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Flip to reveal answersDescartes' 'I think, therefore I am'?
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All 11 Flashcards — Is there a self?
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Question
Descartes' 'I think, therefore I am'?
Answer
You can't doubt that thinking is happening, and thinking needs a thinker — so your own existence is certain.
Question
Anattā (no-self)?
Answer
The Buddhist teaching that there is no fixed, separate self — only a changing bundle of experiences (Vasubandhu).
Question
Hume on the self?
Answer
Looking inside, he only ever found particular perceptions — never a 'self' underneath. Echoes anattā.
Question
The hidden step in Descartes' argument?
Answer
'Thinking is happening' is certain; 'therefore a separate ME exists' adds an owner the no-self view rejects.
Question
De Beauvoir on the isolated self?
Answer
She rejects the lonely, solipsistic self: a self is real but only becomes itself through others.
Question
Solipsistic?
Answer
Treating your own mind as the only thing you can be sure exists.
Question
The three answers to 'is there a self?'
Answer
Descartes (yes, a certain thinker); no-self (only a bundle); De Beauvoir (real, but never separate from others).
Question
Why pair Hume with Vasubandhu?
Answer
A European and an Indian Buddhist thinker reach the same no-self conclusion — showing the idea across traditions.
Question
The Cartesian 'lone self'?
Answer
'I think, therefore I am' — I know myself first, alone, without others.
Question
Best objection to the lone self?
Answer
Thinking uses language, which is learned from others — so the self may never be truly alone.
Question
How do you reach the top band in Section A?
Answer
Explore an issue, weigh views in tension, and reach a reasoned conclusion — don't just describe.
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The self and the other
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