That seems false if taken at face value: “ergo” means “therefore”, ergo, “Cogito ergo sum” means “I think, therefore I am”. Also, I have no clue how to parse “I think, I am”. Does it mean “I think and I am”?
There’s probably a story behind that translation and how it corresponds to Descartes’s other beliefs, but I don’t think that “I think, I am” makes sense without that story.
(A side note: it’s Latin, not French. I originally added here that Descartes wrote in Latin, but apparently he originally made the statement in French as “Je pense donc je suis.”)
A better translation (maybe—I don’t speak french) would be “I think, I am”. Or so said my philosophy teacher..
That seems false if taken at face value: “ergo” means “therefore”, ergo, “Cogito ergo sum” means “I think, therefore I am”. Also, I have no clue how to parse “I think, I am”. Does it mean “I think and I am”?
There’s probably a story behind that translation and how it corresponds to Descartes’s other beliefs, but I don’t think that “I think, I am” makes sense without that story.
(A side note: it’s Latin, not French. I originally added here that Descartes wrote in Latin, but apparently he originally made the statement in French as “Je pense donc je suis.”)