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Antoine Léonard Thomas

Illustration — DUPLESSIS Joseph Siffred: Portrait d'Antoine-Léonard Thomas Antoine Léonard Thomas (1 October 1732 – 17 September 1785) was a French poet and literary critic, best known in his time for his great eloquence, especially for éloges in praise of past luminaries. It was in recognition of this that he was elected to Académie Française. In an award-winning 1765 essay in praise of René Descartes, he penned a fuller form of the cogito in French as "Puisque je doute, je pense; puisque je pense, j'existe." With rearrangement and compaction, the passage translates to "I doubt, therefore I think, therefore I am," or in Latin, "dubito, ergo cogito, ergo sum." He was born in Clermont-Ferrand and died aged 52 in Oullins.

Also recorded as Antoine Leonard Thomas

Antoine Léonard Thomas

Antoine Léonard Thomas, Antoine-Léonard Thomas - Versailles MV 3000

After Joseph-Siffred Duplessis · photo.rmn.fr · Public domain

Born
1732
Died
1785
Nationality
France
Occupation
poet · literary critic · writer · philosopher

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Illustration — DUPLESSIS Joseph Siffred: Portrait d'Antoine-Léonard Thomas Antoine Léonard Thomas (1 October 1732 – 17 September 1785) was a French poet and literary critic, best known in his time for his great eloquence, especially for éloges in praise of past luminaries. It was in recognition of this that he was elected to Académie Française. In an award-winning 1765 essay in praise of René Descartes, he penned a fuller form of the cogito in French as "Puisque je doute, je pense; puisque je pense, j'existe." With rearrangement and compaction, the passage translates to "I doubt, therefore I think, therefore I am," or in Latin, "dubito, ergo cogito, ergo sum." He was born in Clermont-Ferrand and died aged 52 in Oullins.

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In this article

  1. 01Biography
  2. 02Notes, references and evidence

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