cogito

See also: cogitò

English

Noun

cogito (usually uncountable, plural cogitos)

1. (philosophy, often preceded by the, sometimes capitalized) The argument "cogito, ergo sum" ("I think therefore I am") from the philosophy of René Descartes; the mental act of thinking this thought; a conscious being which performs this mental act.
   • 1957, Jean-Paul Sartre, translated by Forrest Williams and Robert Kirkpatrick, The Transcendence of the Ego, Noonday Press, pages 43–44:

     The Cogito of Descartes and Husserl is an apprehension of fact. […] Such a Cogito is performed by a consciousness directed upon consciousness, a consciousness which takes consciousness as an object.

   • 1966 Dec, Geoffrey Hartman, “Beyond Formalism”, in MLN, volume 81, number 5, page 551:

     But are there not as many consciousnesses or cogitos as there are individuals?

   • 1984 Jan, Charles Larmore, “Descartes' Psychologistic Theory of Assent”, in History of Philosophy Quarterly, volume 1, number 1, page 65:

     An obvious candidate for this class of propositions would be the cogito, whose evidence, Descartes insisted, is not founded on inference.

   • 2000 Spring, Linnell Secomb, "Fractured Community," Hypatia, vol. 15, no. 2, p. 138:

     Benhabib proposes a […] "recognition that the subjects of reason are finite, embodied and fragile creatures, and not disembodied cogitos or abstract unities of transcendental apperception".

   • 2009 May, Ernest Sosa, “Précis of A Virtue Epistemology”, in Philosophical Studies: An International Journal for Philosophy in the Analytic Tradition, " vol. 144, no. 1, p. 109 n11:

     It may be thought that this leads to an even more radical skepticism than that envisaged by Descartes, since now even the cogito may be questioned.

Anagrams

• ciotóg

Catalan

Verb

cogito

1. first-person singular present indicative of cogitar

French

Noun

cogito m (plural cogitos)

1. cogito

Further reading

• “cogito”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Italian

Verb

cogito

1. first-person singular present indicative of cogitare

Anagrams

• gotico

Latin

Etymology

From con- +‎ agitō.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈkoː.ɡi.toː/, [ˈkoːɡɪt̪oː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈko.d͡ʒi.to/, [ˈkɔːd͡ʒit̪o]

Verb

cōgitō (present infinitive cōgitāre, perfect active cōgitāvī, supine cōgitātum); first conjugation [with accusative or dē (+ ablative)]

1. to think
   • 63 BCE, Cicero, Catiline Orations‎:

     Nihil agis, nihil moliris, nihil cogitas quod non ego non modo audiam sed etiam videam planeque sentiam.

     You do nothing, you plan nothing, you think of nothing which I not only do not hear, but which I do not see and know every particular of.

2. to ponder, meditate, reflect, consider (i.e. think of, about, over)
3. to intend, design, purpose, plan, devise (i.e. have in mind)

Conjugation

Conjugation of cōgitō (first conjugation)
indicative		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	cōgitō	cōgitās	cōgitat	cōgitāmus	cōgitātis	cōgitant
	imperfect	cōgitābam	cōgitābās	cōgitābat	cōgitābāmus	cōgitābātis	cōgitābant
	future	cōgitābō	cōgitābis	cōgitābit	cōgitābimus	cōgitābitis	cōgitābunt
	perfect	cōgitāvī	cōgitāvistī, cōgitāstī1	cōgitāvit, cōgitāt1	cōgitāvimus, cōgitāmus1	cōgitāvistis, cōgitāstis1	cōgitāvērunt, cōgitāvēre, cōgitārunt1
	pluperfect	cōgitāveram, cōgitāram1	cōgitāverās, cōgitārās1	cōgitāverat, cōgitārat1	cōgitāverāmus, cōgitārāmus1	cōgitāverātis, cōgitārātis1	cōgitāverant, cōgitārant1
	future perfect	cōgitāverō, cōgitārō1	cōgitāveris, cōgitāris1	cōgitāverit, cōgitārit1	cōgitāverimus, cōgitārimus1	cōgitāveritis, cōgitāritis1	cōgitāverint, cōgitārint1
passive	present	cōgitor	cōgitāris, cōgitāre	cōgitātur	cōgitāmur	cōgitāminī	cōgitantur
	imperfect	cōgitābar	cōgitābāris, cōgitābāre	cōgitābātur	cōgitābāmur	cōgitābāminī	cōgitābantur
	future	cōgitābor	cōgitāberis, cōgitābere	cōgitābitur	cōgitābimur	cōgitābiminī	cōgitābuntur
	perfect	cōgitātus + present active indicative of sum
	pluperfect	cōgitātus + imperfect active indicative of sum
	future perfect	cōgitātus + future active indicative of sum
subjunctive		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	cōgitem	cōgitēs	cōgitet	cōgitēmus	cōgitētis	cōgitent
	imperfect	cōgitārem	cōgitārēs	cōgitāret	cōgitārēmus	cōgitārētis	cōgitārent
	perfect	cōgitāverim, cōgitārim1	cōgitāverīs, cōgitārīs1	cōgitāverit, cōgitārit1	cōgitāverīmus, cōgitārīmus1	cōgitāverītis, cōgitārītis1	cōgitāverint, cōgitārint1
	pluperfect	cōgitāvissem, cōgitāssem1	cōgitāvissēs, cōgitāssēs1	cōgitāvisset, cōgitāsset1	cōgitāvissēmus, cōgitāssēmus1	cōgitāvissētis, cōgitāssētis1	cōgitāvissent, cōgitāssent1
passive	present	cōgiter	cōgitēris, cōgitēre	cōgitētur	cōgitēmur	cōgitēminī	cōgitentur
	imperfect	cōgitārer	cōgitārēris, cōgitārēre	cōgitārētur	cōgitārēmur	cōgitārēminī	cōgitārentur
	perfect	cōgitātus + present active subjunctive of sum
	pluperfect	cōgitātus + imperfect active subjunctive of sum
imperative		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	—	cōgitā	—	—	cōgitāte	—
	future	—	cōgitātō	cōgitātō	—	cōgitātōte	cōgitantō
passive	present	—	cōgitāre	—	—	cōgitāminī	—
	future	—	cōgitātor	cōgitātor	—	—	cōgitantor
non-finite forms		active			passive
		present	perfect	future	present	perfect	future
infinitives		cōgitāre	cōgitāvisse, cōgitāsse1	cōgitātūrum esse	cōgitārī	cōgitātum esse	cōgitātum īrī
participles		cōgitāns	—	cōgitātūrus	—	cōgitātus	cōgitandus
verbal nouns		gerund				supine
		genitive	dative	accusative	ablative	accusative	ablative
		cōgitandī	cōgitandō	cōgitandum	cōgitandō	cōgitātum	cōgitātū

¹At least one rare poetic syncopated perfect form is attested.

Synonyms

1. (think): arbitror, sentio, puto, existimo, reor, iudico, censeo

Derived terms

• cōgitābundus
• cōgitātē
• cōgitātiō
• cōgitātum
• cōgitātus
• cōgitō, ergō sum
• excōgitō
• incōgitāns
• incōgitō
• recōgitō

 

Descendants

• Eastern Romance:
  • Romanian: cugeta, cugetare
• Italian: cogitare, coitare
• Old Francoprovençal: cuidar, cuidier
  • Franco-Provençal: cuidier, cuidar
• Old French: cuidier, cuider, kuider, quider, quidier
  • Bourguignon: cueudai
  • Lorrain: cueuder
  • French: cuider
• Old Leonese:
  • Asturian: cuidar
• Old Occitan: cuidar
  • Occitan: coidar
• Old Galician-Portuguese: cuidar, coidar
  • Galician: coidar
  • Portuguese: cuidar
• Old Spanish: coidar
  • Spanish: cuidar
• Rhaeto-Romance:
  • Romansch: quitar
• → Proto-Albanian: *kugitɔnjœ,
  • Albanian: kujtonj (early version; Old Gheg)
    • Albanian: kujtoj
• → Catalan: cogitar
• → English: cogitate
• → French: cogiter
• → Italian: cogitare
• → Portuguese: cogitar
• → Spanish: cogitar

References

• “cogito”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “cogito”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• cogito in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to take no thought for the future: futura non cogitare, curare
    
• cogito in Ramminger, Johann (2016 July 16 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎, pre-publication website, 2005-2016

Portuguese

Verb

cogito

1. first-person singular present indicative of cogitar

Spanish

Verb

cogito

1. first-person singular present indicative of cogitar