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    Descartes' cogito does not assert that thought exhausts t... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→The Cartesian move from 'I think' to 'I am' is no longer available to modern thought.

    Descartes' cogito does not assert that thought exhausts the self, but only that thinking entails existence as a minimal, indubitable fact.

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    1 reason for
    1 reason against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
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    • 1.Descartes explicitly limits cogito's scope to establishing existence, not defining the complete nature of the self or consciousness.
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    • 2.The phrase 'I think, therefore I am' logically requires only that thinking guarantees some form of existence, not that thought constitutes the entire self.
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    • 3.Descartes later posits extension, emotion, and will as distinct from thought, suggesting he never intended cogito to exhaust the self.
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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.The cogito's very structure ('I think') presupposes a unified subject, implicitly making thought constitutive of personal identity, not merely evidential.
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    • 2.Descartes treats thinking as the essential attribute of mind (res cogitans), making it the defining feature, not a minimal proof of existence.
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    • 3.If thought doesn't exhaust the self, what non-thinking aspects remain indubitable? Descartes provides no coherent account of this remainder.
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    Consciousness & Mind1 linkedSkepticism1 linked

    Related

    Descartes explicitly limits cogito's scope to establishing existence, not defini...Descartes later posits extension, emotion, and will as distinct from thought, su...Descartes treats thinking as the essential attribute of mind (res cogitans), mak...If thought doesn't exhaust the self, what non-thinking aspects remain indubitabl...
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    The Cartesian move from 'I think' to 'I am' is no longer available to modern tho...The cogito's very structure ('I think') presupposes a unified subject, implicitl...The phrase 'I think, therefore I am' logically requires only that thinking guara...

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    claim
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    2 (1 for, 1 against)
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    1 edit