THE MIND AS THE SUPREME CREATOR: my analysis on the “cogito ergo sum” of R.Descartes

In 1637, Descartes published the Discours de la Methode wherein the phrase “cogito ergo sum” appeared on the 4th chapter for the first time. Then, the same phrase emerged for the second time in 1644 on the 1st chapter of the Principia Philosophiae which gives emphasis on the mind and reason employing his famous “Wax Argument”.

Based on careful observation on the life and teaching of Descartes, some apparent indications would show that he is trying to drive a philosophy which is more radical than any of his precedence – that I supposed was, THE MIND AS THE SUPREME CREATOR.

Of course, Descartes never mentioned this line of statement, needless to say that he was in a place with a culture of religious arrogance armed with authority to hack any person who might threaten the institution. Explicitly, to avoid any possible suspicion from the mighty church, Descartes designed a device to cover him from the dangerous heretical accusation. Instead of giving more substance to his concept of the “cogito” as the first cause, he deviated from further explanation but rather interjected his flimsy arguments on the proof of God’s existence. As we all knew, all intellectuals and philosophers during those times always have had a piece for “God’s existence” in all of their works as an advance shield for the frivolous inquiry of the Church.

It could be inferred from Descartes’ works that the mind as the cradle of thinking is the core of identification. Meaning, the identification of the self and of all things shall always commence in the mind. To Descartes, the thinking and reason are the determinants of certainties when the senses are not capable of perceiving due to deceptions.

The translation “I think, therefore I am” has also been transliterated as “I think, therefore I exist”. By virtue of prudent examination and analysis, the phrase “I exist” is an outcome of consciousness from the phrase “I think”. The thinking, therefore, is the identifying element of existence. It is to say that without the thinking there can be no other remedy of determining the existence. Since existence is the only substance by which the being becomes a component of reality, and since existence is hinged on the thinking and the thinking is anchored on the mind, we may draw a safe conclusion that the mind is the supreme creator. It coud have been a blasphemous syllogism had Rene Descartes made it explicit for this arrangement would include any god as a creation of the mind through the thinking.

Despite of a careful concealment, however, some of the institutions might have been aware of the intentions of Descartes and the directions of his philosophies; this could be supported by the fact that in 1643 the University of Utrecht condemned the Cartesian Philosophy, and another instance after Descartes’ death the Pope placed his works on the Index of Prohibited Books in 1663