Final answer:
Descartes' cogito argument uses the act of thinking to prove one's own existence and to establish the mind as a non-physical entity distinct from the body. The statement 'I think, therefore I am' asserts that thinking is the undeniable proof that 'thinking things', or minds, exist independently of physical substance.
Step-by-step explanation:
Rene Descartes uses the cogito argument to establish that humans are thinking things. By stating 'Cogito, ergo sum', which translates to 'I think, therefore I am', Descartes presents his first indubitable truth. This statement proves that thinking is undeniable proof of one's own existence. From this, Descartes concludes that the mind, the entity responsible for thought, must exist and is distinct from the physical body. Descartes' dualism asserts that there are two different kinds of substance: physical (matter) and spiritual (non-physical). Under this view, the mind belongs to the non-physical realm and proves its own existence through the act of thinking.