The Philosophers

The Philosophers
By Russell Edson

I think, therefore I am, said a man whose mother quickly 
hit him on the head, saying, I hit my son on the head, 
therefore I am.
No no, you've got it all wrong, cried the man.
So she hit him on the head again and cried, therefore I am.
You're not, not that way; you're supposed to think, not hit, 
cried the man.

. . . I think, therefore I am, said the man.
I hit, therefore we both are, the hitter and the one who gets 
hit, said the man's mother.
But at this point the man had ceased to be; unconscious he 
could not think. But his mother could. So she thought, I am, 
and so is my unconscious son, even if he doesn't know it . . .