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When Descartes says, "I think therefore I am", what sort of argument is he using? Is he simply saying, "There is an X, and X thinks, therefore there is an X", in which case he might as well have said "I walk therefore I am" or, with Barbara Kruger, "I shop therefore I am"? Or is the argument here more esoteric?
Accepted:
November 19, 2016

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I can't do better than to

Stephen Maitzen
December 1, 2016 (changed December 2, 2016) Permalink

I can't do better than to refer you to Section 4.1 of this SEP entry: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/descartes-epistemology. It even addresses the specific question "Why I think rather than I walk?"

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