Cogito ergo sum
Cogito ergo sum (actually Latin ego cogito, ergo sum , "I think, therefore I am.") Is the first principle of the philosopher René Descartes , which after radical doubts about one's own cognitive ability as a foundation that cannot be further criticized (Latin fundamentum inconcussum , “Unshakable foundation”) in his work Meditationes de prima philosophia (1641) formulated and methodically justified: “ Since it is still me who doubts, I can no longer doubt this I myself, even if it dreams or fantasizes.“From this foundation, Descartes then tries to rebuild the capacity for knowledge.
Origin of the formulation
Descartes wrote most of his works in Latin , but some he wrote in French, which made them accessible to laypeople. In one of them, the Discours de la méthode (Part IV), Descartes wrote in 1637:
“Now I had observed that in the sentence:“ I think, therefore I am. ” (French: “ Je pense, donc je suis ” ) only this gives me the certainty of telling the truth, that I clearly see that one has to be in order to think. "
In 1641 Descartes wrote in his Meditations on the Basics of Philosophy about a possible malignant demon that could be deceived by the senses and perception:
"Well, if he deceives me too, there is no doubt that I am. He deceives me as much as he can, but he will never manage that I am nothing as long as I think that I am something. And so, after having considered everything more than enough back and forth, I finally come to the conclusion that this sentence: “I am, I exist” (Latin ego sum, ego existo ) whenever I pronounce it or in Take thoughts, is necessarily true. "
Later (1644) Descartes summarized his knowledge in the principles of philosophy with the Latin formulation " ego cogito, ergo sum ". The text passage in German translation:
“By rejecting anything doubtful and accepting it as wrong, we can easily assume that there is no God, no heaven, no body; that we ourselves have neither hands nor feet, no body at all; but we cannot assume that we who think so are nothing; for it is a contradiction that what is thinking does not exist at the point in time when it is thinking. That is why the knowledge: "I think, therefore I am" (Latin: ego cogito, ergo sum ) is the first and most certain of all that emerges in an orderly philosophizing. "
The phrase “ cogito, ergo sum ”, which is often quoted to this day , comes from a shortening of the Latin “ ego cogito, ergo sum ” from the Principia philosophiae . In the “ Discours de la méthode ”, however, the famous French “ Je pense, donc je suis ” can be found, which preceded the Latin version just mentioned and has the same meaning.
reception
Carnap's speech analysis
Rudolf Carnap subjected this statement by Descartes to a linguistic analysis, according to which the sentence contains two logical errors :
- The first mistake in Descartes' research lies in the final sentence “I am”. The verb “to be” is undoubtedly meant here in the sense of existence , because a copula can not be used without a predicate . The “I am” of Descartes was always understood in this sense. But then this sentence violates Kant's thesis that existence can only be stated in relation to a predicate, not in relation to a nominator (subject, proper name); for “Being is obviously not a real predicate” ( Critique of Pure Reason , B 626).
- The second mistake lies in the transition from “I think” to “I exist”. If an existence proposition is to be derived from the proposition “P (a)” (“to which a comes the property P”), then this can only state existence in relation to the predicate P, not in relation to the subject a of the premise . From “I am a European” it does not follow “I exist”, but “there is a European”. From “I think” it does not follow “I am”, but “there is something that thinks”.
Other interpretive approaches
According to Jaakko Hintikka , the “ Cogito ergo sum ” is not a logical conclusion, but rather the avoidance of a performative contradiction. That is, when I try to accept my nonexistence, I inevitably have to acknowledge my existence . But this view, too, has already been criticized and is problematic.
A formal-logical analysis of this statement by Descartes, such as that made by Rudolf Carnap, leads us astray in that the word existence is understood as “being” in the sense of a relative substance - accident relationship. Existence is therefore equated with “to be / is / am / are” etc., which has become so natural over the centuries and which is still mainly used today. An example shows that this leads to inconsistencies in the case of Descartes: What is the difference between someone saying “I exist” and “I am”?
other
Before Descartes, Augustine had already argued in his God state (XI, 26) with the immediate self-givenness of the thinker:
“Si enim fallor, sum. Nam qui non est, utique nec falli potest. Ac per hoc sum, si fallor. Quia ergo sum, si fallor, quomodo esse me fallor, quando certum est me esse, si fallor? "
“Even if I'm wrong, I am. Because if you are not, you cannot be mistaken. And so if I am wrong I am. Because if I am mistaken, how should I be mistaken about my being, since it is certain that I am, especially when I am mistaken? "
A kitchen Latin variation reads “ Coito ergo sum. "-" I exist through coitus . "
literature
- René Descartes: Philosophical Writings. In one band. With an introduction by Rainer Specht. Felix Meiner Verlag, Hamburg 1996, ISBN 3-7873-1291-9 (Latin or French original language and German text in parallel - does not contain “The principles of philosophy”).
- René Descartes: The principles of philosophy. Latin – German. Translated and edited by Christian Wohlers. Felix Meiner Verlag, Hamburg 2005, ISBN 3-7873-1697-3 ( Philosophical Library 566) (Reprint: ibid 2007, ISBN 978-3-7873-1853-7 ).
- Wolfgang Mieder : “Cogito, ergo sum” - I think therefore I am. The Descartes Quote in Literature, Media, and Caricatures . Praesens Verlag, Vienna 2006. ISBN 978-3-7069-0398-1 .
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ René Descartes, Philosophical writings in one volume , Felix Meiner Verlag Hamburg, 1996 (French and German text parallel) "Discours de la methode", part 4, section 3, p. 55.
- ↑ René Descartes, Philosophical Writings in One Volume , Felix Meiner Verlag Hamburg, 1996 (Latin and German text parallel) 2. Meditation, paragraph 3, p. 45.
- ^ The principles of philosophy , Elzevier Verlag Amsterdam 1644, chap. 1. On the principles of human knowledge, paragraph 7 .
- ^ Rudolf Carnap, Overcoming Metaphysics through Logical Analysis of Language , in: Knowledge , Volume 2, 1931, pp. 233f.
- ↑ Cf. Christoph Horn: What is the significance of the Augustinian cogito ? In: Ders. (Ed.): Augustinus. De civitate dei. Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, 1997. (Classics Explaining, Vol. 11.), pp. 109–130.