, therefore I am" it is necessary to refer to its context, as well as to René Descartes.

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With his thought, the philosopher opens the way to Rationalism and the origin of Modern Philosophy. Descartes was a wandering man who sought to build new understandings and lay the foundations of the philosophical knowledge to leave behind old ideas based on tradition or experience. For him, reason is the only one that can offer us accurate knowledge. We should not trust the senses.

However, Descartes believed that, as with sciences such as mathematics, in philosophy there could also be a method to arrive at certainties.

In a way, he tries to make philosophy an organized science, going from "the simple to the complex." In this sense, philosophical reflection could be something like a mathematical proof. For this he established 4 rules:

Clarity and evidence
The division or analysis
Synthesis
The enumeration or revision

But, then, where does "I think, therefore I exist" come from?

The methodical doubt

The first point of the method that Descartes proposes is, at the same time, the initial link to arrive at the referred phrase. The evidence It is according to Descartes the fact of "not admitting anything as true, carefully avoiding precipitation and prevention, and not understand in my judgments nothing more than what appears so clearly and distinctly in my judgment that there is no occasion to put it into doubt".

That is, for Descartes to let himself be carried away by the senses can be confusing, in this aspect, it could be reduced to mere intuition.

In search of absolute certainty

What is a certainty? It is having the knowledge that we know something clearly and surely, without any doubt.

For Descartes, there should be an "absolute certainty", that is, one so evident that there is no possibility of doubt, under any circumstances. To get there, the philosopher uses methodical doubt, this could be considered as a mechanism that would allow you to access what is impossible to doubt.

Descartes highlights the senses, reality itself and the understanding. All certainties are subject to methodical doubt. After that, he asks himself: is there really something that is indubitable? Is there any evidence to challenge this procedure?

I think, therefore I exist

Indeed, Descartes agreed to a principle, a truth without any doubt. The "Cogito ergo sum" is the sustenance of the philosophical system. It also represents the starting point for the method he described. But why?

First of all, this certainty confirms that we exist, at least as thinking beings. Well, everything can be questioned, except that we doubt. On the other hand, doubting for the philosopher is already a way of thinking, therefore, if we think, we are. In this sense, the "then" must be understood as "then" (therefore), since it is a consequence.

This is how the phrase "I think, therefore I am" can be interpreted as the zero point from which Descartes intended to demonstrate the existence of other things, starting from the recognition of our own existence.

About René Descartes

Rene Descartes He was born on March 31 in The Hague in 1596. He studied at the Jesuit college of La Flèche. During his youth, he studied law and medicine and later enlisted in the army to participate in the Thirty Years' War.

Later, he moved to the Netherlands where he tried to dedicate himself to thought. During his last years of life he taught to Queen Cristina of Sweden in Stockholm. In February 1650 Descartes died of pneumonia.

René Descartes's work aims to leave behind the philosophical tradition to make way for a new method, a new philosophical way of thinking based on reason as the only way to access the knowledge. Some of the most outstanding works of him are: