Uh...what? Descartes’ cogito ergo sum is a paraphrase of Saint Augustine’s argument in De Civitate Dei (published in the Early Middle Ages). Hell, Aristotle makes almost the same argument in the Nicomachean Ethics.
Are you suggesting that Descartes’ wasn’t even particularly impressive in his own time? I’d be willing to take the word of others on that because I certainly have no interest in spending time rummaging through obsolete philosophical writings to more precisely calculate situation-dependent merit.
Are you suggesting that Descartes’ wasn’t even particularly impressive in his own time?
No, not at all. His work in math and physics was very impressive for his time. I am merely pointing out that paraphrasing a thousand year old argument (which he was almost certainly introduced to during his scholastic training) isn’t a good example of his impressiveness (I’m guessing a majority of his classmates could have done the same).
Are you suggesting that Descartes’ wasn’t even particularly impressive in his own time? I’d be willing to take the word of others on that because I certainly have no interest in spending time rummaging through obsolete philosophical writings to more precisely calculate situation-dependent merit.
No, not at all. His work in math and physics was very impressive for his time. I am merely pointing out that paraphrasing a thousand year old argument (which he was almost certainly introduced to during his scholastic training) isn’t a good example of his impressiveness (I’m guessing a majority of his classmates could have done the same).