How do we know that we exist? 84 Articles

by Roberta Maria Atti

Human Consciousness Consciousness, in reference to the human mind, describes the reflective perceptual dynamic emergent at the center of the mental structure we call "self". At times we experience it sequentially, not u...read more

by Jeremy Fisher

We know that we exist. But that does not mean that we do exist. The only confirmation we have that we as individuals exist is our sensory stimuli, and having the capacity to question that is what philosophy is all about. ...read more

by Ms P. K. Styles

I know I exist because the emotional pain I struggle against everyday is too intense for any mere phantom. As Dostoyevsky said, "Though I sit alone on a pillar, I exist!" What does it mean, after all, to exist? It means yo...read more

by Eric Lannak

From the day we are born our brain is busy with the process of sensing things, interpreting what we sense, and creating an understanding of the world. We learn to interpret different frequencies of light as "colors", diffe...read more

by Natasha Iqbal

(Quoted from Descartes)"Every sensory experience I have ever thought I was having while being awake I can also think of sometimes having while asleep; and since I do not believe that what I seem to perceive in sleep com...read more

by Beau Smith

The question "Do I exist?" may seem absurd. Of course I exist. Not so fast. Before deciding, consider the implications the questions that follow: "Why do I exist?" "How do I exist?" "Is it possible to stop existing?" "What...read more

by Stephen Carter

Extreme skeptics insist that in the absence of 100% certainty, we cannot maintain that we know we exist. Our only 'reality check' on this is our own consciousness. Anything outside my consciousness could be an illusion gen...read more

by Michel Kordas

In the biblical Greek of the New Testament, "Zao" means to live. "How shall we then live" is the eternal question, once we have defined if life is simply worth existing. Do we exist as a spiritual person or as an in...read more

by Robert Heintzman

Cogito, ergo sum (I think, therefore I am)to my mind are the words of a misguided fool. Forgive me if I have shocked your sensibilities but I have always found it curious that Descartes was quite willing to doubt his own e...read more

by Ranjan Mathews

Awareness From A Baby's Viewpoint I have always looked at the world through a baby's eyes. A baby's observation and reactions are always spontaneous - an instinctive prepotent action or reaction. However, unlike a baby, I...read more

by Anonomous User1

This question is, in itself, highly problematic. It depends entirely upon your definition of existence. Clearly, we must exist in some form to be capable of even asking the question to begin with! If by 'my existence' y...read more

by Orestes Gonzalez

An answer to the question 'How do we know that we exist,' is not easy to articulate. Existence is one of those truths which philosophers call self-evident truths, that is to say, a truth that we cannot demonstrate. In gene...read more

by Ron Hughes

"I think, therefore I am." This famous quote has been hailed as a philosophical breakthrough ever since Rene Descartes first sprung it on an apparently breathless world. To me, it has always seemed to be conclusive proof t...read more

by Cary Kimmons

My first, automatic response: What a strange question. Intriguing, though...an interesting topic. I think I'll write an article about this. Oddly enough, I've actually asked myself this question before. Truly and honest...read more

by Elm Schindler

I feel like I am living in a glass globe and being watched as someone's amusement! My life has been such a mess that often I really do feel like I am an experiment. Like someone is seeing how much I can take by throwing ...read more

by Matthew Tyler Funk

The Illusion of Self Since nothing in the universe is unique or accurately definable, neither then can the self be. The self is probably why we believe in time, in separatism, a higher being, or anything we believe in. ...read more

by Michael Swain

Quite simply, we don't know as much as we think, and since all things are questionable, the only way we can know taht we exist is to accept certain aspects of life as given fact, despite there being nothing on which to bas...read more

by Joanne Edwards

How do we know that we exist? That would make a good question for the Oracle of Delphi or an amusing riddle for the Sphinx. It would be at home in a book of Japanese koans such as "What is the sound of one hand clapping?...read more

by Bierce

I could be bound in a nutshell and count myself king of infinite space."-from Hamlet Our minds are capable of far more than humans can understand. A person's mind can create an alternate universe for him, a universe wi...read more

by William Stephenson

We exist. No fact has been questioned more than this in the past half-century. Many have come to see this debate as a greatly enlightened one, feeling awe for someone who could claim that he does not exist. However, thi...read more