Esprit Scholengroep English and Dutch. The Cartesius Lyceum is named after French philosopher René Descartes and uses his famous quote "Cogito ergo sum" in their logo. In 1954, the Spinoza Lyceum (also part of the Esprit scholengroep) had a lack of space. They added two classrooms in the Western part of Amsterdam. These became the "Cartesius Lyceum" in 1956. A larger school building was opened by former Queen Juliana in 1962. After merging with another school in 1988, the number of students decreased. In 1999 the Cartesius Lyceum moved close to Jordaan where no secondary schools were yet situated. The European School
Cogito, ergo sum and let him deceive me as much as he can, he will never bring it about that I am nothing, so long as I think that I am something. So, after considering everything very thoroughly, I must finally conclude that the proposition, "I am, I exist," is necessarily true whenever it is put forward by me or conceived in my mind. (AT VII 25; CSM II 16–17) There are three important notes to keep in mind here. First, he claims only the certainty of "his own" existence from the first-person point of view — he has not proved the existence