What Rene Descartes Said About Self?

by | Last updated on January 24, 2024

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Descartes’s concept of the self revolves around the

idea of mind-body dualism

. For Descartes, a human person is composed of two parts, namely, a material body and a non-material mind. … In other words, for Descartes, it is the mind that makes us humans. Thus, for Descartes, the “mind” is the “real self”.

What was the famous quote of Rene Descartes on understanding the self?

Rene Descartes Quotes About Self



Except our own thoughts, there is nothing absolutely in our power.

” 3. “I am indeed amazed when I consider how weak my mind is and how prone to error.” 4.

What is self According to Rene Descartes and Immanuel Kant?

According to him, we all have an inner and an outer self which

together form our consciousness

. The inner self is comprised of our psychological state and our rational intellect. The outer self includes our sense and the physical world.

What is self according to Locke?

In his Essay, Locke suggests that the self is “

a thinking intelligent being, that has reason and reflection

, and can consider itself as itself, the same thinking thing, in different times and places” and continues to define personal identity simply as “the sameness of a rational being” (Locke).

What did Rene Descartes believe about a person?

Descartes was also a rationalist and believed in the power of innate ideas. Descartes argued

the theory of innate knowledge and that all humans were born with knowledge through the higher power of God

. It was this theory of innate knowledge that was later combated by philosopher John Locke (1632–1704), an empiricist.

What did Descartes mean when he said Cogito, ergo sum?

Cogito, ergo sum,

(Latin: “I think, therefore I am)

dictum coined by the French philosopher René Descartes in his Discourse on Method (1637) as a first step in demonstrating the attainability of certain knowledge. It is the only statement to survive the test of his methodic doubt.

What is the meaning of Rene Descartes famous claim I think therefore I am?

“I think; therefore I am” was the end of the

search Descartes conducted for a statement that could not be doubted

. He found that he could not doubt that he himself existed, as he was the one doing the doubting in the first place. In Latin (the language in which Descartes wrote), the phrase is “Cogito, ergo sum.”

How did Hume conceived of self?

To Hume, the self is “

that to which our several impressions and ideas are supposed to have a reference

… If any impression gives rise to the idea of self, that impression must continue invariably the same through the whole course of our lives, since self is supposed to exist after that manner.

What did David Hume say about self?

Hume suggests that

the self is just a bundle of perceptions, like links in a chain

. To look for a unifying self beyond those perceptions is like looking for a chain apart from the links that constitute it.

What Immanuel Kant said about self?

According to him,

we all have an inner and an outer self which together form our consciousness

. The inner self is comprised of our psychological state and our rational intellect. The outer self includes our sense and the physical world. … According to Kant, representation occurs through our senses.

What is self According to Plato?

Plato, at least in many of his dialogues, held that the true self of human beings is

the reason or the intellect that constitutes their soul and that is separable from their body

. Aristotle, for his part, insisted that the human being is a composite of body and soul and that the soul cannot be separated from the body.

What is self According to Socrates?

And contrary to the opinion of the masses, one’s true self, according to Socrates, is not to be identified with what we own, with our social status, our reputation, or even with our body. Instead, Socrates

famously maintained that our true self is our soul

.

What is self according to Ryle?

Ryle used ordinary language philosophy to call into question the concept of the mind. … Arguing that the mind does not exist and therefore can’t be the seat of self, Ryle

believed that self comes from behavior

. We’re all just a bundle of behaviors caused by the physical workings of the body.

How did Rene Descartes impact the world?

René Descartes is generally considered the father of modern philosophy. He was the first major figure in the philosophical movement known as

rationalism

, a method of understanding the world based on the use of reason as the means to attain knowledge.

What were Descartes main ideas?

Scholars agree that Descartes recognizes at least three innate ideas:

the idea of God, the idea of (finite) mind

, and the idea of (indefinite) body.

Does Descartes believe in God?

According to Descartes, God’s existence is

established by the fact that Descartes has a clear and distinct idea of God

; but the truth of Descartes’s clear and distinct ideas are guaranteed by the fact that God exists and is not a deceiver. Thus, in order to show that God exists, Descartes must assume that God exists.

Amira Khan
Author
Amira Khan
Amira Khan is a philosopher and scholar of religion with a Ph.D. in philosophy and theology. Amira's expertise includes the history of philosophy and religion, ethics, and the philosophy of science. She is passionate about helping readers navigate complex philosophical and religious concepts in a clear and accessible way.