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Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy (Fourth Edition)

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Although the Cress version, like most other translations, looses precision in transition from Latin to English, it is still a classic that is a absolute must read for anyone who is serious about understanding metaphysics. Descartes shows that one's consciousness is itself an undeniable fact of existence; so long as conciousness exists it is a certain fact that something exists, namely the conciousness itself. What is that conciousness? It is us. Conscious beings are what we essentially are, says Descartes.

When the first artifical intelligences struggle with the question "what am I?" they will, if they are not only intelligent but also conscious, come to conclusions similar to Descartes'.

Rene Descartes' concept "cogito ergo sum" (often translated, somewhat misleadingly, as "I think therefore I am") stands as one of the few unshaken foundations of modern philosophy. Some philosophers see a fallacy in logic of "cogito ergo sum" but the fallacy is in the translation rather than in the logic. The words "cogito" and "scientia" are very loosely and interchangebly translated as "think" or "knowledge" but they mean quite different things. The cogito phrase, so often translated as "I think therefore I am", really means that conciousness implies existence. Descartes writings certainly have many flaws, such as his weak "proof" of the existence of God. Yet many of his errors may be attributed to his living in the age of the inqusition and his desire to cover is own assets. It is said that when Descartes found out Galileo had been arrested for communicating his astronomical discoveries, Descartes literally ran to puplishing house to stop the presses that were printing his own similar scientific discoveries. The "Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy" is a monument of achievement in modern philosophy. We are conciousness beings, and few books bring the implications of that fact more vividly to live than the "Meditations". If you can't read the original Latin then by all means get your hands on a good translation. Don't rely on some commentator telling you what is or is not of value in Descartes. There is no substitute for the original.

Be sure to follow up Descartes with the philosophical writings of George Berkeley and David Hume. They are giants. If you stand on their shoulders you will see far.

Even though the writings and musings of Descartes are now universally regarded as being wrong, he's still a worthwhile read. Literally thousands of well-respected critics to his first philosophy created their own philosophies. Mightn't you? Hmmm? Hmmmmmm? Regarded as the founder of Modern Philosophy, the writings of Descartes have been used to bring us to the post-modern writings of Lacan, Camus, and Bernard Tapkis of Tallahassee, FL. I think therefore I am? Sure, a logical fallacy...but, I'll be ...if I would have thought of it on my own.