A função do método de análise na constituição do argumento do <i>cogito</i> nas <i>Meditações</i>: uma leitura do <i>cogito</i> através da <i>reductio ad absurdum</i>

Abstract

If the cogito can be taken in the Meditations as a conclusion of a demonstration, I would like to introduce the thesis that this demonstration is developed according to the analytical method that Descartes recognizes to have employed in that text. This method would have among its functions to present in the form of a network of ontological implications the reasoning that leads to the certainty of existence. In the Meditations, Descartes intended to prove the certainty of existence without any previous certainty. Therefore the analytical method is the only one that supports this demand, because, according to our opinion, it can rebuild the cogito argument under an indirect basis, or more precisely through a reductio ad absurdum, whose aim consists in showing the inevitable contradiction that emerges when someone makes the attempt of proving his non-existence.