How could philosopher René Descartes prove his own existence?
In: Other
His line of thinking was to question everything. You might see that you are in a house. But what if that house is just an illusion that you think you see? After all, if you sleep and dream of a house, then that house doesn’t really exist either. So how could you know if the house you saw waking existed? Strictly speaking, you can’t.
You might feel your own body. But again that sense and feelings might be fake. You might be a bodyless spirit that is just tricked by a god or demon to think that it has a body.
But what you can always know is that **you**, your mind exists. Even if a demon can trick you about your senses and experiences, there must be someone he tricks. If you can wonder about your own existance, then there must be **something** that currently wonders about its existence.
That way he concluded “I think, therefor I am”. Even if you doubt everything, including your senses, you can always know with absolute certainty that *you* exist as long as you can think about whether you exist.
Latest Answers