Conatus: THIRD EDITION by Tom Wallace - HTML preview

C O N A T U S

Even if he doubted he existed, then the doubting itself would amount to thinking, which would again prove that he exists. Secondly, he claims that even if his body did not exist, yet because he is thinking then he must exist and therefore his mind must exist independently of his body. Effectively therefore, whilst he can doubt the existence of his body he cannot doubt the existence of his mind and therefore again his mind must exist independently of his body. But it could be noted that Descartes’ famous maxim — ‘cogito ergo sum’ — ‘I think therefore I am’ — is spoken from first-person privilege! He already assumed who he is, even whilst claiming to doubt it!

Descartes also considered the idea that his observations of the world were being put into his head by an evil demon, but even this, he concluded, meant he was still thinking. It was the more recent philosopher, Hilary Putman, who replaced Descartes’ evil demon with the idea of a mad scientist and brains in vats. Many more analogies (and possibly future realities!) have sprung from this.

Wittgenstein’s response to Descartes’ famous ‘I think, therefore I am’ was to say, ‘It’s raining, therefore I am’. And others have proposed further variations, some of which we met back in Chapter 2. For instance: ‘I feel, therefore I am’ and ‘thought is going on, therefore thought exists’ (Georg Lichtenberg.) These variations seem to be saying that any kind of sensation would suffice to justify a belief in existence — it didn’t have to be thought. And a further one recognises the need for our continued identity: ‘I remember, therefore I am.’ But there is quite a

62