Do you agree with Rene Descartes?

Question: Do you agree with Rene Descartes!?

"I think therefore I am!."
Is it mind over matter!?
How can you be sure you're not the only one in the universe!.
That everything you see, touch, taste, hear, and smeel isnt really there!.
Do you think its possible!?
Why or why not!?Www@QuestionHome@Com

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

This all comes from the question 'how do you know!?'!.!.!. There is always an argument for or against!. We still don't know the TRUE definition of knowledge!. What Descartes is saying is that if we don't KNOW for SURE (and we don't) what then are the options when explaining what something is or is not or that something is or is not!? That the only thing we truly KNOW is self!. Cogito ergo sum, I think therefore I exist!. He simply questions how we can reliably KNOW anything besides self!. And how can we!? Can you answer that with certainty, with no other possible certainties!? I think not, but I don't know! :) Do others see the world exactly as do we!? Is the color green interpreted through my eyes the same as that interpreted through yours!? Do oranges smell the same to everyone!? Is an e really an e and sound like the same e to every ear!? There are SO many questions that can never be answered!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

"The crust of the biscuit is the apostrophe!."
-Frank ZappaWww@QuestionHome@Com

No, I don't agree with him!. Thinking is a process that takes place in the brain (see: scientific studies that learning increases synapses firing) so!.!.!.I guess it would be the opposite!. "I am, therefore I think"!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

I believe in reality, but I don't think Descartes' has the correct justification!. This could be the Matrix!. I just believe that it isn't!. When Morpheus calls me, I'll start to have some doubts!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Nothing exists except through human consciousness!. How could it!? Descartes was brilliant!. The law of attraction and Rhonda Byrne's "Secret" that are especially popular now owe a lot to Descartes and this famous statement!. People are so, so much what they think themselves to be!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

One of the previous responders said that maybe it should be

"I am therefore I think!." Does this make sense!? In other words does "I am" entail "I think!." I have just completed an epistemology course and this question was raised at one point!. As my professor pointed out, the only thing needed to refute the argument "I am, therefore I think" is the possibility of existing without thinking!. As my prof said "Rocks do it all the time!."

Another responder said that Descartes doesn't have the correct justification because we could, for example, be in the Matrix!. But the possibility of being in the Matrix only threatens external-world knowledge!. Consider this; if you don't exist how could you be in the Matrix!? Being in the Matrix requires that you exist!. (Note: simply saying that you exist does not imply anything at all about "the way in which you exist!.")

About Descartes' statement (Descartes scholars debate over whether it is technically an argument or not!.); thinking presupposes a thinker to do the thinking!. You cannot think without existing!. So, the fact that you are thinking does entail that you exist!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Rene Descartes walking into a bar!. He ordered a beer and sat nursing it for a long time!. Finally, he finished his glass!. The bartender walked over to him and said, "Hey, want a refill!?" Descartes replied, "I think not!." and promptly disappeared in a puff of philosophy!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

It's just an aphorism, fer pete's sake!.

Cogito ergo Sum!. How does one know one thinks!? Or, for that matter, exists!? I have encountered many people who have never thought once, yet exist!.

Here is a real good one!. Am I a sentient meat-puppet typing, or am I a cyber-construct!? I know how I know how I exist, but how do you!?

Boogedy-boogedy-boogedy!.

CiderWww@QuestionHome@Com

yes, i do agree with him!. because the whole concept of existence only comes into play when there is a conscious mind at work attempting to distinguish and define each aspect of the "reality" it experiences!. before the conscious mind with an identity, there is nothing, and there is everything, simultaneously, interdependent of one another!. the only reason why we perceive ourselves as "separate" from everything else is because of the way our brain works!. the fact that we think that we're separate from the rest of the universe makes us wonder why all of this is here and what our place is within it, and question things like existence or non-existence, but in reality, there is both, simultaneously, and there is none!. it's a difficult concept to grasp, but when one comes to understand it, the words of descartes begin to make more sense!. we only exist because we THINK that there is such a thing as existence, we think there is such a thing as non-existence!. but i think the point is that there is both, and neither, at the same time!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

It's true enough!. The ability to think, even if every thought is wrong, requires existence!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Thought before form, for sure!. How do you think we came into existence in the first place!. And by we I don't just mean this body here and your body there, I mean this generation, this race, this planet, this galaxy, this universe!. Which came first!? Thought (or intelligence) or form!?Www@QuestionHome@Com