Essays on Cogito Ergo Sum

Voltaire’s was a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment whose most famous work is the novella Candide explores many of the popular schools of thoughts of the Enlightenment period. 1759, the year that Candide was first published was a time of great change of thought happening in Europe and the novel presents ideas found in three of the dominant school’s of thought, Rationalisms, Skepticism, and romanticism. By exploring these philosophies and showing how Candide treats them, we come to the conclusions that it was not Voltaire’s intent to support any of this particular schools of thought but to ...

Introduction

“Cogito ergo sum” is a Latin phrase translated in English as “I think, therefore I am”. The phrase was Rene Descartes’ (1596-1650) philosophical proposition of existence in that he knew he was somewhere as an entity because of his capacity to have thoughts. The proposition has been perceived by western scholars as the foundation for all knowledge because while some objects can be queried if the belong to the realm of imagination or reality, the act of doubting ones existence is proof enough of the reality of their existence (Broughton, 109). I agree with Descartes proposal based on my idea ...

Radical skepticism was just a tool in the rationalist philosophy of Rene Descartes, since he wanted to establish clear and distinct proof for the existence of minds and bodies, and found that ultimately he was unable to doubt his own existence. From this he derived the fundamental precept of Cogito ergo sum (I think therefore I exist) and from this went on to affirm the existence of God and the physical universe. No sane or rational person could seriously doubt their own existence or the reality of physical objects outside of themselves, no matter how flawed or imperfect human perceptions ...