Rene Descartes Famous Quotes

Rene Descartes, the famous French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician, was born in 1596, in the village of La Haye.

I think therefore I am? Not quite Rene Descartes’, the philosopher’s famous statement, “I think, therefore I am,” doesn’t confirm ANYTHING about one’s self. The act of thought doesn’t just confirm the self—it confirms the presence of some form of reality, however elusive or undefined it might be. : Descartes made a leap from “thought exists” to “I, the thinker, exist.” But this is an assumption that the thinking entity must be real, just because it “thinks.” The experience of thought doesn’t necessarily mean the thinker exists in a concrete way. Just as animation creates the appearance of life without life actually being present, thought may create the appearance of an individual without that individual needing to truly exist. “I think” only confirms the existence of a FLEETING THOUGHT, not necessarily a Permanent thinker behind those thoughts. So, what creates the sense of I, the sense of an identity? 1) Genetics (what kind of species you are born as, genetic variations within species, race etc. 2) Individual experiences such as Unique experiences in your life that no two people (at least in this universe) can share alike. 3) Names Strip away genetic variations, sex, names and unique life experiences and what makes my sense of identity any different than yours? Who am I? Nothing, but raw, biological human intelligence. And what are you? The exact same thing? At this stage, we are literally the same “being”!