«Cogito Ergo Sum» and Philofsophy of Action

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22240/sent32.01.088

Keywords:

Descartes, cogito, history of philosophy, analytical philosophy, justification of knowledge, foundationalism, epistemology, philosophy of action

Abstract

Analytical philosophy opens new perspectives of studies in the history of philosophy. There are (1) generalized history of analytical interpretations of Cartesian principle cogito ergo sum and (2) analysis of Cartesianism through the prism of contemporary philosophy of action, with special attention to performativity of the mentioned principle. The importance of such research necessarily goes beyond "pure" history of philosophy: it also contributes to revision of traditional approaches to justification of knowledge (foundationalism, coherentism, reliabilism), which still remain problematic.

Attention to performativism of cogito ergo sum thesis is the key to new convenient interpretation of knowledge justification problem, because it allows for justification as self-justification in terms of accomplishment. Inevitable accomplishment, peculiar to evidfently performative knowledge (example of which is cogito ergo sum, a very good contender for the role of a sure foundation), suggests that fundamentalist strategy of knowledge justification, in the perspective of philosophy of action, amounts to a preferable interpretation compared to traditional epistemological approach.

Author Biography

Anna Laktionova, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv

PhD in philosophy, associate professor, post-doctoral fellow at Department of Philosophy

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Published

2015-06-16

How to Cite

Laktionova, A. (2015). «Cogito Ergo Sum» and Philofsophy of Action. Sententiae, 32(1), 88–99. https://doi.org/10.22240/sent32.01.088

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