Dear René, Weve never met but Ive heard a lot about you and read some of the things youve written (in English translation). My guess is that you are too smart to feel responsible for things others have done with your work since you died, and whats on my mind may be something of that kind. I needed to get it off my chest though and couldnt think of anyone better to write to about it, so thanks for listening and here goes. Your phrase I think, therefore I am needs some correcting. I think I understand what you had in mind: the need to find a solid footing for ongoing inquiry. And I very much admire your posture of profound skepticism, with its associated reluctance to take not only revealed truth and authority but also logic and sense data as an assured starting point. It does seem to me though that you (or, more likely, others since you) took a good idea too far (as happened with your mind/body distinction, see Descartes Error). Or, maybe, it wasnt taken far enough. Heres the thing. Trees are. And they dont think. So you cant have meant to say that things in general have to think in order to be. That would be contradicted by trees and other things (rocks, desks, etc) that you certainly knew about. Some people (not you, Im pretty sure) would try to get around this problem by asserting that perhaps trees DO think. But that is, it seems to me, the product of not acknowledging that being and thinking are actually words for quite different things (a problem for which I do think you are in part responsible). All indications are that thinking is a pretty elaborate process that depends on a very elaborate architecture in the nervous system and trees literally dont HAVE a nervous system, much less an elaborately structured one. Being, on the other hand, seems to be more than adequately supported by much simpler assemblies of matter. So it seems, to me at least, pretty clear that trees (and other things) can be without thinking. #team_Scientists!! #Philosophy_ni_ufala!nkt!
Posted on: Thu, 28 Nov 2013 11:12:20 +0000
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