Argument Against The Cogito

Descartes reflects in the passage that he has often found himself to be mistaken about matters that he formerly thought were certain and indisputable. He then resolves to dismiss all of his preconceived conceptions, reconstructing his knowledge from its foundations, and accepting only those claims, which to him are certainly clear and distinct, as true. All he had previously thought he had known came to him through the senses. Through a process of methodological doubt, he detaches and removes himself completely from the senses. Subsequently, he makes clear his intent to “undermine” the “foundations” of his beliefs. By doing so, he introduces the new concept of skepticism in which all his beliefs are initially seen as “not completely certain

In saying “I think, therefore I am”, Descartes is at the same time presupposing that there is actual thought processes going into stating that statement. However, it may actually not be the case. Consider this. A computer engineer has randomly and unintentionally invented a computer code that, when executed, would cause the computer to say, “I think, therefore I am”. If so, to whom should we ascribe existence to? It would seem that ascribing existence to the computer engineer is seemingly logical but wrong, since he did not put thought into creating the computer code. However, it would be ridiculous to ascribe existence to the computer since we understand the computer to be a non-thinking thing. In this case, Descartes has to be forced to conclude that the cogito: I think, therefore I am, does not apply in this case, but he is also mistaken. The case applies aptly. For Descartes, when a man utters “I think, therefore I am” he is willing to concede that the man does in fact exist for knowing exactly what he is saying. However, in the case of the computer and computer engineer, the cogito is not clear and distinct to either the computer or the computer engineer and yet the cogito is uttered in a valid, logical sense. Thus, while the cogito is a valid argument for existence, Descartes cannot escape the fact that he had made the assumption that one who states the cogito is one who thinks and thus exists. Which, in the case provided, have failed to proof the existence of the one who utters