Descartes

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ascertains that if he can both convince himself of something, and likewise be deceived of something, then certainly he must exist. This self validating statement is known as the Cogito. “I think there for I am” (255) basically it implies whatever thinks exists. Descartes now embarks in searching for his inner consciousness to find the fundamental nature of his being. He disputes that he is a “rational animal” (255); he scrutinizes whether perhaps he is a body infused with a soul but this inspiration is dismissed since he cannot be convinced of concepts that are of the material world. Ultimately he focuses on the act of thinking and from this says “I take nourishment, move myself around, sense, and think- that I do thinks I trace back to my soul” (262). To prove that awareness on the part of the mind is more real than that of the senses Descartes asks us to judge a piece of wax. Brand new from the apparent qualities we attribute to the wax are those resultant from the senses. ...

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