Phil - Admission/Application Essay Example

DESCARTES COGITO SUBMITTED TO- SUBMITTED BY- DESCARTES COGITO INTRODUCTION With the development of the Cogito Theory, there was the establishment of a foundation on which the philosophy founded by Descartes could be advanced among the established literature, which is infallible and also free of any kind doubt. This can be attributed to the fact that he was living in a time when most of the established thoughts were being questioned. He questioned the basis of the philosophy and the views that formed the foundations of common thought.

His views were revolutionary for the times in which they were based, and have very strong foundations in the popular thought system. The views were very mechanical in nature and were based on the rejection of Aristotelian science that had been seen as a widely accepted fact, and was also evident in the work done by him. His ideas were also based loosely on the rejection of metaphysics and the acceptance of epistemology, which changed the questions from how they took place to occurrence. The fact that he had almost no formal kind of training in the process, imparted a very unique way of looking at things.

A DISCUSSION ON THE CONCEPT Cogito ergo sum has the meaning that any person thinking about the existence of himself or herself is the proof of the existence of the person. But, this may not be perceived as some sort of a permanent identity. This may also be taken as some sort of momentary entity and not any kind of existence in the subsequent moment. This has become one of the fundamental elements of the Western school of philosophy, and acts as a means of perceiving it. While the other forms of knowledge of understanding may have a certain degree of deception attached to it, the doubting of anyone’s own existence is the proof of the existence of the individual or the person.

In the beginning of the second meditation, Descartes has reached the uppermost limits of doubt. He refers to all arguments from the perspective of a deceiving God or an Evil demon. He also goes onto to examine if any of the beliefs has survived the doubts. From the point of the belief in his own existence, it is impossible to have a doubt that he has any form of existence. Even in the case of an Evil demon, the belief in the existence of any one self has to be secure entity independent of any other factor.

This also puts the counter narrative into perspective that no one would be deceived in any manner, if they were not existent on the physical plane to be deceived. So, the very act of deception is a pointer to the existence of an individual. But, there are certain points that are to be discussed. First, he never speaks of the other minds. He also does not speak about the necessity of existence of any person called as the instantiation principle. CONCLUSION With the development of the Cogito Theory, he based the foundation for the development of a theory that was a means of advancing his philosophy that was infallible according to him.

The theory was developed in the second meditation while he was in a considerable amount of doubt. There is a search for anything that he can know in a true manner and invents the concept of Cogito, ergo sum. There is the question being asked whether the inability to know anything would mean that he has no existence. The conclusion has to be there that he has no beliefs, no thoughts, no sense; no body and thereby has no self as a consequence. But, he also argues on the fact that if he thinks like that, he surely exists.

So, eventually feels that if he is able to convince himself with any thought process or belief, he exists. From his earlier meditations, he speaks of the Evil demon. This links to his thinking that even though the Evil demon has deceived him in all the ways, there is still one Descartes that has to be deceived. So, his thinking is based on the fact that if he thinks than he exists. When he is assured of his existence, he perceives himself as a creature that thinks, thus reassuring him. The Cogito work of Descartes forms the solid foundation on which the rest of the meditations are built.

This is the basis for the future quantum of work being done by him. Cogito in many ways forms the crux of his thoughts on self, the existence of God, the existence of self and the relationship between the mind and the material body. Cogito is thus a basic source from where the meditations have been developed. REFERENCE N.p.. Web. 17 Mar 2013. .