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UTS Lesson 1

The document discusses different philosophical perspectives on the concept of the self. It covers dualist perspectives proposed by philosophers like Plato, Descartes, and Freud that view the mind and body as separate. It also discusses monist perspectives from Aristotle, Aquinas, and Churchland that see the mind and body as interconnected or the same. Additionally, it examines perspectives from empiricists like Locke and Hume and rationalists like Descartes on how knowledge of the self is obtained. Finally, it summarizes the perspectives of Kant, Ryle, and Merleau-Ponty on additional theories of the self.

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Jeydibi Mharjom
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55 views32 pages

UTS Lesson 1

The document discusses different philosophical perspectives on the concept of the self. It covers dualist perspectives proposed by philosophers like Plato, Descartes, and Freud that view the mind and body as separate. It also discusses monist perspectives from Aristotle, Aquinas, and Churchland that see the mind and body as interconnected or the same. Additionally, it examines perspectives from empiricists like Locke and Hume and rationalists like Descartes on how knowledge of the self is obtained. Finally, it summarizes the perspectives of Kant, Ryle, and Merleau-Ponty on additional theories of the self.

Uploaded by

Jeydibi Mharjom
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Philosophical

Perspectives on the Self


Je rey B. Magistrado, RPm, LPT
Camarines Sur Polytechnic Colleges

Understandng the Self (UTS) - GE 1


ff
Metaphysics
Study of the nature of the universe to interpret reality
Mind-Body Problem
Metaphysics

• What is the mind?

• What is the body?

• What is the relationship of the body and


the mind?

• Does the body a ect the mind?

• Does the mind a ect the body?


ff
ff
Philosophy of Dualism
Dualism
Mind and body are di erent.
ff
Socrates
Dualism - Body and Soul

• Every person is composed of body and


soul.

• The body is impermanent and imperfect

• The soul is perfect and permanent

• The body and soul does not co-exist each


other.

• The soul is the immortal self.

• Death is the separation of body and soul.


"An unexamined life is not worth
living."
Socrates
Plato
Dualism - Components of Soul

The soul has three components:

• Appetite - desires and craving

• Reason - thinking, reasoning, and judging

• Spirit - emotions, consiousness, guide


Plato
The Republic

Plato's The Republic said:

• Appetite - controlled and focused

• Reason - well-developed, must be in-charge

• Spirit - must be checked

Thus, the reason or the rational soul must be


in-charge to check the appetitive soul and
spirited soul.
Agustine of Hippo
Dualism - Platonic Dualism and Christianity

• The body and soul are united in nature.

• The soul cannot live without the body.

• The unitedness of the body and soul de nes


the self.

• The soul must take care of the body.

• Once the body die, the soul live happily and


enternally to the Kingdom of God.

• Faith over reason


fi
Rene Descartes
Dualism - Cartesian Dualism

• The body is the extension of the soul.

• The soul de nes being a person.

• The body acts a machine to be used by the


soul.

• The soul is the cogito (the mind)

• The body is the extenza (the extension of


the mind)
fi
"I think therefore I am."
Rene Descartes
Sigmund Freud
Dualism - Psychoanalysis

Our mind has three levels of consciousness:

• Conscious: The tip of the iceberg. This is the


knowledge we are aware of.

• Subconscious: The middle of the iceberg. This


is the knowledge we can easily retrieve.

• Unconscious: The deep part of the iceberg.


This is the knowledge we are not aware of.
Usually, this is the place for repressed
feelings.
Philosophy of Monism
Monism
Mind and body are the same.
Aristotle
Monism - Classical Monism

• Started the Philosophy of Monism

• Humans are animals that thinks.

• The body and soul are inseperable.

• The body and the soul are not di erent


entities.

• The self is undivided.

• Humans have free will and intellect.


ff
Thomas Aquinas
Monism - Aristotle's Monism and Christianity

• The soul shapes the body.

• Humans are a ected with the environment

• The soul is not "always-on"

• The soul can be activated by the signals


from the environment.

• The self is de ned on how the body and


soul interacts with the environment.
fi
ff
Paul Churchland
Monism - Eliminative Materialism

• The self is the brain.

• The brain is not seperable in the body.

• Once the brain separated the body, there is


no self anymore.

• The brain de nes who a person is.


fi
Epistemology
Study of the nature of human knowledge
Philosophy of
Empiricism
Empiricism
Knowledge through experience
John Locke
Empiricism - Tabula Rasa (Blank Slate)

• Our mind is blank slate (tabula rasa) at birth.

• Our mind can be lled in through experiences.

• However, our mind has consciousness which


is beyond our brain.

• Thus, the consciousness can be transferred to


another body (Nimbalkar, as cited in Alata et
al., 2021)

• Associationism - combining simple ideas into


complex ideas
fi
David Hume
Empiricism - Laws of Mental Association

• There is no self

• Reason vs. Emotion

• Impression: vivid perceptions

• Idea: copies of impressions

• Self is the product of our collective


perceptions.
David Hume
Empiricism - Laws of Mental Association

Laws of Mental Association

• Resemblance: Two ideas resemble each


other

• Contiguity: Two ideas synchronize each


other

• Causation: An idea causes another idea to


form.
Philosophy of
Rationalism
Rationalism
Knowledge through reason
Rene Descartes
Rationalism - Cartesian Rationalism

• The reason comes from innate ideas.

• Knowledge is a priori

• God created these innate ideas.

• God's laws are not limited to knowledge of a


person.
Other Philosophies on
the Self
Immanuel Kant
Empiricism and Rationalism

• Space-time continuum in our mind

• Perception is an active process.

• From the perceptions from the outside, the


mind is actively making judgements through
reason.

• The reason is taking care of these


perception and lling the missing pieces
thought inferences.
fi
Gilbert Ryle
Ordinary Language Philosophy

• Self is one's behavior

• The self can show itself through its pattern


of behavior.

• You are what you behave and act.

• Ryle refuses the mind-body problem.

• There is no "Ghost in the machine"


Maurice Jean Jacques Merleau-Ponty
Phenomenology

• Self is ecophenomenology

• Ecophenomenology: pursuit of the


relationalities of worldly engagement (Brown
& Toadvine 2003)

• Our body connects to the external world.

• Our experiences are embodied.

• Our self is de ned by the subjective


phenomena.
fi
Thank you!

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