Charrots
Charrots
Charrots
Socrates Plato
Socrates
Know thyself-cornerstone of his philosophy
First thinker in recorded history to focus the full power of reason on the human self: who we are, who we
should be, and who we will become.
convinced that in addition to our physical bodies, each person possesses an immortal soul that survives
beyond the death of the body.
He explored this subject with his friends in the days following his trial and before his sentence of death
was executed, a time in his life when the question of immortality no doubt had a special immediacy and
significance.
Reality is dualistic, comprised of two dichotomous realms:
o changeable, transient, and imperfect (the physical realm--the physical world)
o unchanging, eternal, immortal (ideal realm--the intellectual essences of the universe: truth,
goodness, beauty)
Our bodies belong to the physical realm: they change, they’re imperfect, they die.
Our souls, however, belong to the ideal realm: they are unchanging and immortal, surviving the death of
the body.
Although a close relationship exists between our souls and our bodies, they are radically different
entities.
Our souls strive for wisdom and perfection, and reason is the soul’s tool to achieve this exalted state.
But as long as the soul is tied to the body, this quest for wisdom is inhibited by the imperfection of the
physical realm, as the soul is “dragged by the body into the region of the changeable,” where it “wanders
and is confused” in a world that “spins round her, and she is like a drunkard.”
But reason is a powerful tool, enabling the soul to free itself from the corrupting imperfection of the
physical realm and achieve “communion with the unchanging.”
The unexamined life is not worth living
What is truly remarkable about these ideas is how closely they parallel modern Western consciousness.
A finite body, an immortal soul, a perfect, eternal realm with which the soul seeks communion and
eternal bliss: all of the basic elements of Western (and some Eastern) religions are present.
Even on a secular level, the ideas resonate with modern concepts of the self: the notion that the thinking,
reasoning self and the physical body are radically distinct entities that have a complicated and
problematic relationship with one another.
Plato: The Soul is Immortal
Who is Plato?
Plato
Elaborated his concept of the soul (psyche)-
o Reason—our divine essence that enables us to think deeply, make wise choices, and achieve a true
Teacher Teacher
o When conflict occurs – it is the responsibility of Reason to sort things out and exert control.
Believed that genuine happiness can only be achieved by people who consistently make sure that their
Reason is in control of their Spirits and Appetites.
This harmonious integration under the control of Reason is the essence of Plato’s concept of justice at
the individual, social and political levels.
Describe an experience in your life in which you experienced a vigorous conflict between the three
dimensions of your self identified by Plato: Reason, Appetite, and Spirit. What was the nature of the
conflict? How was it resolved?
Describe an experience in your life in which Reason prevailed over Passion and Appetite. How was
Reason able to prevail? Did you gain increased wisdom from the experience?
Describe an experience in your life in which the three elements of your self identified by Plato worked
together in a productive and harmonious fashion, enabling you to achieve a great success.
St. Augustine
Plato
Rene Descartes
French philosopher
Founder of Modern Philosophy
The essence of existing as a human identity is the possibility of being aware of our selves
– integral to having a personal identity.
Locke’s points
• To discover the nature of personal identity, we’re going to have to find out what it means
to be a person.
• A person is a thinking, intelligent being who has the abilities to reason and to reflect.
• A person is also someone who considers himself to be the same thing in different times
and different places.
Locke’s points
• Consciousness – being aware that we are thinking – always
accompanies thinking and is an essential part of the thinking process.
• Consciousness is what makes possible our belief that we are the same
identity in different times and different places.
• Self-consciousness is a necessary part of having a coherent self-identity.
Consciousness accompanies thinking and makes possible the concept we
have of a self that remains the same at different times and in different places
David Hume
Scottish philosopher
Empiricist
Immanuel Kant
German philosopher
Our primary experience of the world is not in terms of a disconnected
stream of sensations.
We perceive and experience an organized world of objects, relationships and ideas, all
existing within a fairly stable framework of space and time.
Our minds actively sort, organize, relate and synthesize the fragmented, fluctuating
collection of sense data that our sense organs take in.
It’s our self that makes experiencing an intelligible world possible, because it’s the self
that is responsible for synthesizing the discreet data of sense experience into a
meaningful whole.
You are at the center of your world, and you view everything in the world from your
perspective.
The self is not a content of consciousness but rather the invisible “thread” that ties the
contents of consciousness together.
Sigmund Freud
Psychologist
Founder of the school of psychoanalysis
The self is multilayered.
o Conscious
o Preconscious
o Unconscious
Consciousness : mental processes of which we are aware.
Unconsciousness: mental processes which are not easily accessible to our awareness.
Preconscious: Everything unconscious that can easily exchange the unconscious
condition for the conscious one (capable of entering consciousness).
Unconscious Self
Basic instinctual drives: sexuality, aggressiveness and self-destruction; traumatic
memories; unfulfilled wishes and childhood fantasies; thoughts and feelings that would
be considered socially taboo.
Governed by “pleasure principle”
Can be found in the content of our dreams, inadvertent “slips of the tongue”, neurotic
symptoms.
Conscious Self
Governed by “reality principle”
Behavior and experience are organized in ways that are rational, practical and
appropriate to the social environment.
Takes into account the realistic demands of the situation, the consequences of various
actions and the overriding need to preserve the equilibrium of the entire
psychodynamic system.
The conscious self has the task of controlling the constant pressures of the unconscious
self, as its primitive impulses continually seek for immediate discharge.
Gilbert Ryle
Analytic philosopher
Behaviorist
The self is defined in terms of the behavior that is presented to the world. (Behaviorism)
Although each person has direct knowledge of his or her mind, it is impossible for us to
have any direct knowledge of other minds.
Our physical bodies are just the opposite of our minds.
o Their movements are available to everyone
o Can be observed, photographed, measured, analyzed, & movements can be
recorded.
Minds: completely private
Bodies: completely public
Ryle believes that the mind is a concept that expresses the entire system of thoughts,
emotions, actions and so on that make up the human self.
The self is best understood as a pattern of behavior, the tendency or disposition for a
person to behave in a certain way in certain circumstances
How you behave is “who” you are.
Paul Churchland
American philosopher
Materialism: the self is inseparable from the substance of the brain and the physiology
of the body.
Since history, humans have known of the close, intimate relationship between the mind
and the body.
o Dimensions of the physical self – affects mental & emotional functioning
o Dimensions of mental self – affects physical condition
Modern science is now able to use advanced equipment and sophisticated techniques to
unravel and articulate the complex web of connections that binds consciousness and
body together into an integrated self.
o To fully understand the nature of the mind, we have to fully understand the nature
of the brain.
The ultimate goal of exploring the neurophysiology of the brain is to link the self
(thoughts, passions, personality traits) to the physical wiring and physiological
functioning of the brain.
Edmund Husserl & Maurice Merleau - Ponty
The Self is embodied subjectivity
We experience our self as a unity in which the mental and physical are seamlessly woven
together.
o This unity is our primary experience of our selves, and we only begin to doubt it
when we use our minds to concoct abstract notions of a separate “mind” and
“body”.
Our “living body” is a natural synthesis of mind and biology and any attempts to divide
them into separate entities are artificial and nonsensical.
It’s the moments of direct, primal experience that are the most real (Lebenswelt or
“lived world”) which is the fundamental ground of our being and consciousness.
Phenomenology : all knowledge of our selves and our world is based on the
“phenomena” of our experience.
When we examine our selves at this fundamental level of direct human experience, we
discover that our mind and body are unified, not separate.
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