What Hurts, Exists.

Cogito, ergo sum. I think, therefore I am. Anything that bears the gift of thought, can be said to exist. Essentially, existence is tied to intellect. I wholeheartedly disagree. Patior, ergo sum. I suffer, therefore I am. If we were to take an animal for example, we would first need to determine whether or not they ‘think’. If we take the scientific definition of thought as being ‘covert symbolic responses to stimuli that are either intrinsic or extrinsic’ then perhaps we can conclude that yes, they do think, to some extent. For instance, if a prey spotted their predator (acting as an extrinsic stimulus) and hence made the decision to flee, is that not thought? I would conclude that yes, it is. However, this is thought in its most basic form, arising from our most primal basic instinct: to survive. In terms of humans, thought is a more complex, detailed notion. Our thoughts are not merely rooted in survival. We are multi-faceted. The very fact of me writing this post is clear evidence of how our brains have evolved to accommodate thought beyond the innate thought of survival.

The question I want to pose however, and the reason I disagree with cogito, ergo sum, is this: Let us imagine a hypothetical world in which androids or robotic figures exist. Now these robots do not have the capacity to think, they solely carry out their pre-programmed tasks. However, they can feel pain. By the definition of cogito, ergo sum, they ‘are not’. They do not think, therefore they are not. Now, if we were to take these robots and torture them – if we were to listen to their shrieks of pain, would we still conclude that they ‘are not’?

A being does not have to think to be awarded the title of ‘existence’. Typically, we treat things that exist nicer than things that do not exist. Whilst we might throw our phone across the room, we would not do the same to a hamster for instance. Why? Because a hamster exists in a sense that a phone does not. This is why I disagree with the idea of cogito, ergo sum.

Anything that has the capacity to feel pain, in my eyes, exists. It is deserving of kindness and compassion.

Patior, ergo sum….I suffer, therefore I am.

 

(Disclaimer: I know Descartes’ claim of ‘cogito, ergo sum’ refers more accurately to self-awareness: if you can doubt your existence then you must exist. However, this is just one of my little rambles that takes this idea and applies it to “actual” existence rather than what Descartes’ claimed.)