HUMA 1160 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Cogito Ergo Sum, Reductio Ad Absurdum, Cartesian Doubt
12 Apr 2016
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If you deny that you exist when you think, and if you deny 3+2 = 5, you will get a contradicion. I think but do not exist; descartes appears to be saying that this statement is self-contradictory. There is nothing self-contradictory in cogito ergo sum, or in a true mathemaical claim. In fact it is true, that some statements can be shown to be true by showing that their denial is self-contradictory. Original, the denial is some bachelors are not unmarried males. Denial some bachelors are not happy not self-contradictory (syntheic) With syntheic sentences it is impossible to prove the original to be true by denying it, since it is not self-contradictory. Cogito ergo sum the relata of thought and existence are necessarily connected. Therefore now i can generalize it to that all thinking things exist. Some thinking things don"t exist simple denial.
