Oct 25, 2026 · 49 min · 8 segments
In this episode I return to Copleston's History of Philosophy series, this time focusing on Descartes, his search for certainty, and the meaning behind "I think, therefore I am."
and basically what I want to talk about is the concept of I think therefore I am, which is a huge component of Descartes' philosophy, what that means.
I certainly heard the phrase I think therefore I am long before I understood what it meant.
That would just mean that only things that think exist or that thinking is thinking.
I'm not a professional philosopher by a long stretch, but I feel like it's important to have a basic understanding of some of the ideas because I think a lot of people who don't know much about philosophy don't realize how much philosophy has influenced our world, our politics, and our morality.
They filter down through the university system and thereby through the schools like K through 12 and into the media and all throughout society, various ideas of philosophers make their way.
We're more like puppets on strings when we don't understand philosophy because we don't know how we're being pushed and pulled about.
And what we've been given is the... output of philosophy filtered through a bunch of various intermediary people.
You know, I don't intend to provide an awful ton of feedback about what he's saying, but And I don't intend to touch on any of the other stuff in this volume.
and basically what I want to talk about is the concept of I think therefore I am, which is a huge component of Descartes' philosophy, what that means.
I certainly heard the phrase I think therefore I am long before I understood what it meant.
That would just mean that only things that think exist or that thinking is thinking.
I'm not a professional philosopher by a long stretch, but I feel like it's important to have a basic understanding of some of the ideas because I think a lot of people who don't know much about philosophy don't realize how much philosophy has influenced our world, our politics, and our morality.
They filter down through the university system and thereby through the schools like K through 12 and into the media and all throughout society, various ideas of philosophers make their way.
We're more like puppets on strings when we don't understand philosophy because we don't know how we're being pushed and pulled about.
And what we've been given is the... output of philosophy filtered through a bunch of various intermediary people.
You know, I don't intend to provide an awful ton of feedback about what he's saying, but And I don't intend to touch on any of the other stuff in this volume.
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