Module 1

The Self from Various Perspectives

Hi student! Welcome to Module 1!

Who Am I? What is the self? These questions led the ancient times to contemporary social sciences
thinkers to explore the wonders of the self. This module will take you to the various ideas of our great
philosophers, sociologists, anthropologists, and psychologists. You will discover their various
perspectives, influences, and factors that help you develop who and what you are today.

Intended Learning Outcomes

✓ Identify the different representations and conceptualizations of the self from various disciplinal
perspectives
✓ Examine the different influences, factors, and forces that shape the self
✓ Compare and contrast how the self has been represented across different disciplines and
perspectives
✓ Demonstrate critical and reflective thought in analyzing the development of one’s self and
identity by developing a theory of the self

Let’s start your adventure!

Lesson 1: Philosophical Self

Originally, the word “Philosophy” comes from the Greek roots Philo- means love and Sophos means
wisdom. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle were considered as great Greek philosophers in Western during
ancient times. They contributed vast authentic ideas about life, love, beauty, nature, and many more
over centuries along with other philosophers. And the "self" or the need to understand the self was also
one hot topic among those philosophers. Hence, this lesson will let you walk through the important
philosophical views in your quest to understand yourself.

Learning Outcomes:
✓ Distinguish the different notions of the self from the points of view of the various western
philosophers
✓ Examine the one’s view of the self and compare it to the various views of the philosophers

Time Frame: Second week

Activity

5.4.3.2.1.0 Mindfulness

In this activity, you will purposefully take in the details of your surroundings using each of your senses.
Try to notice small details that your mind would usually ignore. This will let you experience the here
and now.

-Slowly pose for a while and stop whatever you are doing.

-Make yourself comfortable, you can sit or stand, either way.

-Slowly put your awareness to your breathing.

-Make sure that you inhale through your nose and exhale you’re your mouth.

-Breathe in for 5 seconds, hold the breath for 5 seconds, and breathe out for 5 seconds.

-Continue this pattern until you find your thoughts slowing down or until necessary.

-After you are able to find your breath, go through the numbers in order to help ground
yourself in present thinking through external factors:
 5: Acknowledge FIVE things you see around you. Maybe it is a table, maybe it is notebook,
maybe it is a spot on the ceiling, however big or small, then state or say out loud the 5 things you see.

4: Acknowledge FOUR things you can touch around you. Maybe this is your clothes you
wear, hands, ground, grass, pillow, etc., whatever it may be, state/say out loud the 4 things you can feel.

3: Acknowledge THREE things you hear. Maybe it is the ticking clock, roaring vehicle, or
trees blowing in the wind or maybe you hear your tummy rumbling, internal noises that make external
sounds can count, what is audible in the moment and then state/say out loud the 3 things you can hear

2: Acknowledge TWO things you can smell. Try to notice smells in the air around you, like
an air freshener or freshly mowed grass. Then, state/say out loud the 2 things you can smell

1: Acknowledge ONE thing you can taste. What does the inside of your mouth taste like,
gum, coffee, or the sandwich from lunch? Then, state/say out loud the 1 thing you can taste

0 Acknowledge nothingness you can think nothing. Slowly close your eyes and just breathe
in for 5 seconds, hold the breath for 5 seconds, and breathe out for 5 seconds. Do it 3 times and slowly
open your eyes. And take another deep breath to end.

Analysis

After doing the activity, you can walk through the following questions and briefly answer them based
on your personal experiences and opinions.

1. How do you feel after doing the activity?

2. Did you at some point connect yourself to your body through your senses?

3. How often you connect yourself to your body?

4. What are ways to connect your body?

 5. Do you believe that you have soul?

6. In the activity, when you think of nothingness were you able to connect with your soul?

7. How often you connect yourself to your soul?

8. Is it important to examine the inner self?

Abstraction

Historically, Greeks are the first who strived to seek the truth about the self. They tried to cross-
examine the ageless question such as “Who am I?” As a result, they have produced various perspectives
and views on the self from the ancient period until contemporary times. The self is made up of body
and soul and its relationship is one of their timeless and famous concepts. Come let’s visit them.

Philosophers Views on the Self

Classical Antiquity

SOCRATES o The first philosopher who engaged in a systematic

questioning about the self.
o Invented the phrase “Know Thyself” and he believed that it
is the true task of a philosopher.
“An unexamined life is not o Know Thyself would mean that a person must stand and live
worth living” according to his/her nature. One has to look at him/herself.
o The knowledge of oneself can be achieved only through the
-Socrates Socratic Method, the dialogue between the soul and itself. He
often played the role of a questioner. He questions because
he believed & knows that he knows nothing, in this way he
discovers the truths.
o He claimed that without striving to know and understand
ourselves, life is worthless.
PLATO o The famous student of Socrates.
o Took off when his teacher died and vastly elaborated on his
philosophy.
o He believed to be a dualist; the self has both immaterial mind
“Good actions give strength (soul) and material body, and it is the soul that knows the
to ourselves and inspire forms (ideas).
good actions in others” o He claimed that the soul (mind) itself is divided into 3
parts: reason; appetite (physical urges); and will (emotion,
-Plato passion, spirit.)
 o Person differs as to which part of their nature is predominant.
o Individual dominated by reason seeks are philosophical and
seek knowledge; individuals dominated
by spirit/will/emotion are victory loving and seek
reputation; individuals dominated by appetites are profit
loving and seek material gain. Although each has a role to
play, reason ought to rule the will and appetites.
Middle Ages

ST. AUGUSTINE o
Called St. Augustine of Hippo; one of the Latin Fathers of
the Church and one of the most significant Christian thinkers.
o He agreed with Plato that human being is dualistic, and he
then combined his beliefs in the newfound doctrine of
“Grant Lord, that I may Christianity. Unsurprisingly, he also viewed the "self" as an
know Myself that I may immaterial (but rational) soul.
know Thee” o To give the theory of forms a Christian perspective, he
asserted that these forms were concepts existing within the
-St. Augustine perfect and eternal God (The Catholic University of America
Press, 1982).
o He believed that the body possessed senses, such as
imagination, memory, reason, and mind through which the
soul experienced the world. And the senses can only
grasp/feel the temporal objects in the material world yet
the immaterial but intangible God can only be clear to
the mind if one tune into his/her immaterial self/soul.
Renaissance

RENE DESCARTES o A French philosopher and considered as the father of modern

Western philosophy.
o His is known in his famous line “Cogito ergo sum”
translated as “I think, therefore I am”
“I think therefore I am” o He stressed that everything that can be perceived by the
senses through the body could NOT be used as proof of
-Rene Descartes existence and there is only one thing that one could be sure
of in this world and that is doing the act of doubting (Otig,
V. et.al., 2018).
o The body is nothing else but a machine that is attached to the
mind.
o Therefore, what makes a person a person? Descartes said:
"But what then, am I? A thinking thing. It has been said.
But what is a thinking thing? It is a thing that doubts,
understands (conceives), affirms, denies, wills, refuses;
that imagines also and perceives (Descartes, 2008).
DAVID HUME o A Scottish Enlightenment philosopher
o Empiricism is the school of thought that espouses the idea
that knowledge can only be possible if it is sensed and
experienced.
“A wise man proportions o As an empiricist, Hume believed that one can know only
his belief to the evidence.” through one’s senses and experiences.
o Argued that the self is nothing but what his/her predecessors
-David Hume thought of it. It is not an entity over and beyond the physical
body
o What is the self then? Self is simply a bundle of collection
of different perceptions, which succeed each other with
 an inconceivable rapidity, and are in a perpetual flux and
movement (Hume & Steinberg, 1992)
Modern Times

GILBERT RYLE o A philosopher and professor.

o Wrote The Concept of Mind (1949), where he criticized
Descartes' idea that the mind is distinct from the body.
o Defended that the distinction between mind and matter is a
“I act, therefore I am” "category mistake" because it attempts to analyze the relation
between mind and body as if the two were terms of the same
-Gilbert Ryle categories (Nath, 2013).
o For him, what truly matters is the daily behavior that a person
manifests.
o He believed that the actions and behaviors of a person
define the sense of self. "I act, therefore I am."
MAURICE MERLEAU- o He was a philosopher and author.
PONTY o He rejected the mind-body dualism view instead he insisted
that the mind and body are intertwined, that they cannot be
separated.
o He argued that the body is part of the mind and the mind
“Physical body is an is part of the body. The mind perceives what the body
important part of the self” senses experience from the external world, then the body
acts out of what the mind perceives.
-Maurice Merleau-Ponty

Indeed, philosophers have varying views on the self, however it is important to note about their
historical backgrounds and orientations which likely influenced most their views. These ideas were
presented for you to contemplate with and determine whether you fit or relate into the given descriptions
of the self.

Application

1. Describe the concepts of self according to the following philosophers in your own words and
relate those concepts to your own concept of self.

Philosophers Concept of the Self Your Own Self-concept

Socrates

Rene
Descartes

St.
Augustine

Gilbert Ryle
2. Make a short reflection about your own philosophical theory of the self, using the insights you
gained from this lesson. Limit your answer into one paragraph with 5-6 sentences.