Decomposing the Cartesian Cogito Computationally

 

By Nyasha Mboti, PhD

Wednesday 11 August 2011

Rene Descartes at work

 

Descartes in his Passions of the Soul and The Description of the Human Body suggested that the body works like a machine, that it has the material properties of extension and motion, and that it follows the laws of nature. The mind (or soul), on the other hand, was described as a nonmaterial entity that lacks extension and motion, and does not follow the laws of nature. Descartes argued that only humans have minds, and that the mind interacts with the body at the pineal gland. This form of dualism or duality proposes that the mind controls the body, but that the body can also influence the otherwise rational mind, such as when people act out of passion. Most of the previous accounts of the relationship between mind and body had been uni-directional.[1]

Descartes suggested that the pineal gland is “the seat of the soul” for several reasons. First, the soul is unitary, and unlike many areas of the brain the pineal gland appeared to be unitary (though subsequent microscopic inspection has revealed it is formed of two hemispheres). Second, Descartes observed that the pineal gland was located near the ventricles. He believed the cerebrospinal fluid of the ventricles acted through the nerves to control the body, and that the pineal gland influenced this process. Finally, although Descartes realized that both humans and animals have pineal glands (see Passions of the Soul Part One, Section 50, AT 369), he believed that only humans have minds. This led him to the belief that animals cannot feel pain, and Descartes’s practice of vivisection (the dissection of live animals) became widely used throughout Europe until the Enlightenment. Cartesian dualism set the agenda for philosophical discussion of the mind–body problem for many years after Descartes’s death.[2]

Below I attempt to push the Cogito to its logical extremes.

 

I think, therefore I am.

I am, therefore I think.

I think, therefore I am not.

I do not think, therefore I am not

I do not think, therefore I am.

I am not, therefore I think.

I am not, therefore I do not think.

I think I am, therefore.

I think I am, therefore I think.

I think I am, therefore I am.

I think I am.

I do not think I am.

I think.

I am.

I am not.

Think.

I think! I am!

Therefore = Hence; consequently; for that reason; as a result; then; thus; so; and so; accordingly; afterwards;

I think, that’s why I am.

I think, thereafter I am.

I think, because I am.

I think, hence I am.

I think, then I am.

I owe my being to thinking. If I didn’t think, I wouldn’t be. The reason I am is because I think. I am because I think. I am because I thought.

I thought … therefore I am.

I thought, therefore I am.

I thought, therefore I was.

I think, therefore I will be.

I thought, therefore I will be.

I thought, therefrom I was.

I will think, therefore I will be.

I am because I am a thinker.

Because I am, I think.

Because I think, I am.

I wanted to be, so I thought.

Because I wanted to be, I thought.

To think is to be.

To be is to think.

To be, think.

If you want to be, think.

If you think, you will be.

If you think you think, you will be.

If you want to know if you are, think.*

Descartes never said what he thought about. He just thought. It was enough that he thought. Because he thought, he was. Because he thought, he knew he was. Because he thought, he thought he was. Because he thought he thought, he thought he was. Because he thought he thought, he thought he thought he was. Because he thought, he thought he knew he was.  Because he thought, he thought he thought he knew he was. Because he thought he thought, he thought he thought he knew was. Because he thought, he thought he knew who he was.  Because he thought, he knew who he was.  Because he thought he thought, the thought he knew who he was. Because he thought he thought, he thought he thought he knew who he was. He owed his being to the fact that he thought. If he had not thought, he would not have been. If he had not thought, he would not have known he would have been. If he had not thought he had thought, he would not have known that he was. If he had not thought he had thought, he would not have been. If he had not thought he had thought, he would not have known who he was. If he had not thought, he would not have known who he was. If he had not thought, he would not have thought he knew who he was. If he had not thought he thought, he would not have thought he thought he knew who he was.

He thinks he is.

He thought he was.

He thought. And he is.

He was who he thought he was.

He thought he was who he thought he was.

He thought he thought he was who he thought he was.

He thought he thought he was who he thought he thought he was.

He thinks he is who he thinks he is.

He thinks he is because he thinks he is.

He thinks he is who he thinks he is because he thinks he is who he is.

He thinks he is who he thinks he is because he thinks he thinks he is who he is.

He thinks he knows who he is.

He thinks he thinks he knows who he is.

He thinks he thinks he knows who he thinks he is.

He thinks he thinks he knows who he thinks he thinks he is.

He thinks he thinks he thinks.

In other words, he doesn’t think.*

 

He thinks, therefore he is.

He thinks he is because he thinks.

I think I am because I think.

 

If he had not been, he would never had thought he was.

If he had not been, he would never have thought. *

If he had not been, he would never have been.

  

If he never had been, he never would have…

 

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[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Descartes

[2] Ibid