Victoria Ratty

6/25/12

I think, therefore I am is a statement first proposed by French philosopher Rene Descartes sometime in the 1640s. To be entirely correct, the first thing he said was dubito, ergo cogito, ergo sum which is a latin statement that directly translates in english to I doubt, therefore I think, therefore I am. The implications of this statement are quite profound and reveal to us a fundamental truth of philosophy. The statement talks about what it is to be, in other words, the certainty of ones existence. Existentialism is another whole branch of philosophy by itself but the cogito says that if someone is wondering whether or not he/she exists, in and of itself, is proof that there is an I to do the thinking. However, this I may not be talking about the person as a whole, but rather an entity. Descartes was a proprietor of dualism, claiming that the mind and body are two separate entities joined by the pineal gland. Descartes would have said that the I is the mind, and the thought is entirely momentary, meaning that the same mind that thought about the cogito might be thinking about something else entirely the next moment or might not exist the next day. It is interesting to further inspect the cogito and learn what it has to reveal about the nature of existence. Here is one way to look at it: One may consider themselves a living, thinking, person. This would insinuate that their thoughts are real and that their experiences are real. A common mistake is when people assume that the statement is proof that they, as a human person, exist. However, the cogito has severely limited conclusions that do nothing to prove that one's own body exists, let alone anything else that is perceived in the physical universe. It only proves that one's consciousness exists, or the part of the individual that observes oneself doing the doubting and the thinking.

Descartes arrived at this conclusion when he realized that reality may be changed by our perception, and therefore we cant be certain about what truly exists or not. He said that his brainpower alone allowed him to doubt that there are any other conscious minds, doubt the existence of god, doubt the Earths existence, but could not doubt his own existence. Despite all his doubting, Descartes concluded that the one thing he could not doubt was his own thought. This can be exemplified simply: Try to think of yourself without a body. Not too difficult, right? Now try to think of yourself without thought. Impossible. This statement does not have any particular cultural significance. I am because we are is a statement derived from and regarding the African philosophy of Ubuntu. Ubuntu is an idea present in African culture, religion, and spiritual practices that basically says we are all connected; we cannot be ourselves without the community. This may reveal several things about the African cultures. Considering that their lifestyle reflects a much less evolved condition than does Western culture, we can understand the importance of a community for them. I mean literally, out there in the jungles, when one is on their own, theyre as good as any other animal in the wild. Societal thriving in African cultures as such is very much dependant on the ability of these individuals to come together as one group to achieve the common goal of survival. The practice calls for an individual to be open and available to others, commeding others, and the feeling of knowing that one belongs to a greater whole. Hence the Africans invest heavily into their philosophy of Ubuntu focusing primarily on people's allegiances and relations with each other.