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“I think, therefore I am”: Descartes on the Foundations of Knowledge

Author: Charles Miceli Category: Historical Philosophy , Epistemology Word Count: 994

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If you are reading this, then you are probably looking at a screen or a piece of paper. Think to yourself: “I have some paper in my hand,” “I am in front of a computer” or whatever fits.

Is your belief here certain ? Is there any way that you could believe this, yet your belief be false? Is there any possibility that you are mistaken about this belief? René Descartes (1596-1650) argues you could: this belief, and almost all other beliefs, are not certain.

Descartes argues that there is one clear exception, however: “I think, therefore I am.” [1] He claims to have discovered a belief that is certain and irrefutable . Perhaps there is no saying more famous in philosophy than this phrase, often known as the “Cogito” after its Latin phrasing, cogito ergo sum . [2]

This essay explores the meaning of the Cogito, its importance to Descartes, and its legacy for philosophy up to the present day.

1. Doubt and Skepticism

The phrase “I think, therefore I am” first appears in Discourse on the Method (1637) . [3] But Descartes changes the wording to “I am, I exist” [4] in his most famous (1641) work, Meditations on First Philosophy [5] (called the Meditations for short).

In the Meditations , Descartes reflects on the fact that he has had many false beliefs, and he sets out to address that problem, with the hope of finding a way to ensure he only has true beliefs and even that scientific research yields only truths as well.

His strategy is to doubt, or not believe, any claim that is false or could be false. He recognizes that his senses might be deceiving him now, since they have deceived him before; he might also be reasoning erroneously now, since he has reasoned badly before. He thereby doubts all beliefs from his senses and from his faculty of reasoning, since those beliefs could be false.

Descartes then considers the most extreme reason for doubt: there may exist an evil demon (sometimes translated ‘genius,’ ‘genie,’ or ‘spirit’) who has the power to control all of his thoughts, tricking him into believing anything. [6] Descartes cannot prove that this demon does not exist. So he acknowledges that it’s possible that all his beliefs about the world external to his own mind are illusions caused by the demon, corresponding to nothing at all, and so all his beliefs about the external world are false.

Descartes is usually thought of as considering skepticism , the view that we lack knowledge or justified belief. [7] Here skepticism is considered because we lack certainty : what we believe might be false, so our beliefs aren’t knowledge. As we will see, Descartes argues that the Cogito enables him to defeat skepticism and show that we have knowledge, with certainty.

2. The Cogito and Certainty

After considering the evil demon, Descartes soon discovers the Cogito. He realizes that thinking “I am, I exist,” withstands the evil-demon test! Even if all the beliefs and types of beliefs that Descartes reviews are false, or could be false, at the least, he must exist to be deceived. Even if one doubts one’s own existence, one must exist at that moment, since there must be something, or someone, doing the doubting. Doubting is a way of thinking, and one’s existence is required to doubt or think in the first place: it is impossible to doubt and yet not exist.

So, the “I think” element in the Cogito implies the direct, immediate, certain knowledge of one’s own existence. Thought requires a thinker and this is known with certainty , since not even the demon could deceive someone who doesn’t exist. Descartes thereby found what he was looking for: some certain, indubitable, irrefutable knowledge. [8]

3. Defeating Skepticism

Once the Cogito is discovered, Descartes argues it can serve as a foundation for how to find other truths that are certain.

Descartes proposes that the Cogito is undeniably true because it is clear and distinct . About clarity, Descartes explains, “Some perceptions are so transparent and at the same time so simple we can never think without believing them to be true…” [9] When something is distinct , the mind has an unclouded vision of what is most essential about that object. These qualities become the standard against which all other beliefs can be evaluated.

Descartes argues that the clarity and distinctness rule, derived from the Cogito, can justify our beliefs about the external world. But what verifies the clarity-and-distinctness rule? God’s existence, Descartes argues. By reflecting on his idea of God, he argues that God exists. [10] Descartes then argues that a truthful, good God would not allow us to be deceived when we understand objects clearly and distinctly, and so God would not allow us to routinely have false beliefs.

The Cogito then serves as the foundation for a series of claims that build upon each other. According to Descartes, his reasoning establishes that, what he originally doubted, he actually knows, with certainty. [11]  He thereby defeats the skeptical concerns that he considered earlier.

4. Conclusion: Knowledge without Certainty

Descartes was impressed by the Cogito because he had found a belief that is certain and so, when believed , cannot be false. He thought that certainty was necessary for a belief to be known. While he argued that, fortunately, we can ultimately be certain of much of what we think we know, [12] most philosophers following him have denied that.

Contemporary theorists of knowledge tend to deny that knowledge requires certainty: they tend to be “falliblists,” arguing that we can know some claim, yet not be certain that it is true. [13] The problem with Descartes’ standard for knowledge is that almost no beliefs meet it. Descartes thought he could show how our ordinary knowledge claims are ultimately based on the Cogito, but most philosophers have not been convinced by his case.

The epistemic lesson of the Cogito is that if certainty is a necessary requirement for knowledge, we are left with very little knowledge indeed. The challenge, however, is that if certainty is not required for knowledge, what is? [14]

[1] For a discussion of the whole of Descartes’ Meditations , see Marc Bobro’s Descartes’ Meditations 1-3 and Descartes’ Meditations 4-6 .

[2] It should be noted that although the idea expressed in cogito ergo sum is usually attributed to and associated with Descartes, it was not an entirely new idea. For instance, over a 1000 years earlier, St. Augustine, in The City of God (Book XI, 26), wrote “ergo sum si fallor,” which is often paraphrased as fallor ergo sum : “I make mistakes, therefore I am.”

[3] Cottingham, John, Robert Stoothoff, and Dugald Murdoch. The Philosophical Writings of Descartes: Volume 1 . Cambridge University Press (2012) (AT VI 32: CSM I 127).

[4] It’s instructive to consider why Descartes changes the wording from the Discourse on the Method to the Meditations . Unlike in the Discourse , Descartes employs strict tests of doubt in the Meditations , where even simple inferences are put in question. In other words, in setting the stage for the Cogito, the meditator is unsure that logic is reliable, and so cannot legitimately argue from premises to a conclusion that she exists. Another way to account for the missing ergo in the Cogito of the Meditations is to point out that Descartes seeks a foundational belief upon which to provide justification for other beliefs and therefore ground knowledge, and that for a belief to be properly foundational it is in no need of justification itself.

[5] Cottingham, John, Robert Stoothoff, and Dugald Murdoch. The Philosophical Writings of Descartes: Volume 2. Cambridge University Press (2012) (AT VII 25: CSM II 17).

[6] The 1999 science-fiction film The Matrix is an update on this idea: one’s beliefs may be caused by the Matrix, not the physical world, and so they are false: e.g., someone “plugged into” the Matrix believing she is riding a bicycle is not actually riding a bicycle, so that belief is false.

[7] There are different kinds of skeptics. Some skeptics are “global” skeptics, who deny that we have any knowledge at all, about anything: Descartes seems close to a global skeptic, at least before he reaches the Cogito. Other types of skepticism are more limited: e.g., someone might be a skeptic about knowledge claims about the future (“Nobody really knows what will happen in the future”), or a skeptic about claims to religious knowledge, or moral knowledge, or skeptics about knowledge claims based on testimony, and more.

[8] What follows from the certainty of the Cogito is the nature of Descartes himself: he must be a thing that thinks. The Cogito does not prove that Descartes has a body or a brain, or even that other minds exist: these can all be doubted. Only thought is certain: Descartes says, “ I am, I exist , that is certain. But for how long? For as long as I think. It might perhaps even happen that if I stopped thinking, I should at once altogether stop being.” Cottingham, John, Robert Stoothoff, and Dugald Murdoch. The Philosophical Writings of Descartes: Volume 2. Cambridge University Press (2012) (AT VII 27: CSM II 18).

[9] Cottingham, John, Robert Stoothoff, and Dugald Murdoch. The Philosophical Writings of Descartes: Volume 2. Cambridge University Press (2012) (AT 7, 145-6, CMS 2, 104).

[10] Descartes argues that his idea of God is such that it could only have been caused by God: Descartes couldn’t have created that idea on his own or from any of his own experiences. Descartes also offers a distinct ontological argument for God’s existence: see The Ontological Argument for the Existence of God by Andrew Chapman

[11] Thus, Descartes is clearly a foundationalist. See e.g. Hasan, Ali, “Foundationalist Theories of Epistemic Justification,” in E. N. Zalta (ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy , Fall 2018 edition.

[12] Something unclear is whether each individual would have to go through the thought processes that Descartes engaged in to have knowledge, or else they lack knowledge, or whether Descartes (or anyone’s, or enough people’s) engaging in these meditations would contribute to everyone’s having knowledge.

[13] See e.g. Unger, Peter. Ignorance: A Case for Scepticism (Oxford, UK and New York, NY: Oxford University Press), Chapter III.

[14] For discussion of some challenges facing theories of knowledge that deny that certainty is necessary for knowledge, see The Gettier Problem by Andrew Chapman and Epistemic Justification: What is Rational Belief? by Todd R. Long. 

St. Augustine, The City of God (412)

Cottingham, John, Robert Stoothoff, and Dugald Murdoch. The Philosophical Writings of Descartes: Volume 1 . Cambridge University Press (2012)

Cottingham, John, Robert Stoothoff, and Dugald Murdoch. The Philosophical Writings of Descartes: Volume 2. Cambridge University Press (2012)

Hasan, Ali, “Foundationalist Theories of Epistemic Justification,” in E. N. Zalta (ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy , Fall 2018 edition.

Unger, Peter. Ignorance: A Case for Scepticism (Oxford, UK and New York, NY: Oxford University Press), Chapter III.

Related Essays

Descartes’ Meditations 1-3 by Marc Bobro

Descartes’ Meditations 4-6 by Marc Bobro

al-Ghazālī’s Dream Argument for Skepticism  by John Ramsey

Epistemology, or Theory of Knowledge  by Thomas Metcalf

External World Skepticism by Andrew Chapman

Pyrrhonian Skepticism: Suspending Judgment  by Lewis Ross

The Gettier Problem and the Definition of Knowledge  by Andrew Chapman

Epistemic Justification: What is Rational Belief?  by Todd R. Long

Seemings: Justifying Beliefs Based on How Things Seem by Kaj André Zeller

The Ontological Argument for the Existence of God by Andrew Chapman

Modal Epistemology: Knowledge of Possibility & Necessity by Bob Fischer

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Acknowledgments

The editors are grateful to Marc Bobro for his review of this essay.

About the Author

Charles Miceli teaches philosophy in New Jersey and in Asia. He received an MA from Fordham University and reads novels in his spare time. micelicharles @ yahoo.com

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What Does “I Think, Therefore I Am” Really Mean?

René Descartes’ observation that “I think, therefore I am” is one of philosophy’s most famous sayings. But what does it actually mean? This article explores Cartesian thought, particularly Descartes’ epistemology.

Descartes is often referred to as the ‘father of modern philosophy’ due to his groundbreaking approach to philosophical enquiry. He was one of the first notable figures to completely abandon Scholastic Aristotelianism, a school of thought which had dominated European university teaching for centuries. He was also responsible for developing a modern theory of mind-body dualism and promoting a new method of science which was grounded in experiments and scientific observations. However, Descartes is best-known among philosophers for his system of methodical doubt (also known as Cartesian doubt, for obvious reasons!). As we will see, he was highly skeptical of any claim to truth by past philosophers. He also doubted the dogma presented as truth by 17th century religious authorities. Descartes even questioned the reliability of our individual senses and cognitive faculties. So, what is truth? Is there anything we can confidently point to and accept as fact? These questions eventually led Descartes to develop one of his most famous dictums: Cogito, Ergo Sum or “I think, therefore I am”.

The Origins of “I Think, Therefore I Am: René Descartes’ Life

René Descartes (1596-1650) was a French mathematician, scientist and philosopher. He was born and raised in France, but traveled extensively around Europe and spent most of his working life in the Dutch Republic.

Descartes was well-known during his lifetime for his commitment to open dialogue with other philosophers. He invited other thinkers to publish responses to his work, then he collected them and responded to their reflections in turn. After a successful academic career, Descartes spent the last year of his life in Sweden, tutoring Queen Christina (although apparently the two didn’t get on!). Descartes died of pneumonia in February 1650, having earned fame as one of Europe’s most famous philosophers.

Descartes and the Meditations on First Philosophy

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In 1641, Descartes published his Meditations on First Philosophy. He wrote the work in Latin and it contains critical responses from thinkers including Thomas Hobbes and Pierre Gassendi (as well as Descartes’ replies to them).

The Meditations are important because they set out Descartes’ epistemology . Descartes is seeking a specific kind of knowledge which some academics have referred to as ‘perfect knowledge’. Descartes describes this in the Meditations thus: “[As] soon as we think that we correctly perceive something, we are spontaneously convinced that it is true. Now if this conviction is so firm that it is impossible for us ever to have any reason for doubting what we are convinced of, then there are no further questions for us to ask: we have everything that we could reasonably want” (Cottingham et al, 1984).

Descartes believes that perfect knowledge requires us never to have any reason whatsoever to doubt it. In other words, the absence of doubt is what makes perfect knowledge. This is a very high standard to apply to any given statement of supposed fact! Still, in the Meditations Descartes persists in trying to establish various items of knowledge that we can rely on with absolute certainty.

Cogito Ergo Sum, or “I Think, Therefore I am”, in the Meditations

Descartes spends much of the first part of the Meditations establishing how and why everything we assume to be true can be doubted . He establishes that all his thoughts might well be mistaken. Fortunately, help is at hand. It comes in the form of his ‘Cogito Ergo Sum’, which we will henceforth refer to here as the ‘Cogito’.

At the start of the ‘Second Meditation’, Descartes observes the following:

“I have convinced myself that there is absolutely nothing in the world, no sky, no earth, no minds, no bodies. Does it now follow that I too do not exist? No: if I convinced myself of something then I certainly existed. But there is a deceiver of supreme power and cunning who is deliberately and constantly deceiving me. In that case I too undoubtedly exist, if he is deceiving me; and let him deceive me as much as he can, he will never bring it about that I am nothing so long as I think that I am something. So after considering everything very thoroughly, I must finally conclude that this proposition, I am , I exist , is necessarily true whenever it is put forward by me or conceived in my mind.” (Cottingham et al, 1984)

Let’s unpack this passage a little bit. Descartes first asks whether he can even be sure that he exists. But he then realizes this isn’t in doubt, because if he can convince himself of something then he must exist.

He then argues that even if an all-powerful, evil demon tried to deceive Descartes into thinking that he exists when he actually doesn’t, Descartes must exist in order for the demon to try and deceive him in the first place. Therefore whenever he thinks, he exists.

Although it’s not spelled out word for word here, Descartes later clarified this position through his famous ‘Cogito’ i.e. the philosophical saying ‘I think, therefore I am’. Even though Descartes has previously argued that the existence of his physical body can be doubted , the existence of his thinking cannot. Philosopher Barry Stroud helped to explain this by noting: “A thinker obviously could never be wrong in thinking ‘I think’”, and “no one who thinks could think falsely that he exists” (Stroud, 2008).

Of course, there have been plenty of criticisms of Descartes’ Cogito. But this is the basic meaning attached to his most famous and thought-provoking(!) dictum.

Further Points of Discussion Concerning “I Think, Therefore I Am”

What’s most interesting about this phrase is how personal it is to the interlocutor who speaks it aloud. The phrase has to be in the first-person and falls apart if we change it to the third-person e.g. “Descartes thinks, therefore he is.” I can’t say with any unshakeable certainty that Descartes is thinking. I can only assert my own thinking beyond any reasonable doubt.

The Cogito also ceases to function if we change the tense of the phrase. I cannot say: “I existed last weekend, because I was thinking then.” What if I’m misremembering events from last weekend? Doubt instantly floods into this phrase. The Cogito is grounded in the idea that we cannot try and think away what we are thinking right now in the present.

How to Define the “I” or the Self in the Cogito Ergo Sum

Many philosophers have discussed what Descartes is referring to when he says “I” in this sentence. Particularly since Descartes himself states: “But I do not yet have a sufficient understanding of what this ‘I’ is, that now necessarily exists” (Cottingham et al, 1984). In other words, Descartes has established that he exists, but doesn’t seem to know what he is.

Pierre Gassendi was one of the first thinkers to point out that we can’t be sure what the “I” means. Therefore the only thing that Descartes can reliably say is that “thoughts are happening” or “thinking is occurring” because we don’t know from this sentence that an entity is thinking. There is no evidence from the Cogito for the existence of a rational thinking thing.

Descartes and the Influence of “I Think, Therefore I Am” on Later Philosophy

Descartes would probably have been surprised by the influence of his Cogito on later thought. But the Meditations involve a radical shift in the history of philosophy . Rather than debating “what is true”, Descartes asked “of what can I be certain?”. In doing so, he removed the authority of various bodies (particularly the Church) to claim truth and instead showed how certainty relies on our individual judgements.

In most modern societies, God is not accepted as the ultimate guarantor of truth. Instead, human beings are their own guarantors, equipped with reason and the ability to doubt. Thanks to this shift, Descartes is often credited with inspiring the Enlightenment to look outside religious doctrine for a proper understanding of the world.

Bibliography

Cottingham, J., Stoothoff, R. and Murdoch, D., 1984. The Philosophical Writings of Descartes . 1st ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Stroud, Barry, 2008. “Our Debt to Descartes,” in A Companion to Descartes , ed. Janet Broughton and John Carriero, Oxford: Blackwell.

Who Was Christina of Sweden? Queen, Arts Patron, & Political Conniver

By Rachel Ashcroft MSc Comparative Literature, PhD Renaissance Philosophy Rachel is a contributing writer and journalist with an academic background in European languages, literature and philosophy. She has an MA in French and Italian and an MSc in Comparative Literature from the University of Edinburgh. Rachel completed a PhD in Renaissance conceptions of time at Durham University. Now living back in Edinburgh, she regularly publishes articles and book reviews related to her specialty for a range of publications including The Economist.

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I Think Therefore I Am: Descartes’ Cogito Ergo Sum Explained

17th-century philosopher Descartes’ exultant declaration — “I think, therefore I am” — is his defining philosophical statement. This article explores its meaning, significance, and how it altered the course of philosophy forever.

9 -MIN BREAK  

P erhaps Western philosophy’s most famous statement, “I think, therefore I am” is actually a rather confusing translation of its Latin original, cogito ergo sum . A clearer translation might be, “I am thinking, therefore I exist.”

Even with a less ambiguous translation, however, we might still wonder why this statement is so celebrated.

Doesn’t it just express something really obvious?

Well, Descartes was not merely conveying a platitude when he coined these famous words.

For him, “I am thinking, therefore I exist” is a crucial example of a statement which, when thought, cannot be false — and thus a significant step in his search for certain, irrefutable knowledge.

Indeed, the brilliance of cogito ergo sum — and why it changed Western philosophy forever — really becomes clear once we consider its philosophical background, Descartes’ motivations, and the radical un certainty that brought it about…

Descartes’ search for certainty, via relentless methodic doubt

I t’s a cool 1640 night in Leiden, Netherlands, and French philosopher René Descartes picks up his pen…⁣ “I am here quite alone,” he writes, “and at last I will devote myself sincerely and without reservation to the general demolition of my opinions.”⁣

What better way to spend the night?

But Descartes was not without reason: in his work as a mathematician, he worried that if the foundations of knowledge were not completely solid, anything built upon them would inevitably collapse.

If we want to establish real, irrefutable certainty about reality, Descartes thinks, we must be strict in our approach.

He thus decides that if there is reason to doubt the truth of something — no matter how slim the doubt — then it should be discarded as false.⁣ In his own words:

if I am able to find in each [aspect of an opinion] some reason to doubt, this will suffice to justify my rejecting the whole.

And with his demolition — or methodic doubt , as it’s come to be known — Descartes doesn’t intend to focus on each of his opinions one by one; rather he intends to target the foundations which prop them up:

for owing to the fact that the destruction of the foundations of necessity brings with it the downfall of the rest of the edifice, I shall only in the first place attack those principles upon which all my former opinions rested.

René Descartes (1596 - 1650), meaning business.

With this strict criteria for truth in mind, and his targets established, it’s not long before — as depicted with masterful drama in his Meditations on First Philosophy — Descartes struggles to feel convinced by the existence or reliability of, well, anything.

Descartes asserts that most if not all of his opinions are based upon his experiences of the world through his five senses.

His senses, however, are not always trustworthy — when he dreams or hallucinates, for instance, his experiences do not align to reality.

Reflecting on this point, Descartes wonders if he can be sure he’s even awake right now , writing:

How often has it happened to me that in the night I dreamt that I found myself in this particular place, that I was dressed and seated near the fire, whilst in reality I was lying undressed in bed! At this moment it does indeed seem to me that it is with eyes awake that I am looking at this paper; that this head which I move is not asleep, that it is deliberately and of set purpose that I extend my hand and perceive it; what happens in sleep does not appear so clear nor so distinct as does all this. But in thinking over this I remind myself that on many occasions I have in sleep been deceived by similar illusions, and in dwelling carefully on this reflection I see so manifestly that there are no certain indications by which we may clearly distinguish wakefulness from sleep that I am lost in astonishment...

Have you ever, like Descartes, woken from a dream and thought, “but my God, that seemed so real”? Have you ever hallucinated your socks off? Have you ever sworn to have witnessed something when someone else swears to have witnessed something else?

As Descartes so eloquently describes, when our perception of the world fails us, it can be jarring.

We take it for granted that our experience is authentic, so when it proves to be false it’s like a bucket of ice water to the face: “oh right,” you think, “my perception is not infallible — maybe I don’t always experience the real, true world.”

Are the dots above black or white? Optical illusions reveal just how easily our brains can be tricked or misled by everyday patterns.

But, according to Descartes’s strict criteria for truth outlined above, where does that leave us?

If the authenticity of our experience can occasionally be doubted, then that is enough for Descartes to dismiss it as absolutely unreliable: that our senses can sometimes mislead us without our knowing suggests that they could mislead us all the time. He writes:

All that up to the present time I have accepted as most true and certain I have learned either from the senses or through the senses; but it is sometimes proved to me that these senses are deceptive, and it is wiser not to trust entirely to anything by which we have once been deceived.

And, if we cannot trust information obtained from our senses, then how can we confirm the existence of an external world?

Maybe our brains are just in vats somewhere, hooked up to a load of computers, and all this ‘experience’ is mere simulation.

Or maybe nothing physical exists at all and this is all just one big hallucination — everything is an illusion, a figment of the mental realm, or even the conjurings of an Evil Demon determined to mislead us about the true nature of reality...

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Descartes: are our experiences merely the conjurings of a God-like deceiver?

D escartes himself reflects on this latter idea: that the world is created not by a good God but by a God-like deceiver. He writes:

I shall then suppose, not that God who is supremely good and the fountain of truth, but some evil demon not less powerful than deceitful, has employed his whole energies in deceiving me; I shall consider that the heavens, the earth, colors, figures, sound, and all other external things are nought but the illusions and dreams of which this demon has availed himself in order to lay traps for my credulity...

Can we ever know for certain if the world we perceive is actually reality, rather than, say, a computer simulation?

And it’s not just our sensory capabilities that can be thrown into doubt, thinks Descartes: our ability to reason could also be hopelessly impaired.

If we have reasoned incorrectly before, Descartes notes, how can we ever know for sure that we are reasoning correctly now?

Maybe 2 + 2 really equals 5, not 4, and it is again the workings of an Evil Demon that makes us think differently.

Poor old Descartes got himself into a right state over all this:

So serious are the doubts into which I have been thrown as a result of yesterday’s meditations that I can neither put them out of my mind nor see any way of resolving them. It feels as if I have fallen unexpectedly into a deep whirlpool which tumbles me around so that I can neither stand on the bottom nor swim up to the top.

By this point frantic with worry, Descartes seeks to repair some of the damage caused by his relentless doubting by groping around for something — anything — we can be absolutely certain of.

And, after a while, he finds it.

I think, therefore I am

A s noted at the beginning, a clearer translation of Descartes’ definitive statement might be, “I am thinking, therefore I exist.” Regardless, in his exultant declaration — cogito ergo sum! — Descartes assures himself of his own existence.

Phew. Mop that brow, eh René: at last, here is something of which we can be absolutely certain.

It is impossible to doubt the existence of your own thoughts, because in the act of doubting, you are thinking.

The famous formulation “I think, therefore I am” actually appears in Descartes’ earlier 1637 work, Discourse on the Method .

In his Meditations on First Philosophy , the same thought is stated slightly differently, coming at the end of a glorious passage in which Descartes lays out the impossibility of doubting his own existence (or, indeed, of being deceived about it):

But I was persuaded that there was nothing in all the world, that there was no heaven, no earth, that there were no minds, nor any bodies: was I not then likewise persuaded that I did not exist? Not at all; of a surety I myself did exist merely because I thought of something . But there is some deceiver or other, very powerful and very cunning, who ever employs his ingenuity in deceiving me. Then without doubt I exist also if he deceives me, and let him deceive me as much as he will, he can never cause me to be nothing so long as I think that I am something. So that after having reflected well and carefully examined all things, we must come to the definite conclusion that this proposition: I am, I exist , is necessarily true each time that I pronounce it, or that I mentally conceive it.

The importance of cogito ergo sum

D escartes believed his discovery of the Cogito to be hugely significant, for it withstands all the skepticism you can throw at it. When expressed, it cannot be false .

Even if you doubt the reliability of your senses, and even if you doubt the reliability of your reason (i.e. the two main sources for knowledge), the Cogito remains true.

For, however wrong you are in your estimation of reality, however warped your use of reason, you can never be wrong about the fact of your own existence: in order to think you are wrong about something, in order to wrongly use reason, there has to be a you that exists to be wrong.

So, Descartes establishes his base, his solid foundation for certain, indubitable knowledge: I am, I exist.

From this point on in his Meditations on First Philosophy , Descartes investigates what the nature of this “I” might be (concluding it is a “thing which thinks”). He also attempts to rebuild all human knowledge and establish proofs for the existence of, among other things, God.

Alas, his work here is generally acknowledged to not quite make up for his initial demolition job.

We may have certainty with the Cogito , but the possible unreliability of our senses and reason doesn’t leave much else.

Through absolutely bulldozing our confidence in the existence of anything but our thoughts, Descartes inadvertently created two separate realms: the mental and the physical.

The mental “thing which thinks” we can be sure exists (however deceived or deluded that existence may be); the physical world needs to, somehow, be linked to it.

Believe it or not, philosophers have been trying to bridge this explanatory gap ever since.

In one concise email each Sunday, I break down a famous idea from philosophy. You get the distillation straight to your inbox:

Is there an answer to descartes’ methodic doubt the influence of “i think, therefore i am”.

T here are a number of deep epistemological and metaphysical issues exposed by Descartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy , which is why it’s perceived to mark the beginning of modern philosophy in the Western tradition.

Combine that with its highly accessible, dramatized style, and it’s no wonder that this short text is still pored over by undergraduate students to this day: Meditations on First Philosophy is essential reading for anyone interested in philosophy.

For Descartes’ doubting leaves us with a number of rather alarming concerns: do our senses deceive us? Is any of our knowledge actually valid? Are our reasoning abilities reliable? Is perception reality? How can we bridge the gap between the mental and the physical? What is the self? Is the existence of everything a mere figment of my imagination?

The philosophical position of solipsism (see our solipsism explainer here ) takes Descartes’ skepticism in these areas to their apparent logical conclusion: we cannot have knowledge (or assert the existence) of anything beyond our own minds.

Of course, the solipsist position has prompted a vast literature on whether the skepticism expressed by Descartes is actually anything to worry about — including by the 17th-century philosophers John Locke ( see our explainer on Locke’s tabula rasa here ) and George Berkeley ( see our explainer on Berkeley’s subjective idealism here ) — which has in turn spawned commentaries on the limits to what we can know, as well as just how our existences are tied to that of the world around us.

Is Descartes’ approach to knowledge-building reasonable? Is certainty actually required for knowledge? How else might knowledge be construed?

We explore these themes further in our solipsism explainer , our article on whether the world around us is real , as well as our epistemology reading list .

But to conclude this article, we can say that while a favorite pastime of philosophers these days is to show where Descartes went wrong, for many his were the first words to inspire further exploration into Western philosophy; it is thus difficult to view his project in Meditations on First Philosophy without affection.

For, regardless of the fractures, uncertainty, and endless confusion he caused with his methodic doubt, one thing Descartes gave us remains certain for all who think it: cogito ergo sum .

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cogito, ergo sum

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cogito, ergo sum , dictum coined by the French mathematician and philosopher René Descartes in his Discourse on Method (1637) as a first step in demonstrating the attainability of certain knowledge. It is the only statement to survive the test of his methodic doubt . The statement is indubitable , as Descartes argued in the second of his six Meditations on First Philosophy (1641), because even if an all-powerful demon were to try to deceive him into thinking that he exists when he does not, he would have to exist in order for the demon to deceive him. Therefore, whenever he thinks, he exists. Furthermore, as he argued in his replies to critics in the second edition (1642) of the Meditations , the statement “I am” ( sum ) expresses an immediate intuition , not the conclusion of a piece of reasoning (regarding the steps of which he could be deceived), and is thus indubitable. However, in a later work, the Principles of Philosophy (1644), Descartes suggested that the cogito is indeed the conclusion of a syllogism whose premises include the propositions that he is thinking and that whatever thinks must exist.

The Meaning of “I Am Enough” and Why Is It So Important

“I am enough” is the most important sentence. Here is the meaning of “I am enough” and how knowing it changes our lives.

“I am enough,” a three-word sentence that carries exceptional weight. For some people, it’s the default to know their worth. But for others, it may take months or years to realize their worth.

So what is the meaning of “I am enough”? Why is it so important, and how to build a strong sense of worthiness in our daily life?

Signs that you don’t think you are enough

We don’t know what we don’t know. Sometimes our limiting beliefs play a role in the background. For example, you may think you are confident until someone criticizes you. Or you may feel like you know your worth until a terrible relationship makes you doubt your value. 

It’s always better to be prepared and fix those limiting beliefs before they come to affect your life. So here are the signs that you don’t think you are enough, and you may have some inner work to do.

• You question your worth in the presence of negative comments.
• You desperately try to change the way your body and your appearance.
• Sometimes you avoid opportunities or people because you think they are too good for you.
• You believe that you can only be happy when you are slim/wealthy/married…
• In your mind, everything is fixed. And you don’t think you can be better than you are now.
• You have an urgency to prove yourself to others.
• Sometimes you sacrifice your time or mental well-being for other people.
• You assume that people only approach or play nice to take advantage of you.

So how to own your enoughness? What to do if you are not embracing your worth now?

Read also: A free workbook to identify and change your limiting beliefs

The meaning of “I am enough”

As an affirmation, knowing the meaning of “I am enough” creates a concrete picture in your mind. It tells your brain how to act and react in different situations and when to shut down your inner doubting voice.

If you struggle to own your enoughness, you may first need to know what the phrase means so you can internalize it better. And here is the meaning of “I am enough.” Then, compare and see which area you need to work on.

“I am enough” means to accept your flaws whole-heartedly

Without self-acceptance, you will always be struggling with your identity. But when you know you are enough, you can finally be at peace with your flaws, imperfections , and mistakes.

I remember watching Susan Boyle’s Britain’s Got Talent performance. She was standing there, timid and nervous. Even when she conquered the audience with her fantastic singing, a trace of insecurity flashed in her eyes.

Judging from her appearance, Susan Boyle might not have the “star quality.” But all I wanted to do at that time was to cheer for her, to tell her that she was amazingly talented and she deserved to be on that stage, proud. 

When you know you are enough, you are that cheerleader. You stop attaching your worth to your body shape, appearance, or your bank account number. Instead, what you see are the qualities you have, your talent, and your potential. You believe that you are loved even when you are not perfect, and no one else is. 

Think about someone that you adore. It can be your friend or a family member. Are they flawless with a six-pack and stunning features? Are they extremely wealthy and successful? My guess is that they are imperfect somehow, but it doesn’t matter to you.

You see something special in them that makes their flaws less visible. Maybe it’s their humor, compassion, kindness , or always being there for you. You value them for their good qualities.

That is the same with you, too. You don’t need to be perfect to be loved or accepted. You just need to shine in one thing. So if you still doubt your enoughness, try asking yourself, “where do I shine?” And when you have the answer, do everything in your power to let it shine brighter.

Free yourself from the beliefs other people put on you

Some of the beliefs you pick up as a kid continue to impact your adult life. And those beliefs may make sense back then, but not now.

For example, your parents applauded you for finishing your meal when you were a baby. So you learned that you needed to eat everything on the plate even when you were full.

That made sense when you were too young to know how much you needed. But that belief is no longer healthy when you are an adult. It no longer serves you and might even over-eat, putting your health at risk.

Part of growing up is to abandon the beliefs that are holding you back or damaging you. It can be teachers telling you that college is the only way to success. Or maybe your parents were always fighting. So you feel like that’s how a relationship is.

Not everything you were told or learned in your childhood is true. When you know you are enough, you start to question the old beliefs that suggest otherwise. And you begin asking yourself, “really?” “Do I really deserve to be in a dysfunctional relationship?” “Do I have to eat all these on my plate?” When you shake your old mindset , you start to build new ones that bring abundance to your life.

Know that you are not your past

The past is something we need to learn from, not something that defines us.

Just because you didn’t do well in school doesn’t mean you will suck at your job. And just because you have hurt someone doesn’t mean you don’t deserve a happy relationship.

Disney wasn’t the first company Walt Disney founded. Before it, he launched an advertising video production firm that started quite successfully. But he trusted the wrong distributors who cheated his money. As a result, the company eventually went bankrupt.

If Walt Disney stopped there and identified himself as a failure, we would miss out on today’s amazing cartoons and movies. Quite the opposite, he jumped right back on to found Disney. With his experiences and creativity, it became an entertainment empire as we know it today.

What’s in the past is past, whether it’s a mistake, a heartbreak, or a glory. The moment you decide to move on, those past experiences become lessons. They guide you to make better decisions in the future.

Stop punishing yourself for other people’s mistakes

Humans are social animals. We need connections to grow, learn and live. But that also means we are exposed to hurt. They can be hurtful words , betrayals, lies , or rejections.

It’s not possible to avoid hurt. And we all know that the best way to deal with it is to move on. But so often, we find ourselves dwelling in the heartbreaks unknowingly. And those unprocessed emotions may be sabotaging.

For example, if your parents divorced when you were a kid, you might assume that it’s hard to have a happy marriage and a loving family. Or maybe you’ve been hurt in past relationships. And you expect everyone you meet is a liar.

Knowing “I am enough” means challenging those thoughts, questioning them, and transforming them. It’s also reconciliation with yourself . 

Tell yourself that “it’s not my fault that my parents always fought. And I don’t need to repeat the same pattern.” And “I don’t deserve to be cheated on. It’s just one person. After that, I will find someone who treats me right.”

When you stop blaming yourself for others’ mistakes, you allow others to love you, cherish you, and help you grow.

Be your better self for yourself

Finally, the last meaning of knowing “I am enough” is wanting to be better for yourself, not for anyone else.

When you know you are enough, you understand that you don’t need to please anyone. You don’t need to make mommy or daddy proud nor to prove your worth to your partner.

All you want to do is to grow and grow because it feels great. The sense of fulfillment is the ultimate motivation that drives you forward. Nothing compares to the joy when you find you can excel and exceed your expectations. 

I was raised in a single-parent family, and my dad was always absent. To gain his attention, I fought to be the best student in the class and a child with the best manners. Everything to me was a competition because winning would mean being noticed by my dad.

But that didn’t work. I was still pretty alone in my childhood. So if he didn’t care, why not just do it for me? When I lived my life for myself, I learned even better because my intention was pure. When I made a decision, I had my best interest at heart, not caring if he would like it. The mindset change sets me free.

Live for yourself might be a cliché slogan. But it has so much truth as well because, at the end of the day, everyone has to live for themselves. You are not born to be liked or accepted. You are here to fulfill your purpose. And knowing you are enough will guide you on the right track.

What’s your interpretation of “I am enough”?

Tell me about it in the comment or share with me by tagging @_OurMindfulLife on Instagram.

"I think, Therefore I Am", What Does This Descartes Quote Mean?

Table of contents

Essay writing process, preparation for writing an essay, writing the introduction, writing the main body, writing the conclusion, essay checklist, lecture slides, frequently asked questions about writing an essay.

The writing process of preparation, writing, and revisions applies to every essay or paper, but the time and effort spent on each stage depends on the type of essay .

For example, if you’ve been assigned a five-paragraph expository essay for a high school class, you’ll probably spend the most time on the writing stage; for a college-level argumentative essay , on the other hand, you’ll need to spend more time researching your topic and developing an original argument before you start writing.

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Before you start writing, you should make sure you have a clear idea of what you want to say and how you’re going to say it. There are a few key steps you can follow to make sure you’re prepared:

• Understand your assignment: What is the goal of this essay? What is the length and deadline of the assignment? Is there anything you need to clarify with your teacher or professor?
• Define a topic: If you’re allowed to choose your own topic , try to pick something that you already know a bit about and that will hold your interest.
• Do your research: Read  primary and secondary sources and take notes to help you work out your position and angle on the topic. You’ll use these as evidence for your points.
• Come up with a thesis:  The thesis is the central point or argument that you want to make. A clear thesis is essential for a focused essay—you should keep referring back to it as you write.
• Create an outline: Map out the rough structure of your essay in an outline . This makes it easier to start writing and keeps you on track as you go.

Once you’ve got a clear idea of what you want to discuss, in what order, and what evidence you’ll use, you’re ready to start writing.

The introduction sets the tone for your essay. It should grab the reader’s interest and inform them of what to expect. The introduction generally comprises 10–20% of the text.

1. Hook your reader

The first sentence of the introduction should pique your reader’s interest and curiosity. This sentence is sometimes called the hook. It might be an intriguing question, a surprising fact, or a bold statement emphasizing the relevance of the topic.

Let’s say we’re writing an essay about the development of Braille (the raised-dot reading and writing system used by visually impaired people). Our hook can make a strong statement about the topic:

The invention of Braille was a major turning point in the history of disability.

2. Provide background on your topic

Next, it’s important to give context that will help your reader understand your argument. This might involve providing background information, giving an overview of important academic work or debates on the topic, and explaining difficult terms. Don’t provide too much detail in the introduction—you can elaborate in the body of your essay.

3. Present the thesis statement

Next, you should formulate your thesis statement— the central argument you’re going to make. The thesis statement provides focus and signals your position on the topic. It is usually one or two sentences long. The thesis statement for our essay on Braille could look like this:

As the first writing system designed for blind people’s needs, Braille was a groundbreaking new accessibility tool. It not only provided practical benefits, but also helped change the cultural status of blindness.

4. Map the structure

In longer essays, you can end the introduction by briefly describing what will be covered in each part of the essay. This guides the reader through your structure and gives a preview of how your argument will develop.

The invention of Braille marked a major turning point in the history of disability. The writing system of raised dots used by blind and visually impaired people was developed by Louis Braille in nineteenth-century France. In a society that did not value disabled people in general, blindness was particularly stigmatized, and lack of access to reading and writing was a significant barrier to social participation. The idea of tactile reading was not entirely new, but existing methods based on sighted systems were difficult to learn and use. As the first writing system designed for blind people’s needs, Braille was a groundbreaking new accessibility tool. It not only provided practical benefits, but also helped change the cultural status of blindness. This essay begins by discussing the situation of blind people in nineteenth-century Europe. It then describes the invention of Braille and the gradual process of its acceptance within blind education. Subsequently, it explores the wide-ranging effects of this invention on blind people’s social and cultural lives.

Write your essay introduction

The body of your essay is where you make arguments supporting your thesis, provide evidence, and develop your ideas. Its purpose is to present, interpret, and analyze the information and sources you have gathered to support your argument.

Length of the body text

The length of the body depends on the type of essay. On average, the body comprises 60–80% of your essay. For a high school essay, this could be just three paragraphs, but for a graduate school essay of 6,000 words, the body could take up 8–10 pages.

Paragraph structure

To give your essay a clear structure , it is important to organize it into paragraphs . Each paragraph should be centered around one main point or idea.

That idea is introduced in a  topic sentence . The topic sentence should generally lead on from the previous paragraph and introduce the point to be made in this paragraph. Transition words can be used to create clear connections between sentences.

After the topic sentence, present evidence such as data, examples, or quotes from relevant sources. Be sure to interpret and explain the evidence, and show how it helps develop your overall argument.

Lack of access to reading and writing put blind people at a serious disadvantage in nineteenth-century society. Text was one of the primary methods through which people engaged with culture, communicated with others, and accessed information; without a well-developed reading system that did not rely on sight, blind people were excluded from social participation (Weygand, 2009). While disabled people in general suffered from discrimination, blindness was widely viewed as the worst disability, and it was commonly believed that blind people were incapable of pursuing a profession or improving themselves through culture (Weygand, 2009). This demonstrates the importance of reading and writing to social status at the time: without access to text, it was considered impossible to fully participate in society. Blind people were excluded from the sighted world, but also entirely dependent on sighted people for information and education.

See the full essay example

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The conclusion is the final paragraph of an essay. It should generally take up no more than 10–15% of the text . A strong essay conclusion :

• Returns to your thesis
• Ties together your main points
• Shows why your argument matters

A great conclusion should finish with a memorable or impactful sentence that leaves the reader with a strong final impression.

What not to include in a conclusion

To make your essay’s conclusion as strong as possible, there are a few things you should avoid. The most common mistakes are:

• Including new arguments or evidence
• Undermining your arguments (e.g. “This is just one approach of many”)
• Using concluding phrases like “To sum up…” or “In conclusion…”

Braille paved the way for dramatic cultural changes in the way blind people were treated and the opportunities available to them. Louis Braille’s innovation was to reimagine existing reading systems from a blind perspective, and the success of this invention required sighted teachers to adapt to their students’ reality instead of the other way around. In this sense, Braille helped drive broader social changes in the status of blindness. New accessibility tools provide practical advantages to those who need them, but they can also change the perspectives and attitudes of those who do not.

Write your essay conclusion

Checklist: Essay

My essay follows the requirements of the assignment (topic and length ).

My introduction sparks the reader’s interest and provides any necessary background information on the topic.

My introduction contains a thesis statement that states the focus and position of the essay.

I use paragraphs to structure the essay.

I use topic sentences to introduce each paragraph.

Each paragraph has a single focus and a clear connection to the thesis statement.

I make clear transitions between paragraphs and ideas.

My conclusion doesn’t just repeat my points, but draws connections between arguments.

I don’t introduce new arguments or evidence in the conclusion.

I have given an in-text citation for every quote or piece of information I got from another source.

I have included a reference page at the end of my essay, listing full details of all my sources.

My citations and references are correctly formatted according to the required citation style .

My essay has an interesting and informative title.

I have followed all formatting guidelines (e.g. font, page numbers, line spacing).

Your essay meets all the most important requirements. Our editors can give it a final check to help you submit with confidence.

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An essay is a focused piece of writing that explains, argues, describes, or narrates.

In high school, you may have to write many different types of essays to develop your writing skills.

Academic essays at college level are usually argumentative : you develop a clear thesis about your topic and make a case for your position using evidence, analysis and interpretation.

The structure of an essay is divided into an introduction that presents your topic and thesis statement , a body containing your in-depth analysis and arguments, and a conclusion wrapping up your ideas.

The structure of the body is flexible, but you should always spend some time thinking about how you can organize your essay to best serve your ideas.

Your essay introduction should include three main things, in this order:

• An opening hook to catch the reader’s attention.
• Relevant background information that the reader needs to know.
• A thesis statement that presents your main point or argument.

The length of each part depends on the length and complexity of your essay .

A thesis statement is a sentence that sums up the central point of your paper or essay . Everything else you write should relate to this key idea.

The thesis statement is essential in any academic essay or research paper for two main reasons:

• It gives your writing direction and focus.
• It gives the reader a concise summary of your main point.

Without a clear thesis statement, an essay can end up rambling and unfocused, leaving your reader unsure of exactly what you want to say.

A topic sentence is a sentence that expresses the main point of a paragraph . Everything else in the paragraph should relate to the topic sentence.

At college level, you must properly cite your sources in all essays , research papers , and other academic texts (except exams and in-class exercises).

Add a citation whenever you quote , paraphrase , or summarize information or ideas from a source. You should also give full source details in a bibliography or reference list at the end of your text.

The exact format of your citations depends on which citation style you are instructed to use. The most common styles are APA , MLA , and Chicago .

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10 Other Ways to Say “I Am” in an Essay

Essay writing is notoriously difficult. With a bit of practice, you can get better, but there are some hurdles to overcome first. This article will look at using “I am” alternatives in your essays. “I am” is very repetitive and difficult to use appropriately. Here are the best options:

• In this essay
• In light of recent evidence
• According to the findings
• It is evident from the data that
• Considering the results
• From the results
• As you can see

Other ways to say “I am” are “to,” “in this essay,” and “this essay.” These formal alternatives are excellent when trying to be less repetitive. They help you come up with new sentence starters that’ll offer a more formal tone in your essay writing.

One of the best alternatives to “I am” is “to.” It’s simple, but it’s incredibly effective. You can remove “I am” (and any other pronoun and verb combination) entirely and reorder the sentence.

Here’s how it looks:

• I am going to explore the ways that we approach topics like this by taking the following measures.
• To explore the ways that we approach topics like this, the following measures have been taken.

You need to reorder the sentence to make sure “to” fits, but that’s easy to do with a bit of practice.

When starting a sentence with “to,” you start with an infinitive verb. It shows that you have a direct goal in mind for that portion of the essay.

This gives the readers a chance to understand your intentions . The explanation couldn’t be clearer, which is going to impress a lot of teachers and examiners when reading through your notes.

• To find out more about these issues, the project will focus heavily on what could happen at different intervals.
• To gather the data correctly, appropriate PPE must be worn. Without it, the variables could differ vastly from the control data.

2. In This Essay

“In this essay” is a simple example of how to say “I am” differently. It can still be quite repetitive, so you need to be careful using it too much.

Nevertheless, “in this essay” removes the personal pronoun “I” from your writing. This works well when writing essays because it shows that you’re trying to remain formal and professional while explaining something to the reader.

• In this essay, the effects will be explored to a greater extent. This will help to figure out what needs to be done moving forward.
• In this essay, the following data will be examined and explained. This will aid the conclusion.

3. This Essay

“This essay” is another suitable choice in most formal essays. It shows that you have an intention and purpose behind each sentence in your essay. It’s good to use this when you want to explore different starters besides the usual “I am.”

As above, you can still use “this essay” too much. If you do, you’ll end up boring the examiner reading through your essay. You need to find the appropriate balance when using phrases like this to start sentences.

• This essay will explain the problems associated with first-world countries and what can be done to fix them.
• This essay will look into every known fact about the King. It should be possible to learn everything needed to continue.

4. You Will

“You will” explores a completely different pronoun usage. This time, you can use “you” rather than “I” to indicate what someone might learn by reading your essay.

“I am” states your intention. It shows that you have a plan that you’d like to carry out while writing your essay.

“You will” states confidently that someone will learn something from your essay. It’s great because it shows that you are certain of your writing ability and believe the reader will learn something useful as they read along.

• You will learn a great deal more about the situations in the Middle East after this. It will help you understand the problems.
• You will take away the knowledge you didn’t realize you had. It’s great to learn from students about these issues.

5. In Light of Recent Evidence

“In light of recent evidence” is a great example of what to say instead of “I am.” It shows that you have gathered evidence and information to support a theory or hypothesis shared in your essay.

This only works when referring to “recent evidence.” This is very dependent on the context of your writing. However, most experiment-based essays are based on recent evidence (recent findings from your evidence).

• In light of recent evidence, these findings have been proven false. Unfortunately, more experiments must be carried out.
• In light of recent evidence, this is the only way we can go about sharing the information. It will have to do.

6. According to the Findings

“According to the findings” is useful as another way to say “I am.” It shows that you have “findings” relating to the content of your essay. This shows the reader that you’ve done your due diligence and gathered appropriate research.

The more you can show you have done independent research to gather “findings,” the better your essay will look. It will show the reader that you’ve learned all you need to know about the things you’re writing about.

• According to the findings, this is the only logical way to carry out the experiment. Every other situation is incorrect.
• According to the findings, there will be no more replicas. This is the last model of its kind, so it has tripled in value.

7. It Is Evident From the Data That

“It is evident from the data that” explains data, graphs, and figures that might work alongside your essay. You should start sentences with this phrase when you want to share some data that helps to explore your point.

This gives the readers something to relate to when you explain your findings. It allows them to see what “evidence” they can figure out based on what you’re talking them through.

• It is evident from the data that this is going to be a long winter. Things have gotten a lot worse due to climate change.
• It is evident from the data that things are going to improve. The economy is finally on the rise, making it better for everyone involved.

8. Considering the Results

“Considering the results” is another great alternative showing that results are helping you explain something. You should use this to start a sentence in your essay when you want to expressly “consider” data that you’ve received at some point.

It shows that you have a lot of information to share with someone. This works well when you need to compile your results into a comprehensive form, as it gives the reader a chance to follow along.

• Considering the results gives us something to refer to when exploring the varying data points. This is great to use at a later time.
• Considering the results explains more about the situation than first realized. This is great to know moving forward.

9. From the Results

“From the results” is a synonym for “considering the results.” You may use this to show that you have gathered data “from” specific findings. It’s a great choice to mix it up between “considering” and “from.”

• From the results, the variables were unaffected by the change in the weather. This is excellent news for the scientific community.
• From the results, many of the issues were unidentified. The overall project should be nullified and restarted to correct these.

10. As You Can See

“As you can see” isn’t the most appropriate sentence starter in formal essays, but it still works well. It shows that the reader should have gathered something (or “seen” it) from the information already provided in your essay.

This usually allows you to elaborate. They’ll be able to figure out the data, and you can explain the next most important thing to help them with the rest of your work.

• As you can see, a few issues need to be corrected. There have been a couple of attempts already to make this happen.
• As you can see, this isn’t the first iteration. The model has undergone multiple changes, meaning it is still fine-tuned.

Martin holds a Master’s degree in Finance and International Business. He has six years of experience in professional communication with clients, executives, and colleagues. Furthermore, he has teaching experience from Aarhus University. Martin has been featured as an expert in communication and teaching on Forbes and Shopify. Read more about Martin here .

• 10 Better Ways To Write “In This Essay, I Will…”
• “In Light of Recent Events” – Meaning & Correct Usage
• Proof vs. Evidence – What’s the Difference? (Examples)
• 11 Other Ways to Say “As You Can See”

Home — Essay Samples — Philosophy — Personal Philosophy — I Am Who I Am: My Personal Philosophy

I Am Who I Am: My Personal Philosophy

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Published: Feb 8, 2022

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Works Cited:

• Calder, L. D., & Krueger, A. B. (1993). The effect of the minimum wage on employment and unemployment: A survey of the evidence from micro data. National Bureau of Economic Research.
• Deere, D. R., Murphy, K. M., & Welch, F. (1995). Employment and the 1990-1991 minimum-wage hike. ILR Review, 48(4), 792-809.
• Grossman, J. B. (2019). Minimum wage laws. Salem Press Encyclopedia.
• Hess, F. M., & Byker, T. (2016). The impact of minimum wage rates on body weight in the United States. Social Science & Medicine, 150, 19-24.
• Holtz-Eakin, D., & Sherman, R. (2019). The Congressional Budget Office’s analysis of the Raise the Wage Act of 2019. American Action Forum.
• Krugman, P. (2019). A minimum-wage review: Up with wages. The New York Times.
• Neumark, D., & Wascher, W. (2007). Minimum wages and employment. Foundations and Trends® in Microeconomics, 3(1–2), 1-182.
• Stone, C., & Trisi, D. (2019). Raising the minimum wage to $15 by 2025 would lift wages for 17 million workers but would also cut 1.3 million jobs. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
• Ziliak, J. P. (2019). Minimum wage increases are flawed policy. The Hill.
• Zucman, G. (2019). The case for a progressive national sales tax. The New York Times.

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Essay On I Think, Therefore I Am. Explain And Assess Descartes Famous Argument Known

Type of paper: Essay

Topic: Psychology , Mind , Descartes , Doubt , Philosophy , Life , Human , Thinking

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Published: 02/25/2020

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What is "I THINK, THEREFORE I AM"

"I think; therefore I am" was a seventeenth century statement that Rene Descartes, a French philosopher, used and philosophically proved it beyond doubt. Descartes was initially in the process of figuring out his real nature using reasoning as opposed to experience that many philosophers of his time used. He is considered one of the first philosophers to explore human as more than flesh and blood (Weate, 1998, pp. 34-45). He believed that the processes and means through which individuals judged their environments as well as formed their opinions justified their existence (Weissman, 2006, pp. 56-9). In his findings, Descartes realized that “I exist” is a certain phenomenon, therefore, the thing that follows this condition must be certain as well. This philosophical thinking can be literary translated to mean that if an individual doubts his existence, therefore, it proves that this person exist because even doubting your existence translates that you are a thinking being. Thinking is natural occurrence and individuals should always believe that they should understand every phenomena differently according to their interpretation of the situation as opposed to making decisions based on observations. Observation might provide leading data, which might not necessarily reflect an individual’s thought of the situation. However, thinking about the same would eventually produce the best alternative that this person strongly believes he is.

Throughout time in history, philosophical thinkers have tackled the question of existence in reality. Ogito ergo sum or I think therefore I am forms Descartes philosophy of human existence in reality. He believed that as longs individuals are thinking beings, therefore they exist. According to this philosophical point of view, it therefore implies that to justify the existence of human beings, they must not conceive every data that they receive to be false, or readily accept them as the truth. This further implies that the perception of the mind might either be proven either as wrong or right. In his view, Descartes believes that even thinking that an individual does not exist implies that he is a thinking being therefore he exists. However, he believes that we should not trust our senses to provide us with the truth always.

Sence of Deducation at "Think Therefore I am"

Descartes strongly believed in the sense of deduction as his major reasoning method. However, he disregarded perception citing that the latter could easily be distorted. To support his argument, Descartes used a simple example that has been popularly referred to as the Wax Argument. This argument states that a piece of wax has certain characteristics such as shape, size, color, smell, and texture, which are obvious to a human simply by making a visual observation (Kluck, 2000, p. 78). These observable features of the wax can easily be distorted simply by placing the piece of the wax in to burn in a flame. Through this process, all these attributes of the wax would be altered since it would produce a different smell, change the color, size, and its texture. Therefore, Descartes concludes that for an individual to conclude that despite the burning the material, it remains the wax, it important that an individual involves the comprehension of the mind. Nevertheless, viewing or observing the burnt wax would eventually trigger the conclusion that the material is not wax since the fire distorted its famous and conspicuous properties. Therefore, basing his arguments on deduction as opposed to perception, Descartes developed the statement “I think, therefore I am” to prove that thinking is vital in establish the sense of the human being.

The human thought is the only undeceiving and undoubted thing that Descartes could base his arguments on them. If an individual can doubt thought, this implies that the individual is thinking about his doubt thereby disapproving these doubts in themselves. The construction of reality entails several mind-tasking events, which ensure that the individual explores and evaluates the meaning of Descartes’ phrase as well as disregarding perception and upholding deduction. In this regard, it therefore implies that due to the diversity of human beings, every single human being would have different thoughts on different phenomena, thereby constructing different realities in similar situation.

Descartes begins his reasoning to support this philosophical phrase with the question that how anyone could know anything for sure, if no one was certain of the reasoning behind it (). Therefore, in order to ascertain the truth about anything in the world, an individual should disbelieve and doubt everything they hear, or see. He believes that this is the only way that an individual would correctly comprehend data before accepting them as facts, else they would live with realities that other people construct, which might not universally apply to every human being. Doubts exists, therefore, conscious acts also exist. However much an assertion might appear to be a doubt to one person, another person would view this doubt as an actuality. Constructing the mind either in the doubt or in conscious thought makes different circumstances have different deductions from different individuals. However, perception might also vary, but the thinking of different members of the society should incline toward their deduction instead of the former, which is subject to change.

The “I” in Descartes’ phrase can be translated in three dimensions. First, it might be translated in the first person perspective as is commonly used in phrases. Secondly, the “I” can be translated as the self that is constituted by the mind, or the ideal “I”. Finally, it can also be translated as the real self of the human beings. In these translations, an individual can construct an ideal self such as thinking that one is Napoleon. Therefore, according to Descartes’ philosophical idea, constructing these mindsets make the person the self that he constructs in his mind. On the contrary, a person might also construct conscious thoughts in the mind such as thinking that I am not Napoleon; therefore, I cannot do the things he did. In the latter thinking, the self emerges in realism as opposed to the ideal self subconsciously constructed in the first instance. The mind is usually a complex thing. Finding the best construction of the self in different situation differ from one person to the other. Therefore, Descartes believed that since individuals have aspiration in life, thinking or constructing the ideal self makes the person the ideal individual that he believes he could be even without necessarily becoming this person in reality, which is the driving force behind succeeding in life.

Descartes had to forget and leave to the past all that he previously knew in order to develop this philosophical thinking. He first accepted that he had no body or sense. Additionally, he asserted that the physical world in inexistent, which might also imply his physical non-existence as well. Nevertheless, he also believed that he had to exist in the first instance to posses these assertions and doubts. There was no way that he could doubt his existence while he was actually the one doubting everything else. Therefore, “he is” and this is a deduction of his mind, not a perception of the same. This further implies that for the deception, thinking, and misleading to occur, an “I” must be present. This “I” must also have the inborn desire, or the soul, which nourished, sensed, moved, controlled and think for it as well as a body to contain it. Nevertheless, Descartes believes that all these phenomena are subjects to doubt, except his thinking. Without these attributes, Descartes believes that he can still exist, if he can still think. In concluding that the “I” exists, Descartes believes that the person constructs certainty, idealism, and reality.

People always have the experiences of the things that they think they are. This explains the distinction between the things we think we are and the accrual or real us. Even if we might not be the actual things that we think we are, the thought is enough to give the experience of our thinking. For instance, in our dreams as we sleep, we might dream of an apple or oranges. However, the definitions and the physical attributes of these items would remain the same, both in the dram and in reality. This dream represents an ideal experience. At the time when an individual is dreaming, he is not aware that he is asleep, but considers everything that happens in the dream as the reality. Therefore, this explains how Descartes philosophy operates. When we think, we form ideal experiences, which carries away our thinking into believing that we are in the situations that we think. Therefore, since we can think, therefore we are. This also indicates why Descartes insists on the mind and not the physical body.

The Philosophers' Critique of "I Think Therefore I Am"

According to several philosophical skeptics, they have criticized Descartes’ idea arguing that indubitable knowledge cannot exist in the real world, or if they give room that it might exist, they believe that such knowledge has not been found yet. Therefore, they consider Descartes’ assertion that Cogito is beyond doubt as a fallacy. Critics believe that anything that has the ability to think must first exist. Therefore, the cogito does not only state the obvious, but also fails to justify this premise (Levene, 2013, p. 91). Despite conceding that there could be another premise, Descartes believes that the cogito is not a syllogism or a self-evident idea. For instance, one may wonder, which of these come first? The thinking or the existence? Just from this simple question, it is evident that in order to think, a person must first exist. Therefore, Descartes does not explain any phenomenon, but only states the obvious idea that everybody can identify. Nevertheless, these opponents have not provided enough evidence to prove their criticism for the cogito, which several other philosophers have not only considered relevant, but also developed with new ideas that make it even more relevant.

Rene Descartes is one of the philosophical thinkers that shaped the subject of philosophy with his ideas. He was a French philosopher of the seventeenth century who not only sought to study human being as flesh and blood, but also as thinking being. He argues that human thinking should not be based on deductions and on perceptions. Descartes gives the example that has been referred to as the Wax Argument, which explains that the perceptive features of an object can be distorted. However, he believes that the deductive features are inborn and requires reasoning and thinking to establish. He asserts that the construction of reality requires existence of conscious thinking. While accepting that conscious exists, doubts also exist. Doubts are responsible for shaping our thinking because we do not have to approve every data get as well as we do not have to disregard them, but should analyze them through critical thinking in order to construct a conscious being.

Cogito ergo sum or I think therefore I am provides that even though we might not remember that we are thinking, we are nevertheless thinking in our minds. Even doubting that we are thinking is thinking in itself and approves us as human beings. This thinking is believed to be the fundamental of all knowledge since people must think in order to acquire knowledge and use this knowledge objectively. The three interpretations of the “I” in this dictum proves that thinking that I am in itself proves that I am. This being is considered as either real or ideal. Nevertheless, both real and ideal being provide some experience to the human being, whom Descartes believes is fundamental to existence. Even though there have been skeptics of Descartes’ philosophy, the proponents provide sufficient information and proof to qualify his assertion as true definition of being.

References:

Weate, J., 1998, A young person's guide to philosophy: "I think, therefore I am" the Michigan: University of Michigan Press Weissman , P., 2006, I Think, Therefore Who Am I?: Memoir of a Psychedelic Year, Bloomington, Indiana: Xlibris Corporation Kluck, C., 2000, I Think Therefore I Am: A Collection of My Thoughts, New York: Vantage Press Levene, L., 2013, I Think, Therefore I Am, London: Michael O'Mara Books, Limited

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The Beauty About The Nature

To go into solitude, a man needs to retire as much from his chamber as from society. I am not solitary whilst I read and write, though nobody is with me. But if a man would be alone, let him look at the stars. The rays that come from those heavenly worlds, will separate between him and what he touches. One might think the atmosphere was made transparent with this design, to give man, in the heavenly bodies, the perpetual presence of the sublime. Seen in the streets of cities, how great they are! If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore; and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God which had been shown! But every night come out these envoys of beauty and light the universe with their admonishing smile.

The Stars Awaken a Certain Reverence, Because Though Always Present, They Are Inaccessible;

but all natural objects make a kindred impression when the mind is open to their influence. Nature never wears a mean appearance. Neither does the wisest man extort her secret, and lose his curiosity by finding out all her perfection. Nature never became a toy to a wise spirit. The flowers, the animals, the mountains, reflected the wisdom of his best hour, as much as they had delighted the simplicity of his childhood. When we speak of nature in this manner, we have a distinct but most poetical sense in the mind. We mean the integrity of impression made by manifold natural objects. It is this which distinguishes the stick of timber of the wood-cutter, from the tree of the poet . The charming landscape which I saw this morning, is indubitably made up of some twenty or thirty farms. Miller owns this field, Locke that, and Manning the woodland beyond. But none of them owns the landscape. There is a property in the horizon which no man has but he whose eye can integrate all the parts, that is, the poet . This is the best part of these men's farms, yet to this, their warranty deeds give no title. To speak truly, few adult persons can see nature. Most persons do not see the sun. At least they have a very superficial seeing. The sun illuminates only the eye of the man but shines into the eye and the heart of the child.

The lover of nature is he whose inward and outward senses are still truly adjusted to each other;

who has retained the spirit of infancy even into the era of manhood. His intercourse with heaven and earth becomes part of his daily food. In the presence of nature, a wild delight runs through the man, in spite of real sorrows. Nature says, — he is my creature, and maugre all his impertinent griefs, he shall be glad with me. Not the sun or the summer alone, but every hour and season yields its tribute of delight; for every hour and change corresponds to and authorizes a different state of the mind, from breathless noon to grimmest midnight.

Nature is a setting that fits equally well a comic or a mourning piece. In good health, the air is a cordial of incredible virtue. Crossing a bare common, in snow puddles, at twilight, under a clouded sky, without having in my thoughts any occurrence of special good fortune, I have enjoyed a perfect exhilaration. I am glad to the brink of fear. In the woods too, a man casts off his years, as the snake his slough, and at what period soever of life, is always a child. In the woods, is perpetual youth. Within these plantations of God, a decorum and sanctity reign, a perennial festival is dressed, and the guest sees not how he should tire of them in a thousand years. In the woods, we return to reason and faith.

There I feel that nothing can befall me in life,

— no disgrace, no calamity, (leaving me my eyes,) which nature cannot repair. Standing on the bare ground, — my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space, — all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eye-ball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God. The name of the nearest friend sounds then foreign and accidental: to be brothers, to be acquaintances, — master or servant, is then a trifle and a disturbance. I am the lover of uncontained and immortal beauty. In the wilderness, I find something more dear and connate than in streets or villages. In the tranquil landscape, and especially in the distant line of the horizon, man beholds somewhat as beautiful as his own nature.

The greatest delight which the fields and woods minister, is the suggestion of an occult relation between man and the vegetable.

I am not alone and unacknowledged. They nod to me, and I to them. The waving of the boughs in the storm is new to me and old. It takes me by surprise, and yet is not unknown. Its effect is like that of a higher thought or a better emotion coming over me, when I deemed I was thinking justly or doing right.

Yet it is certain that the power to produce this delight, does not reside in nature, but in man, or in a harmony of both. It is necessary to use these pleasures with great temperance. For, nature is not always tricked in holiday attire, but the same scene which yesterday breathed perfume and glittered as for the frolic of the nymphs, is overspread with melancholy today. Nature always wears the colors of the spirit. To a man laboring under calamity, the heat of his own fire hath sadness in it. Then, there is a kind of contempt of the landscape felt by him who has just lost by death a dear friend. The sky is less grand as it shuts down over less worth in the population.

Chapter I from Nature , published as part of Nature; Addresses and Lectures

What Is The Meaning Behind Nature, The Poem?

Emerson often referred to nature as the "Universal Being" in his many lectures. It was Emerson who deeply believed there was a spiritual sense of the natural world which felt was all around him.

Going deeper still in this discussion of the "Universal Being", Emerson writes, "The aspect of nature is devout. Like the figure of Jesus, she stands with bended head, and hands folded upon the breast. The happiest man is he who learns from nature the lesson of worship."

It's common sense that "nature" is everything you see that is NOT man-made, or changed by man (trees, foliage, mountains, etc.), but Emerson reminds us that nature was set forth to serve man. This is the essence of human will, for man to harness nature. Every object in nature has its own beauty. Therefore, Emerson advocates to view nature as a reality by building your own world and surrounding yourself with natural beauty.

• The purpose of science is to find the theory of nature.
• Nature wears the colors of the Spirit.
• A man is fed, not to fill his belly, but so he may work.
• Each natural action is graceful.

"Material objects are necessarily kinds of scoriae of the substantial thoughts of the Creator, which must always preserve an exact relation to their first origin; in other words, visible nature must have a spiritual and moral side."

This quote is cited in numerous works and it is attributed to a "French philosopher." However, no name can be found in association with this quote.

What is the main point of Nature, by Emerson?

The central theme of Emerson's famous essay "Nature" is the harmony that exists between the natural world and human beings. In "Nature," Ralph Waldo Emerson contends that man should rid himself of material cares and instead of being burdened by unneeded stress, he can enjoy an original relation with the universe and experience what Emerson calls "the sublime."

What is the central idea of the essay Nature, by Emerson?

For Emerson, nature is not literally God but the body of God’s soul. ”Nature,” he writes, is “mind precipitated.” Emerson feels that to realize one’s role in this respect fully is to be in paradise (similar to heaven itself).

What is Emerson's view of the Nature of humans?

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Ralph Waldo Emerson left the ministry to pursue a career in writing and public speaking. Emerson became one of America's best known and best-loved 19th-century figures. More About Emerson

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I am what I am

The word “I” is a very convenient construct. It is the most basic representation we assign ourselves. As an utterance directly related to its speaker, “I” is a tidy form of closure. When we say “I”, the many ways we describe ourselves are subsumed within a singular physical self, a body on which one’s nationality, sexuality, ethnicity, race, religion, class, and gender happen to fall. It is this singular “I” around which we construct our identity. But unlike “I”, identity is not a singular notion. As a combination and variation of numerous social, biological and psychological traits, one is and can be many things. The quest to better understand one’s self, to locate a root cause for one’s manner of being, does not end with the discovery of essential characteristics. These simply become the terms from which we begin to negotiate and challenge our place in the world.

persona brings together seventeen artists who conceive of identity as a set of distinguishing, not delimiting, characteristics in which one might lose rather than find one’s self. More than an examination of those characteristics which one would consider fundamental to their being, the artists in persona suggest that the essence of an individual lies beyond these characteristics. In fact, none of these characteristics, be they biological, as is sex, social as are nationality and religion, or a combination of both, as is race, are fixed so as to exist beyond relativity and therefore change. We are who we are not because of but in spite of these characteristics which may serve as a misleading articulation of the self. If identity is achieved with the discovery of irreducible characteristics, then the artists in this exhibition represent a moment when those characteristics as signifiers of the self may be challenged, chosen or changed. Depending on the circumstances, one may not be what one appears but perhaps something other which better expresses or represents the self.

The signifiers of self quickly form a chain whose links are thought to be inextricable. It is not so much the links themselves but their relationship to one another, particularly their order, which has recently been called into question. The relationship between gender and sex is a perfect example. The terms sex and gender are often used interchangeably. But if we recognize male and female as biologically determined and therefor part of a natural order, and the terms masculine and feminine as social designations, then an important distinction can be made. When sex and gender are interchangeable, our social designations are presumed to be an extension of a biological or natural order. Where masculinity and femininity reside, however, is relative, in which case male and female are not always equated with those terms in a respective manner. Rather than rely on a natural order to secure their meaning, masculinity and femininity can be applied according to the context.

Although the discrepancy between sex and gender has a strong presence throughout persona, the possibility to become Other exists for all aspects of one’s being. According to the findings of these artists, “I” ought to be reconsidered, not so as to replace it but to better understand it as containing shades of “we.” With this in mind, Popeye would surely have to lengthen his tautological epithet to “I am what I am but that’s not all that I am. I am much, much more.”

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