Nietzsche's take on Rene Descartes' "Je pense, donc je suis"

        "I think, therefore I am." Most of us know this famous quote by the French philosopher, Rene Descartes. The fact that a person questions his/her existence, is enough proof to say that the "I", or "Self" (consciousness) exists.

This made plenty of sense to me. Until I read the following in Nietzsche's Beyond Good and Evil:

There are still harmless self-observers who believe in the existence of “immediate certainties,” such as “I think,” or the “I will” that was Schopenhauer’s superstition: just as if knowledge had been given an object here to seize, stark naked, as a “thing-in-itself,” and no falsification took place from either the side of the subject or the side of the object.[...] For once and for all, we should free ourselves from the seduction of words! Let the people believe that knowing means knowing to the very end; the philosopher has to say: “When I dissect the process expressed in the proposition ‘I think,’ I get a whole set of bold claims that are difficult, perhaps impossible, to establish, – for instance, that I am the one who is thinking, that there must be something that is thinking in the first place, that thinking is an activity and the effect of a being who is considered the cause, that there is an ‘I,’ and finally, that it has already been determined what is meant by thinking, – that I know what thinking is. Because if I had not already made up my mind what thinking is, how could I tell whether what had just happened was not perhaps ‘willing’ or ‘feeling’? Enough: this ‘I think’ presupposes that I compare my present state with other states that I have seen in myself, in order to determine what it is: and because of this retrospective comparison with other types of ‘knowing,’ this present state has absolutely no ‘immediate certainty’ for me.” – In place of that “immediate certainty” which may, in this case, win the faith of the people, the philosopher gets handed a whole assortment of metaphysical questions, genuinely probing intellectual questions of conscience, such as: “Where do I get the concept of thinking from? Why do I believe in causes and effects? What gives me the right to speak about an I, and, for that matter, about an I as cause, and, finally, about an I as the cause of thoughts?”

A brief comment:

After reading this over and over again, I think I understand Nietzsche's criticism of Rene's take on the existence of one's own self. He raises valid (I say valid because I am convinced by the points Nietzsche raises) points such such as for a thought to manifest, a person must exist. So basically, Nietzsche, with his theory, goes deeper than Descartes, who doesn't give as much importance (here) to the body as he does to the mind. Also, Descartes makes a lot of assumptions about "I" and "thinking": both of which are eventually unsuccessful in proving one's existence. Nietzsche lays the foundations for his philosophy based on the existence of humanity. In short, one can revise Descartes quote to form this: "I am, therefore I exist."

P.S - Later on, Descartes himself changed the quote to "I am, I exist"

***

Either I am very close to the correct meaning of what Nietzsche has to say about Rene's views here, or I am completely off the mark with the points made in Beyond Good and Evil. Understanding Nietzsche has been torturous even for the most learned scholars out there, so I am trying to be on my toes as much as possible, without getting ahead of myself. But having sincerely committed to reading and understanding Nietzsche's teachings, there is no looking back now.

**Readers, if you feel that I have misunderstood certain points, or that if you feel that you happen to have a better understanding of the topic, please feel free to drop a comment here, or shoot me an e-mail at nishath123@gmail.com. **

Beyond the hours

        The dark night's silence is disturbed only by the rotary ceiling fan and the occasional barking of dogs. I take a quick glance out of the window, and my eyes are met by the dim glow of a street lamp. Waiting to go off almost. To escape into the surrounding darkness.

Since I wasn't doing anything productive, I let my mind wander to this. A few lines of poetry.


A smile,
immortal,
and a tear,
but few to hear.

Invisible love,
she sought.
Now and then making a fuss.
Frightened by the blades,
she accepted.

"What were they doing?",
whispered the widow.
New air caressed her face.
A spring in her step.
The smile back.

***

4.08 AM. Morning birds have announced their arrival. With amazing punctuality as usual. Time for some snacks, and then hopefully, sleep. 

A conversation worth it's weight in gold.

        As far as conversations during air travel goes, I haven't had any memorable experiences. I am usually too busy with my books or music, and occasionally, in-flight entertainment. I don't make a conscious effort to avoid conversations, in fact, I love conversing with strangers, but it just so turns out that I haven't had any. But somehow, I tend to attract wailing babies whenever I fly. However, that pattern was disrupted this time while traveling from London to Chennai as I met Michael.

Michael was born in Oxford, into an Irish family. He is married to a Dutch woman, and has been residing in Portugal for 18 years. He is seventy years-old, retired, and now spends his time traveling. He has a degree in history (one of the reasons why this conversation lasted almost 4 hours). 

It started with me offering an Oreo cookie, which he politely refused. He asked me where I was from, and I gave him a rather needlessly elaborate response. I tend to do that sometimes. After getting to know his background, we settled on a current topic for a conversation: Chelsea's Champions League triumph over Bayern Munich. I was quick to boast off Chelsea's freshly achieved European glory. After ten minutes, we were touching upon every football topic that was on the news, from Di Matteo's unexpected success to the match-fixing scandal clouding Italy. It is common to see such enthusiasm and fervor for sports among people of my age, but this, this was something different. I saw myself in him. Fifteen minutes into this conversation and I knew my seven hours of flight would be a smooth and enjoyable one. It turned out to be just that. 


Throughout the four hours of non-stop talking, our topics ranged from Dosa to the Battle of Stalingrad, from idol worship to the existence of God, and from Catalonia to Santa Maria Novella. After going through various topics in slightly less than three hours, supper was served. Soon, turbulence followed, which was followed by a nap. 


Five hours of journey had passed. I skipped my second meal and opted for coffee instead. Michael went for Coffee and brandy. A little while later, my curiosity had the better of me. "So how did you meet your wife?", I asked him politely. Obviously, I wouldn't have asked him had he not told me earlier that he fell in love at the age of twenty-one.Love stories interests me a great deal. I didn't want to miss this story. He smiled and said, "It was during my college days." Not that different from the current generation after all, I thought. He went into further details on how there was stern resistance, both from his family and from hers, and other 'struggles' he had to cope back then. Bogged down my community hardliners, you could get an idea of the struggles he was constantly talking about. For a little while, it was like listening to a Bollywood movie narrative. Except, this was real with a happy ending. "And then after all the struggles, I finally got to marry her.", he said. I am sure I saw an ephemeral glimmer of pride in his eyes. Why not, I thought to myself. If you fought for what you believed in, and managed to achieve it, then you bloody hell should feel proud. It was a touching moment for him even after all these years. 


For me, this conversation was all about heeding to what he had to say. For most part, I was merely a listener trying to gain as much knowledge and experience from Michael as possible. After all, he had seen it all, and had a rich collection of experiences and anecdotes to share with me. It's not everyday that you come across people who are openly willing to share their experiences to a complete stranger. 


Soon, we were waiting to collect our bags from the baggage carousel. We were about to part ways when he said this, "Remember, you have the life ahead of you. Live it in any way you want to, but have one goal. That will define you." I didn't expect this. My mind was already on my eagerly awaiting parents. Today, after two weeks, his words resonate in my head. Constantly bothering me. In a good way. There was nothing magical in his words, just the usual statements elders make, but his timing, and delivery, had a significant effect on me. 


Here's hoping I encounter many more people like Michael. 

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