Lesson 1 (PHILOSOPHICAL)

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DON HONORIO VENTURA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

Cabambangan, Villa de Bacolor 2001, Pampanga, Philippines ISO 9001: 2015 AND PHILOSOPHY
Tel. No. (6345) 458 0021; Fax (6345) 458 0021 Local 211 QMS-Certified
DHVSU Candaba Campus, Pasig, Candaba, Pampanga
URL: http://dhvsu.edu.ph E-Mail Address: _______@gmail.com

COURSE MODULE
UNDERSTANDING THE SELF - CHAPTER 1
Topic 1: The Philosophical Perspective of the Self
Objective:
After completing the module, the students are expected to:
1. Explain why it is essential to understand the self;
2. Describe and discuss the different notions of the self from the points of view of
various philosophers across time and place;
3. Compare and contrast how the self has been represented in different
philosophical schools; and
4. Examine one’s self against the different views of self that were discussed in
class.

Learning Contents:

Pre-Discussion Activity
Answer the following questions about your “self” as fully and precise as you can.
1. How would you characterize your “self"?

2. What makes you stand out from the rest? What makes your “self”?

3. How has your “self” transformed itself?

4. How is your “self” connected to your body?

5. How is your “self” related to other selves?

6. What will happen to your “self” after you die?


DON HONORIO VENTURA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
Cabambangan, Villa de Bacolor 2001, Pampanga, Philippines ISO 9001: 2015 AND PHILOSOPHY
Tel. No. (6345) 458 0021; Fax (6345) 458 0021 Local 211 QMS-Certified
DHVSU Candaba Campus, Pasig, Candaba, Pampanga
URL: http://dhvsu.edu.ph E-Mail Address: _______@gmail.com

Introduction
Teacher’s note: When asked who are you? What is your response? How do you
respond? Most of the time, people answer this question by simply stating their name. “I
am Fernando,” for example. Maybe because:

Before we even had to be in any formal institution of learning, among the many
things that we were first taught as kids is to articulate and write down our names.
Growing up, we were told to refer back to this name when talking about ourselves.
(Alata, Caslib Jr., Serafica & Pawilen, 2018)

We always encounter things like this, particularly when we start going to school. Is there
a time or do you remember how many times you were called by your teachers to
introduce yourself in front of the class? Are you shy or you feel the moment and seize it
will all your might? At the same time, you also be able know the names of your
classmates, sometimes with names that you are not familiar with, like “Sricalindia”. Can
you give some unfamiliar names that you encounter in your lives?

Our parents painstakingly thought about our names. Should we be named after a
famous celebrity? A respected politician or historical personality? Or even a saint? Were
you named after one? Our names represent us, who we are. It has not been a custom
to just randomly pick a combination of letters and number (or even punctuation marks)
like zhjk756!! to denote our being.

When our parents call our names, we were taught to respond to them because
our names represent who we are. In school we were told to always write our names on
our papers, projects, or any output for that matter. Our names signify us. Death cannot
even stop this bond between the person and her name. names are inscribed even into
one’s gravestone.

A name no matter how intimately bound it is with the bearer, however, is ot the
person. it is only a signifier. A person who was named after a saint most probably will
not become an actual saint. He may not even turn out to be saintly! The self is thought
to be something else than the name. The self is something that a person perennially
molds, shapes and develops. The self is not a static thing that one is simply born with
like a mole on one’s face or is just assigned by ones parents just like a name. Everyone
is tasked to discover one’s self. Have you truly discovered yours?
DON HONORIO VENTURA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
Cabambangan, Villa de Bacolor 2001, Pampanga, Philippines ISO 9001: 2015 AND PHILOSOPHY
Tel. No. (6345) 458 0021; Fax (6345) 458 0021 Local 211 QMS-Certified
DHVSU Candaba Campus, Pasig, Candaba, Pampanga
URL: http://dhvsu.edu.ph E-Mail Address: _______@gmail.com

In this module you are intended to know and understand the different
philosophical perspectives on how they view the self. It includes early thinkers in history
of philosophy who are preoccupied on the inquiry of the self. In their time, you will be
able to know how they question the self and how do they propose what is the concept of
the self. I hope that this will be a good start for you to be interested and gain a deeper
understanding of who you are.

Although we do not have the direct or clear answers kung sino ba talaga tayo or who we
really are as a person, what we are trying to do is to understand the nature of the self or
ourselves. Paano natin gagawin ‘yon, let us first take a look to the different perspectives
about the self.
Alam niyo ba kung kanino nagsimula ‘yong notion about the self? Kung babalik tayo in
the past, the Ancient Greeks were the first ones who introduced the framework of
understanding the self. Sila ‘yong mas kilala natin sa tawag na mga “Philosophers”.

When we say philosophy, what was the first thing that comes into your mind?
Philosophy means “love of wisdom”. Philosophy “employs the mind to discover the
ultimate causes, reasons, and principles of everything”. Ibig sabihin philosophy tries to
explain everything through the use of thinking. “It goes beyond scientific investigation of
exploring all areas of knowledge. Hindi siya nagbe-base sa science or sa scientific
evidences but rather it tries to formulate never ending questions and provide answers.

In philosophy, there are questions that are answered again by another question. Not
necessarily that you get the answer that you are looking for but in a sense you got an
answer. Kaya nga minsan tinatawag tayong pilosopo because instead na sagutin natin
directlu ‘yong mga tanong nila is sinasagot pa natin sila ng isa pang tanong. So now, let
us take a look at the first philosopher under philosophical perspective of the self.
DON HONORIO VENTURA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
Cabambangan, Villa de Bacolor 2001, Pampanga, Philippines ISO 9001: 2015 AND PHILOSOPHY
Tel. No. (6345) 458 0021; Fax (6345) 458 0021 Local 211 QMS-Certified
DHVSU Candaba Campus, Pasig, Candaba, Pampanga
URL: http://dhvsu.edu.ph E-Mail Address: _______@gmail.com

Socrates

Socrates was the first philosopher to engage in a systematic questioning about


the self and took it upon to himself to serve as a “gadfly” who disturbed Athenian men
from their slumber and shook them off in order to reach the truth and wisdom.

Philosophers have different views and explanation about the self. Some of them
disagree with each other but most of them that self-knowledge is a pre-requisite
(kailaingan) to a happy and meaningful life. Kailangan makilala mo ‘yong sarili mo para
maging masaya ka, or para maging makabuluhan yung buhay mo.

Socrates said that “an unexamined life is not worth living.”

Para sa kanya, being able to know your thought (yung mga iniisip mo), your emotions
(yung mga nararamdaman mo) will gain you self-knowledge. This is the process he
called “introspection.”

Through introspection, a person becomes virtuous or come to know his values.

Kapag alam mo na kung ano ‘yong ibig sabihin ng mga iniisip mo or kapag naintindihan
mo na kung ano yung nararamdaman mo when it comes to different situations, then
you’ll be able to know ano ba talaga yung values mo as a person. Ano yung mga
pinapahalagahan mo? Pera, education, family, career or anger, happiness, guilt, envy?

Socrates was the first one to focus on the self, who we are, who we should be
and who we will become in which he believes that every human has an immortal soul
aside from the physical body. He believes that an individual’s reality is divided by two
parts. The physical realm and the ideal realm.
DON HONORIO VENTURA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
Cabambangan, Villa de Bacolor 2001, Pampanga, Philippines ISO 9001: 2015 AND PHILOSOPHY
Tel. No. (6345) 458 0021; Fax (6345) 458 0021 Local 211 QMS-Certified
DHVSU Candaba Campus, Pasig, Candaba, Pampanga
URL: http://dhvsu.edu.ph E-Mail Address: _______@gmail.com

The physical realm consists of the world that we are living in. It is the world that
changes and temporary. The ideal realm contains concepts about the universe, truth,
goodness and beauty. These are the things that does not undergo changes and are
ever-lasting.

Sa physical realm, nandiyan ‘yong katawan na meron tayo and in the ideal realm
nandiyan yung tinawag na soul.

For Socrates, every man is composed of body and soul. This means that every
humans person is dualistic, that is, he is composed of two important aspects of his
personhood. For Socrates, this means that all individuals have an imperfect,
impermanent aspect, the body, while maintaining that there is also a sould that is
perfect and permanent.

What do you know about the soul? Can you explain what is your understanding about
the “soul”?

Plato

Soul, according to Plato was synonymous with the self. The only difference was
that the self is in the physical form and the soul is in the ideal form. Self is something
temporary and the soul is eternal. He supported Socrates’ idea that a man is a dual
nature of body and soul. He added that there are three components to the soul: the
rational soul, the spirited soul and the appetitive soul. He emphasizes that justice in the
human person can only be attained if the three parts of the soul are working
harmoniously with one another. The rational soul is forged by reason and intellect. The
spirited soul is in charge of emotions. The appetitive soul consists of our desire that
we need enable to live.
DON HONORIO VENTURA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
Cabambangan, Villa de Bacolor 2001, Pampanga, Philippines ISO 9001: 2015 AND PHILOSOPHY
Tel. No. (6345) 458 0021; Fax (6345) 458 0021 Local 211 QMS-Certified
DHVSU Candaba Campus, Pasig, Candaba, Pampanga
URL: http://dhvsu.edu.ph E-Mail Address: _______@gmail.com

All living things have the appetitive soul. These are our biological needs like, hunger,
thirst and sexual desire. Animals and humans have the spirited soul. These are our
emotions like love, anger and happiness. Only humans have the rational soul. It is ability
to reason that enables us to think deeply, make wise choices and understand truth.

There are instances these parts of the soul have conflict with each other. For example,
choosing between food and experience. Let us say that you are in a place that you just
have enough money to buy a food and you are very hungry but at the same time you
missed your girlfriend/boyfriend in which you haven’t talk to for a while because you do
not have a load/data. Which would you choose? Spend the money for food or to buy a
load? Here comes what Plato stated what makes us human. It is for us to act rational. It
limits our thriving for our appetites and emotions. At the same time it makes reason and
be logical. In this case, what might be the most logical thing to do? That is for you to
decide because it is what makes you human.

This quote is not particularly said by St. Augustine but it is said to come from his
scholars. But what is its relevance to St. Augustine’s view of the self?

St. Augustine

St. Augustine believes that there is an aspect of man, which dwells in the worlds,
that is imperfect and continuously years to be with the divine while the other is capable
of reaching immortality. There is this body that is bound to die on earth and the soul that
is anticipated to live eternally in a realm of spiritual bliss in communion with God. The
body can only thrive in the imperfect, physical reality, that is the world, whereas the soul
can also stay after death in an eternal realm with the transcendent God.

Naniniwala siya kay Plato about the “self is synonymous with the self”, the thing is he
integrates it with the teaching of Christianity. He said that individuals as a creation of
DON HONORIO VENTURA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
Cabambangan, Villa de Bacolor 2001, Pampanga, Philippines ISO 9001: 2015 AND PHILOSOPHY
Tel. No. (6345) 458 0021; Fax (6345) 458 0021 Local 211 QMS-Certified
DHVSU Candaba Campus, Pasig, Candaba, Pampanga
URL: http://dhvsu.edu.ph E-Mail Address: _______@gmail.com

God is always geared towards the good and we can only know ourselves through God.
It is by knowing and doing good that is within us that we begin to understand our real
self.

Rene Descartes

Rene Descartes, the “Father of Modern Philosophy.” He claims that there is


so much that we should doubt. In fact, he say that much of what we think and believe,
because they are not infallible, may turn out to be false. One should only believe that
which can pass the test of doubt. But in the end, Descartes, thought that the only thing
that one cannot doubt is the existence of the self. For even if one doubts oneself, that
only proves that there is a doubting self, a thing that thinks and therefore, that cannot be
doubted. The self is then for Descartes is also a combination of two distinct entities, the
“cogito” or the thing that thinks and the “extenza” or the extention of the mind (the
body).

“I think therefore I am” means that the act of thinking about the self is in itself a proof
that there is a self. He said that there is no rational person that will ever doubt his own
existence. When you think about yourself, then it means that yourself exist.

Again, here is the question? “Is there really a self?”


DON HONORIO VENTURA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
Cabambangan, Villa de Bacolor 2001, Pampanga, Philippines ISO 9001: 2015 AND PHILOSOPHY
Tel. No. (6345) 458 0021; Fax (6345) 458 0021 Local 211 QMS-Certified
DHVSU Candaba Campus, Pasig, Candaba, Pampanga
URL: http://dhvsu.edu.ph E-Mail Address: _______@gmail.com

David Hume

The key contribution and a concept against the previous philosophers by David
Hume was when he said that the self doesn’t exist. The self is just a collection or
combination of all the perceptions of a particular person. He finds that they can all be
categorized into two: impressions and ideas.

Impressions are the basic object of our experience or sensation. They form the
core of our thoughts. When one touches an ice cube, the cold sensation is an
impression. Impressions are vivid because they are the product of our direct experience
with the world.

Another example, kunwari nagbreak kayo ng girlfriend/boyfriend mo, nasaktan ka,


nalungkot ka, now that is your impression, if you think that in the future ayaw mo ng
mag-girlfriend/boyfriend kasi masasaktan ka lang din. It is an impression because you
have experienced it yourself.

Now, think what would you feel when you got your first job after graduation? Do you feel
happy? Satisfied? Proud? This is now what Hume call as the “ideas”.

Ideas are copies of impressions. They are not as lively and vivid as our
impression because we do not experienced it yet in the real world. When one imagines
the feeling of being in love for the first time, that still is an idea.
DON HONORIO VENTURA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
Cabambangan, Villa de Bacolor 2001, Pampanga, Philippines ISO 9001: 2015 AND PHILOSOPHY
Tel. No. (6345) 458 0021; Fax (6345) 458 0021 Local 211 QMS-Certified
DHVSU Candaba Campus, Pasig, Candaba, Pampanga
URL: http://dhvsu.edu.ph E-Mail Address: _______@gmail.com

Immanuel Kant

Thinking of the self as mere combination of impressions was problematic for


Immanuel Kant. He thinks that there is an organizing principle that regulates the
relationships of all the perceptions and sensation of impressions. He said that the mind
organizes the impressions that men get from the external world. He proposes that we
are actively synthesizing or organizing our knowledge and experiences so that we can
call it “mine”. For Kant, we are the ones who create our reality in which we are familiar
and comfortable. Another was his concept of the “Apparatus of the Mind” which
consists of ideas that cannot be found in the world but is only built in our minds (e.g.
time and space).

The “self” is an actively engaged intelligence in man that synthesizes all


knowledge and experience. Thus, the self is not just what gives one his personality, it is
also the seat of knowledge acquisition for all human person.

In a way, we can look at this as we are the ones who can say what is true or not within
ourselves. No one can say that our actions or thoughts are true or false unless we have
created it as something true or false.

So do you think that the self is merely about our thoughts or our ability to think? Our
emotions or feelings? Was that the self?
DON HONORIO VENTURA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
Cabambangan, Villa de Bacolor 2001, Pampanga, Philippines ISO 9001: 2015 AND PHILOSOPHY
Tel. No. (6345) 458 0021; Fax (6345) 458 0021 Local 211 QMS-Certified
DHVSU Candaba Campus, Pasig, Candaba, Pampanga
URL: http://dhvsu.edu.ph E-Mail Address: _______@gmail.com

Gilbert Ryle

For Gilbert Ryle, our behaviors or what we do in our day-to-day lives were the
ones that makes us a person.

Kung ano yung mga ginagawa mo, ‘yon ka. For example, us teachers, we are called
“teachers’ because what do we do every day? We teach. You are called a student,
why? Because you study every day. Make sense?

Thus, the quote “I act, therefore I am” implies that not always that what we think is what
we do? Minsan kahit na alam nating mali ‘yong ang isang bagay or hindi dapat gawin
ang isang bagay, ginagawa pa din natin. Why? Because that is who we are. Just in his
case, that is what Gilbert Ryle meant.

With all of those philosophers being discussed, ano sa tingin niyo, ano ba talaga ang
ibig sabihin ng “self”, is it the mind or the body? Our thoughts or our emotions? Lastly,
let us talk about Maurice Merleau-Ponty.
DON HONORIO VENTURA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
Cabambangan, Villa de Bacolor 2001, Pampanga, Philippines ISO 9001: 2015 AND PHILOSOPHY
Tel. No. (6345) 458 0021; Fax (6345) 458 0021 Local 211 QMS-Certified
DHVSU Candaba Campus, Pasig, Candaba, Pampanga
URL: http://dhvsu.edu.ph E-Mail Address: _______@gmail.com

Maurice Merleau-Ponty

We cannot separate the mind and the body and these two works as one for us to
know ourselves. According to Merleau-Ponty, the mind and the body are so intertwined
that they cannot be separated from one another. One cannot find any experience that is
not embodied experience. All experience is embodied. One’s body is his opening
toward his existence to the world.

According to Merleau-Ponty, bakit pa tayo nagtatalo if the self is the mind or the body
kung ang totoo at pareho naman sila? The self is not merely about what we think about
it but it is also the way that you act it. The self is not merely about what you do but it is
also the way that you think about it.

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