Cogito, ergo sum though not explicitly as "cogito, ergo sum" in Meditation II: In 1644, Descartes published (in Latin) his "Principles of Philosophy" where the phrase "ego cogito, ergo sum" appears in Part 1, article 7: Descartes's margin note for the above paragraph is: Descartes, in a lesser-known posthumously published work dated as written ca. 1647 and titled ("The Search for Truth by Natural Light"), wrote: The proposition is sometimes given as . This fuller form was penned by the eloquent French literary critic, Antoine Léonard Thomas, in an award-winning 1765 essay in praise of Descartes, where it appeared as In English, this
Cogito, ergo sum further knowledge; rather, it is the firm ground upon which he can stand as he works to discover further truths As he puts it: Archimedes used to demand just one firm and immovable point in order to shift the entire earth; so I too can hope for great things if I manage to find just one thing, however slight, that is certain and unshakable. (AT VII 24; CSM II 16) According to many Descartes specialists, including Étienne Gilson, the goal of Descartes in establishing this first truth is to demonstrate the capacity of his criterion — the immediate clarity and