30th January 2007

Cogito, ergo sum.
I think, therefore I am.

Despite the simplicity of this phrase, debates over how this phrase should actually mean has been going on for a long time. My own interpretation of it is simple. Taken at face value, it may or may not be the intended meaning by Descartes. My existence is confirmed by the fact that I am thinking.

I think I am thinking.
I am thinking.
Because I am thinking, I am a thinker.
For me to be a thinker, I must exist.
I exist.

But what is existence without a purpose?
Nothing. Existence is substantiated only when there is a purpose for it. When the purpose is lost, the meaning behind the existence is lost too.