Re: KuJomu - the writing

>Yes indeed! But I just have one critique on what you say: like most adversaries
>of Descartes at his time, you don't follow his path, and try to contradict him
>with inapplicable things *at the point of the discussion you are trying to
>contradict*. Any of the next five meditations of Descartes contain points which
>can be contradicted (despite Descartes's claim). But that's not the case of his
>first meditation, since its message is simply: when I begin to doubt the
>existence of everything, the world, other people, animals, even my own body, I
>can never doubt my own existence, *whatever the nature of this existence*
>(something which *cannot* be known at that time. It cannot even be known
>whether it existed before or whether it will carry on existing, or whether it
>was built in some way, since even time itself has been doubted away), my own
>existence as a doubting, and thus thinking being. This statement is
>uncontradictable because it is valid *only* for the one who states it. It is
>solipsism in its purest form. Any try at contradicting it involves adding
>postulates and/or statements that have *at this point of the discussion* no
>value, since they can be doubted. Only later will Descartes be able to prove
>the existence of his body, and then of the outside world, including anybody
>else (and this part of the demonstration is a part which can be discussed and
>contradicted).

I will try another contradiction, to see what you or descartes has to say about
this one. But i will not say he goes to far, or such, but indeed that maybe he
does not go far enough. To me, what could be wrong in "I think, I am" is the
"I". Nothing prooves that the thinking is his own. Something else could be
thinking or this though could just existe by itself, and yourself might only be
passively receiving this thinking. So it would be possible to state "there is a
thinking, this thinking (or part of it) is known to me. We might, or not, be
the same entity". Certainly descarte can not doubt the doubting, but i do not
see why this doubting has to be his own.
But from a certain point of view it could be considered similar to what descartes
says, since this view still invole him self, it still lead to proove his own
existence. But not necessarly as a thinking being.
If you want to get mad, you can also argue than it can be doubted than your
thinking does not have any mistake. Nothing prooves that what you assume to be
logical actualy is. Since the idea of solipsims is that any thing which can be
doubted should be, then descartes should doubt the accuracy of his way of
thinking, and thus doubt the conclusion.

By the way, could you summ up the next five meditations? I am curious to see what
what he takes for impossible to doubt, and you think is not.

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