I Think, Therefore I Am | Part 2

Episode 2.72

Descartes, Doubt, and the Birth of Modern Certainty

What can be known with absolute certainty?

In Part 2 of I Think; Therefore I Am, Michael and Zach walk through René Descartes’ most famous move—the cogito—and why it reshaped the entire history of philosophy. Faced with the collapse of Aristotelian certainty and the rise of radical doubt, Descartes wasn’t trying to be clever. He was trying to survive an intellectual crisis.

By doubting everything that could possibly be doubted—senses, mathematics, the external world, even his own body—Descartes discovers one truth that cannot be denied: the very act of doubt proves the existence of the doubter.

This episode explores:

-Why Descartes adopted methodological doubt in the first place

-What the cogito actually claims—and what it carefully avoids claiming

-Why “I think, therefore I am” is not a syllogism, but an immediate insight

-How the cogito becomes the foundation for clarity, certainty, and reason

-How this moment launches modern philosophy and reshapes the God-question

Far from being a throwaway slogan, the cogito marks a turning point: the shift from inherited authority to subject-centered certainty. Whether you admire Descartes or see his move as the beginning of philosophical trouble, understanding the cogito is essential for understanding the modern world—and the questions it still can’t escape.

Find our videocast here: https://youtu.be/9sCu1pq-2HE

Merch here: https://take-2-podcast.printify.me/

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):

⁠https://uppbeat.io/t/reakt-music/deep-stone⁠

License code: 2QZOZ2YHZ5UTE7C8

Find more Take 2 Theology content at http://www.take2theology.com