If we don’t have the baseline of trusting our senses, which should include perception of our own thoughts; how can we make that statement? Why should one trust perception of thought over other senses?
Comment on How can I prove myself that my brain isn't just creating images so I can experience life?
Randomgal@lemmy.ca 11 months ago
This is a great philosophical question, people have been asking themselves this for a very long time. Some have answers: You may have heard “Cogito ergo sum.”, by Rene Descartes. The context of this quote is that it is a logical conclusion, after the border began purposefully trying to show what really REALLY exists, as he chose to doubt about the existence of everything.
After a lot of thinking and writing he came to the conclusion that there is no way for you to know that your life isn’t just a hallucination, projected unto your brain by a daemon, however, there is one thing you CAN be sure of: If you are asking yourself these questions, you are thinking, that is undeniable you 100% experience your thoughts first hand, and therefore it is safe to say that because you can think, you can be sure you exist. Cogito, ergo sum. (I think, therefore I am)
xePBMg9@lemmynsfw.com 11 months ago
Randomgal@lemmy.ca 11 months ago
Correct, but you exist for sure, because you are hearing that voice, whatever it actually is. Even if it is a hallucination, it is you perceiving it. So at least of your own existence, you can be sure.
c0mbatbag3l@lemmy.world 11 months ago
It doesn’t include “perception of our own thoughts” because they’re not a thing to witness like a smell or visuals. You manufacture them immediately yourself, you don’t observe them. That’s Descartes entire point.
TheButtonJustSpins@infosec.pub 11 months ago
Descartes didn’t use that as a conclusion; he used it as the basis from which he built up to “prove” the existence of God.
That said, that’s still the only conclusion I can reach with certainty, making me a weak solipsist.
Randomgal@lemmy.ca 11 months ago
I mean… A statement can be both a conclusion and an argument… But sure.