GROUP 4 (RENE DESCARTES)

RENE DESCARTES

Presented by: Group 4

WHO IS RENE DESCARTES?

René Descartes, (born March 31, 1596,
La Haye, Touraine, France—died
February 11, 1650, Stockholm, Sweden),
French mathematician, scientist, and
philosopher.
He formulated the first modern version
of mind-body dualism, from which stems
the mind-body problem, and because he
promoted the development of a new
science grounded in observation and
experiment, he has been called the
father of modern philosophy.

Who is Rene Descartes?

Rene Descartes is regarded as the 1st thinker to
emphasize the use of reason to describe, predict,
and understand natural phenomena based on
observational and empirical evidence. He
proposed that “doubt” was a principal tool of
diciplinary inquiry, methodolical skepticism, which
is a systematic process of being skeptical about
the truth of one's belief to determine which belief
could be ascertained as true

WHAT IS DESCARTES FAMOUS LINE?

Descartes famous line is
“cogito ergo sum” which
means “I think, therefore I am”.
The phrase “I think therefore I
am” is the keystone of
Descartes’ concept of self.

DESCARTES' CONCEPT OF SELF

He asserted that everything perceived by the senses could not
be used as proof of existence. He added that there could only be
one thing we could be sure of in this world and that was
everything could be doubted. Therefore, by doubting our own
existence, he proved that there is a thinking entity that is doing
the act of doubting.

For him, the act of thinking about the self – of being self-
conscious – is in itself proof that there is self. For Descartes,
the essence of the self – a thinking entity that doubts,
understands, analyzes, questions, and reasons.

DESACARTES 'CLAIMS ABOUT THE SELF

(1) it is constant, not prone to change and not affected by
time,

(2) only the immaterial soul remains the same throughout
time and;

(3) the immaterial soul is the source of our identity.

THE TWO DIMENSION OF SELF

(1) the self as a thinking entity
 The thinking self (or soul) is the nonmaterial, immortal,

conscious being, and independent of the physical laws of the
universe.

(2) the self as a physical body
 The physical body is the material, mortal, non-thinking entity, fully

governed by the physical laws of nature. The soul and body are
independent of one another and each can exist and function
without the other.

The self as a thinking entity is distinct from the self as a
physical body. In other words, the thinking self can exist
independently of the physical body.

END OF PRESENTATION