Philosophy is often called as the mother of all disciplines simply because all fields of study began as

philosophical discourses. Philosophy is from the Greek words Philo -(loving) and Sophia (knowledge,
wisdom). At simplest, philosophy is means “loving knowledge” or “loving wisdom”. The term
philosophy as originally used by the Greeks meant, “ The pursuit of knowledge for its own sake.”
Consequently, Philosophy is a study of fundamental nature, knowledge, reality, existence, especially
in an academic discipline. It also investigates the legitimacy of concepts by rational arguments
concerning their implications, relationships as well as moral judgment and etc. 

Ample of Philosophies concerns with the essential nature self. The philosophical framework for
understanding the self was first introduced by the ancient Greek philosophers Socrates, Plato, and
Aristotle. The Greeks were the ones who seriously questioned myths and moved away from them to
understand reality and respond to perennial questions of curiosity, including the questions of the self.
The different views of prominent philosophers regarding the nature of the self are discussed; most of
them agree the self-knowledge is a prerequisite to a happy and meaningful life.

DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE IN THE EXPLANATION OF SELF

SOCRATES was a Greek philosopher. Though, unlike other philosophers during his time, he never
wrote anything. All the information’s about him today is through second-hand information from his
student Plato and historian Xenophon. ( I know that I don’t know ).

For Socrates the self is synonymous with the soul . He believes that every human possesses an
immortal soul that survives the physical body. Socrates is concerned with the  problem of the self.  He
is the one to first focus on the full power of reason on the human self: who we are, who we should be,
and who we will become .Socrates believed that the real self is not the physical body, but rather the
psyche  (or soul).

Thus, Socrates suggests that man must live an examined life and a life of purpose and value. For
him, an individual can have a meaningful and happy life only if he becomes virtuous and knows the
value of himself that can be achieved through incessant soul-searching ( Rappe, 1995). He added
that self-knowledge would open your eyes to your true nature; which is contrary to pop culture. It is
not about how many properties you own or how many “likes” you get in your social media accounts
and even how successful you are in chosen career. In a real sense, your real self is not even
your body. He added that the state of your inner being (soul/self) determines the quality of your life.

Socrates was described to have gone about in Athens questioning everyday views and
popular Athenian beliefs. This leads to some leaders got offended by him. He was accused of lack or
reverence for the gods and for corrupting the minds of the youth. At the age of 70, he was sentenced
to death through drinking a cup of poison hemlock ( Brickhouse & Smith, 2002).

The core of Socratic ethics is the concept of virtue and knowledge. Virtue is the basic and most basic
propensity of man and Self-knowledge  is the source of all wisdom, an individual may gain
possession of oneself and be one’s own master through knowledge (The Standford Encyclopedia of
Philosophy,2017). The famous line of Socrates, “Know thy Self”, tells each man to bring his inner self
to light.
Some Socratic ideas were:

 “ the worst thing that can happen to anyone is to live but die inside.”
 “ every person is dualistic”
 “ the true task of the philosopher is to know oneself “
 Body + soul = Man
 Imperfect / permanent ( body )+ perfect & permanent ( soul ) = Individual

PLATO is another Greek Philosopher who elaborates Socrates’ concept of the soul. He was the
student of Socrates. He is best known for his Theory of Forms that asserted the physical world is not
really the “real” world because the ultimate reality exists beyond the physical world. His philosophy
can be explained as a process of self-knowledge and purification of the soul. He introduces the idea
of a three-part soul/self-reason, physical appetite, and spirit or passion. The self/soul/mind according
to Plato, is the best aspect of the human beings by which the FORMS (ideas) are known.

 REASON is the divine essence that enables us to think deeply, make wise decisions and
achieve the true understanding of eternal truths.
 PHYSICAL APPETITE includes our biological needs such as hunger, thirst, and sexual
desires.
 SPIRIT or PASSION composes the basic emotions like love, anger, ambition, aggressiveness,
and empathy.

ST. AGUSTINE The African philosopher, Augustine, is regarded as a saint (St. Augustine of Hippo) in
the Catholic Church. He is one of the Latin Fathers of the church, one of the Doctors of the church,
and one of the most significant Christian thinkers ( All knowledge leads to God)

He integrates the ideas of Plato and teachings of Christianity. He adopted Plato’s view that the “self”
is an immaterial (but rational) soul.  Augustine believes that the physical body is radically different
form the inferior to its inhabitant, the immortal soul. Giving the Theory of Forms a Christian
perspective, Augustine asserted that these forms  were concepts existing within the perfect and
eternal God (The Catholic University of America Press, 1982) where the soul belonged. He believed
that the human being was both a soul and body, and the body possessed sense, such as
imagination, memory, reason, and mind through which the soul experienced the world.

In his work, Confessions, Augustine describes that humankind is created in the image
and likeness of God. Everything created by God is all good is good. Therefore, the human person,
being a creation of God is always geared towards the good .

The aspects of the self/soul according to St. Augustine’s are:

 It is able to be aware of itself.

 It recognizes the self as a holistic one.
 It is aware of its unity.

St. Augustine highlighted the significance of reflection, as well as prayers and confessions to arrive at
justifications for the existence of God. He believed that both the soul and body is meant to tend to
higher, divine, and heavenly matters because of his/her capacity to ascent and comprehend truths
through the mind ( The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2017; Mendelson, 206). St. Augustine
believes that a virtuous life is dynamism of love. It’s the constant turning point towards life. Loving
God means loving one’s fellowmen; and loving one’s fellowmen denoted never doing any harm to
another or as the golden rule of justice denoted, doing unto others as you would have them do unto
you. Love and justice as the foundation of the individual self.

RENE DESCARTES was a French philosopher, mathematician, and a scientist and considered as
the father of modern philosophy. He was regarded as the first thinker o emphasize the use of reason
to describe, predict, and understand natural phenomena based on observations and empirical
evidence (Bertrand, 2004; Grosholz, 1991) ( I think therefore I am )

The Latin phrase Cogito Ergo Sum – “I think therefore I am” is the keystone of Descartes’ concept of
self. For him, the act of thinking about the self  – of being self-conscious – I in it proof that there is a
self. He asserted that everything perceived by the senses could not be used as proof of existence
because human senses could be fooled.

Descarters’ claims about the “self” are:

 It constant; it is not prone to change; and it is not affected by time.

 Only the immaterial soul remains the same throughout the time.
 The immaterial souls is the source of our identity.

THE SOUL THE BODY

 It is a conscious, thinking substance that is  It is a material substance that changes
unaffected by time through time
 It is known only to itself ( only you know  It can be doubted; The publican correct
your own event and others correct your claims about the body
material states ).
 It is not made up of parts. It views the  It is made up of physical, quantifiable,
entirely of itself with no hidden or separate divisible parts.
compartments. It is both conscious and
aware of itself at the same time
In particular, he introduces the idea of the thinking self (soul) as non-material, immortal, conscious
being, and independent of the physical laws of the universe. In contrast, the physical body is a
material mortal, non-thinking entity, fully governed by the physical laws of the nature. On the other
hand, each other, the body and the soul are independent of one another and each can exist and
function without the other.

John Locke is an English philosopher and physician. For Locke, the human mind at birth is Tabula
rasa or a blank slate. He expanded the definition of the “self” that includes the memories of that
thinking thing. He feels that the “self” or personal identity is basically constructed from the
experiences – like what people see, smell, taste, hear and feel. He also interpreted that to mean the
“self”- it must consist of memory; meaning the person existing today is the same person yesterday
(Natsoulas, 1994; Fuchs, 2017 ).( Human mind at birth is a tabula rasa, which means that knowledge
is derived from experience ).

For Locke, the memories of a person provide the continuity of its experiences that allows
him/her to really identify himself as the same person over the time (Winkler, 1991). Since Locke
account that the person is the same “self” in the passing of time, therefore, he/she is accountable for
whatever behaviors he will act. Locke's denial of innate ideas put a premium on individual effort, on
the labor necessary to gain knowledge from experience ( Tarcov, P. 83 ). Man could be ruled and be
free - man is endowed with natural rights such as life, liberty and property (Cranston,, p. 12)

Some of John Locke’s ideas about the “ self”

 Believed that at birth human mind is a blank slate; a tabula rasa ( empty of ideas)
 All ideas are based on sensation- arriving at explanation by observing phenomena.

Scottish Philosopher David Hume suggests that if people carefully examine their sense of experience
through the process of introspection, they will discover that there is no self. According to him, what
people experience is just bundle or collection of different perceptions Monilla, M.J. &Ramirez, N.
(2018). He was a fierce opponent of Descartes’ Rationalism. Rationalism is a theory that reason,
rather than experience, is the foundation of all knowledge. He was one of the figureheads of the
influential British Empiricism movement. Empiricism is the idea that the origin of all knowledge is
experience (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2017). ( All knowledge derived from human sense.)

Hume is identified with the Bundle Theory wherein he described the “self” or person (which
Hume assumed to be “mind”) as a bundle or collection of different perceptions that are moving in a
very fast manner. He believed that the human intellect and experiences are limited; therefore, it
is impossible to attribute it to an independent persisting entity (i.e., soul) (Pike, 1967; Seigel, 2005).

Hume divided the mind’s perceptions into two groups:

1. Impressions. Perceptions that are the most strong. These are directly experienced; they result
from inward and outward sentiments.
2. Ideas. The less lively counterparts of impressions. These are mechanisms that copy and
reproduce sense data formulated based upon the previously perceived impressions.

For Hume, the “self” was nothing but a series of incoherent impressions received by the senses
(Montgomery, 1889). Hume compared the “self” to a nation; where a nation retains its “being a nation
“not by some single core of  identity but by being composed of different, constantly changing
elements like people, systems, culture and beliefs. Hume did not believe in the existence of the “self”.
He insisted that your perceptions are only active for as long as your are conscious. In line with this,
Hume seemed to reduce the “self” as a light bulb that may be switched on and off.

For German philosopher Immanuel Kant, it is the self that makes experiencing an intelligible world
possible because it is the self that is actively organizing and synthesizing all of our thoughts and
perceptions ( Monilla, M.J. &Ramirez, N. (2018).  He also proposed that the human mind creates the
structure of human experience.( REASON is the final authority of morality. Morality is achieved only
when there is absence of was because of the result of enlightenment.)