In the section on Significance, the paragraph stating how Descartes attempts to prove the existence of God ends with "Why must any God be benevolent? Why can't any God want to deceive him/us?" Is this a quote or somesuch from Descartes? If so, could someone more knowledgeable than I please include where it came from? If not, I think it is fairly POV, and should be at the very least deitalicized and rewritten as something like "Some people since, however, feel that Descartes fails to fully explain why God must be benevolent" or something of the like. If no one can bring up a reason not to, I will do so in a week or so. Whooper 06:44, 17 Sep 2004 (UTC)

I've been told that a more accurant translation is "I doubt, therefore, I am." Can anyone support or refute this? Kingturtle 02:38 Apr 9, 2003 (UTC)

cogito could be translated I think, I deliberate, I reflect, I ponder, I consider, I imagine, or any of a number of synonyms, but I think the person translating it as I doubt would be more likely to be trying to make a personal point rather than to be trying to render the phrase with exquisite accuracy... I doubt would correspond directly with dubito. -- Someone else 02:57 Apr 9, 2003 (UTC)

Someone suggested retitling this to René Descartes on wikipedia:votes for deletion.

Descartes actually wrote it in French (matching the French title of his Discourse de la methode). Je pense donc je suis. I think is pretty good for je pense. Translating from Latin is quite another matter - you have to work out first of all how it went into Latin to begin with.

I just deleted the rather jejune joke with which the article ended. If anyone wants to restore it, though, we can discuss that. Here it is:

--Christofurio 00:06, May 4, 2004 (UTC)

Descartes and Humor

Descartes' saying, cogito ergo sum (I think, therefore I am), has been so commonly repeated that an oft-repeated joke based on it has arisen:

Descartes walks into a bar. The bartender asks if he'd like a beer, and he finishes it. The bartender asks if he would like another. He says, "I think not" and disappears.

From a random web page:

Descartes' argument was that only beings with a soul can possess consciousness or feel pain. Furthermore, he argued that the ultimate test for if someone possesses a soul is whether or not they have the capacity for rational thought. He also argued that the ultimate test for the capacity for rational thought is whether or not an individual had the potential to understand a written language. The widely accepted belief at the time was that black people did not have the mental capacity to learn to read or write. (Although some African blacks had been writing in Arabic centuries earlier, this fact was unknown to the Europeans at the time.) Therefore, Descartes and many of his contemporaries concluded that black people did not possess a soul, were not the descendants of Adam and Eve, and did not have the capacity to feel pain, suffering, love, or a desire to live.

Correct or not? -- orthogonal 17:50, 10 Sep 2004 (UTC)

morale par provision

Someone please add a chapter on "morale par provision" aka provisional moral code

Maybe you could help us do just that. :) func(talk) 21:26, 12 Apr 2005 (UTC)

The scientific method

Some material has been added to the History section if the scientific method article concerning Descartes. If someone here has a chance to look over it I would be gateful. Chris 08:02, 11 May 2005 (UTC)