Cogito, ergo sum.
I think, therefore I am.
I too have pondered the circularity of this argument.
I wondered how this argument could work without being circular.
A very popular argument, the
cogito is actually a very significant argument.
See
here.
First of all, this argument was made with the intent to find something, namely a truth, that could not be denied.
The
cogito was discovered by Descartes, after deciding that he could no longer trust his senses.
Descartes could either be dreaming everything...
Quote:
From here
The reason is that when we sleep we often have sensations indistinguishable from those that we have when we are awake. We admit that those dreaming sensations do not correspond to reality, so why are we any more certain of our waking sensations? How do we know that any particular sensation is not just a dream, a sensation stemming from causes unbeknownst to us? This second argument is popularly referred to as the "Dreamer Argument."
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Thus the dreamer argument.
Or he could be deceived somehow (such as a demon,perhaps a simulated reality, such as the Matrix)...
Quote:
From here
Descartes next casts doubt onto our mathematical demonstrations and other self- evident truths. In order to do this, he first points out that people are sometimes known to make mistakes when it comes to these subjects. In addition, he claims, for all we know, God (or some lesser being) is manipulating our thoughts, causing things to seem certain when really they are not. This argument is commonly referred to as the "Evil Demon Argument".
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Thus the evil demon argument/external deception argument.
Thus, he took upon one (perhaps both?) of these scenarios; he called this a meditation, I believe.
If one tried to doubt everything, which obviously includes mathematics, science, and other empirically known things, there would be one thing one that
cannot be doubted; i.e., doubt itself.
Less formally, one could claim...
1. Math is BS; math is not true.
2. So is science; science is BS.
3. Doubt is not true; I am not doubting right now.
See the problem with 3?
According to the link,
Quote:
From here
Most of the objections to the cogito arise because of misguided attempts to reconstruct the argument as a syllogism: (1) Whatever thinks exists, (2) I think, (3) therefore, I exist. Obviously, the argument in this form is not beyond doubt, and there is no certain reason to believe the truth of the first claim.
The key to understanding Descartes' brilliant argument is to see that it is not a syllogism at all.
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I consider the
cogito to be a self-evident thing.
I hope this helps.