Incorrigibility Incorrigibility In philosophy, incorrigibility is a property of a philosophical proposition, which implies that it is necessarily true simply by virtue of being believed. A common example of such a proposition is René Descartes' "cogito ergo sum" ("I think, therefore I am"). Johnathan Harrison has argued that "incorrigible" may be the wrong term, since it seems to imply (by the dictionary definition) a sense that the beliefs cannot be "changed", which isn't actually true. In Harrison's view, the incorrigibility of a proposition actually implies something about the nature of "believing"—for example, that one must exist in order to believe—rather than
Cogito, ergo sum of other minds at this point. This is something that has to be thought through by each of us for ourselves, as we follow the course of the meditations. Second, he does not say that his existence is necessary; he says that "if he thinks", then necessarily he exists (see the instantiation principle). Third, this proposition "I am, I exist" is held true not based on a deduction (as mentioned above) or on empirical induction but on the clarity and self-evidence of the proposition. Descartes does not use this first certainty, the "cogito", as a foundation upon which to build