Self As Elaborated On By René Descartes And David Hume

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The topic of the discussion is the notion of self as elaborated on by the philosophers René Descartes and David Hume. The self appears self-evident and effortless. It is continuous and persistent during waking consciousness. In daily existence, the self is a source of identity and self-affirmation. Consequently, it is an unquestionable aspect of human existence. However, the two philosophers under consideration diverge on this almost self-evident existence of the self. Descartes argues that the self is self-evident and is the aspect of human existence that allows thoughts to occur to the human mind. He proposes that the self is as certain as existence since the two are mutually exclusive concepts. On the other hand, Hume proposes that the self …show more content…

By doing so Descartes realized that what remains is doubt. Since doubting exists, then there is a potential self. This is because if everything created in the mind from outside impressions is removed and only doubt remains, then the doubting or thinking mind must necessarily exist. Consequently, a self that is independent of outside impressions upon the mind must necessarily exist. Descartes referred to this as occurrent existence. By removing all sources of knowledge that have no certain truth such as the senses and their impressions on the mind, the remaining part must be a persistent self. Therefore, Descartes states, “I think, therefore I am” (Descartes, pg 161). Since it is impossible for the thinking self to exist by itself without a controlling element outside of the material world, Descartes posited that there must be a transcendent immaterial element responsible for existence. Therefore, Descartes leaves room for a prime mover that is the source of the self. This prime mover is the substance that makes the individual to perceive the self as existing continuously and persisting over …show more content…

This is because he starts from what he immediately knows, which is our own consciousness and commences his analysis on the nature of the self from this standpoint. As he puts it, we cannot know whether the material world is an illusion created by an evil being. Therefore, starting from our own consciousness, which is what we are most certain of as existing beings, is the most proficient and sure way to arrive at truthful understandings of the self. On the other hand, Hume starts from matter, the truth of which we can never be certain. From this standpoint, he works backwards and concludes that a persistent self cannot exist since the matter he relies on to construct his argument about the self is impermanent and always changing. Hume explains the persistence of the sense of self as an illusion created by the rapidity with which the impressions create ideas or thoughts in the mind. Hume’s position inevitably leads to scientific materialism since he starts from what one cannot be certain about, which is matter. The invalidity of his views of the self comes from later advancements in the sciences, which have demonstrated that the brain is the seat of consciousness. Furthermore, current perceptions of the self mostly contend that the self generates experience, rather than the other way round. Hume’s position assumes that experience generates the self while Descartes’ position is the opposite. In hindsight, Descartes’ position

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