UNDERSTANDIN PLATO

G THE SELF - Classical Greek Philosopher and the

founder of Academy of Athens – the
first institution of higher learning in the
Philosophical Perspective of Self western world.
- Former student of Socrates.
- Philosophy is the study of acquiring
- Believe that the Body and Soul, though
knowledge through rational thinking
share the same entity is different from
and inquiries that involves in answering
each other and is divided.
questions regarding the nature and
existence of a man and the world we ‘MIND' OR 'SOUL' IS COMPRISED OT THREE
live in. ELEMENTS
- From the Greek word “Philo” and
1. The Appetites (Appetitive) – involves
“Sophia” which mean “the love of
our pleasure desires such as those and
wisdom”. Philosophy is done primarily
physical comfort.
through reflection and does not tend to
2. The Passion (Spirited) – denotes the
rely on experiment.
part of our psyche that is agitated most
of the time. It is highly spirited and
motivated to surpass and conquer life
SOCRATES
challenges. It involves the basic emotion
- Classical Greek Philosopher and pioneer that a person has.
of Western Moral Philosophy. 3. The Reason (Rational) – the conscious
- He introduced the Socratic Method of awareness which meditates, weigh
thinking with the goal of which was so choices and assesses situations in our
“Know Thyself”. lives. This side is rational and logical as
- A man’s goal in life is to obtain true it chooses only the best for us.
happiness and such goal motivates us to
act towards avoiding things that could
have negative effects in our being. ARISTOTLE
(2 Realms) - He does not believe that the body and
soul is separate or different from each
1. Physical Realm – changeable, transient,
other. Since he believes that anything
and imperfect.
with life has a soul, it is the essence of
2. Ideal Realm – unchanging, eternal, and
all living things. The ideation in turn
immortal.
leads to the belief that the soul is the
essence of the self.
- In order to fully understand self, we
- Soul is the essence of the self, is in
must be able to know the different
constant striving towards perfection.
types of soul that a person has.
And it is only hindered because of its
According to Aristotle, our soul can be
ties in our body.
classified as vegetative, sentient, and
rational.
 leading to a famous quote on his work
"I doubt therefore, I am".
 Vegetative soul implies growth an
example of which is the body. RENE DECARTES
 Sentient soul includes the desires and
- He is believed to be the father of
emotions that people have.
modern western philosophy. Though
 Rational soul includes the intellect and
similar to some of the concepts of St.
ability to think and understand things.
Augustine were specifically in the idea
of doubt which can be traced as
influenced by the Socratic method as
ST. AUGUSTINE well, he distinguishes himself through
- Known as Saint Augustine of Hippo - a the notion of understanding the
Christian theologian and philosopher to relationship of one's process of thinking
have greatly contributed to the progress to the identification of oneself.
of Western Christianity through his - He developed the Cartesian Philosophy
writings specifically The City of God, On which holds that mental acts determine
Christian Doctrine. physical acts. So, by continuous
- Identified the two-fold process thinking, questioning or doubting is in
comprised of self-presentation leading and of itself a proof of one’s existence.
to self-realization. - He described the mind as the
- He also believes that our understanding "intellectual substance" which
of who we are revolves around our own possesses a will. He stated "Cogito, ergo
doubtfulness, understanding of our sum" which is "I think, therefore I am".
standing and the way we question our - If a man thinks and reflects, a person
own existence. will be able to realize the two
- St. Augustine also related our existence dimensions of the human self: The Self
to God being modeled in his likeliness as a thinking entity and the Self as a
through living means that we are still far physical body. Since sensation
from God and has yet to be truly with sometimes have faults in understanding
him. Knowledge of God results to ones what is real and not, he said that it is
better understanding of oneself, he important to give priority in trying to
emphasized that "knowledge can only understand what we experience to fully
come by seeing the truth that dwells identify what is true.
within us". - He believed that the body and mind is
- St. Augustine also rejected the separate from each other, and it is an
doubtfulness of academic way of important aspect of the human self to
thinking in which one should not accept think and can be independent from our
ideas from others. He emphasized that physical self.
not being able to agree to everything
other people see should be the case but
we can still agree to those who we, JOHN LOCKE
from our own perception, think is right
- An English Philosopher, Physician; He is
or wrong based from our own
considered to be the father of Classical
evaluations and perceptions. Thus,
liberalism. He was known for his idea
 that when we are born, we began in a situation of a person, it reiterated
state of "Tabula rasa" or blank slate. Hume's statement on the non-existence
- He stated that a person is born with of the self could also be interpreted that
nothing and that is very susceptible to since no person may not be able to
establishing a sense of self by associate to one simple impression on
accumulation and learning from our their concept of self, there is no
experiences, which maybe from, permanent concept of self and that our
successes, failures, reflection, and identity is a result of imagination while
observations to oneself. taking consideration the perceived
- Locke also put emphasis on one’s ability impressions and ideas we have about
to think and the value of a person's us.
experiences into consideration, in the
establishment of one’s sense of self.
- Our senses and the perception we have IMMANUEL KANT
from our environment contribute to the
- Born in Prussia, Germany.
identification of who we are as an
- Great contributor in modern western
individual, along with one’s ability to be
philosophy. He asserted that is the
consciously aware of one’s surroundings
human mind which creates experiences
and endeavors.
"that every person has inner and outer
- Self-consciousness, reflective thinking,
self which comprises the
and experiences are the common basis
consciousness”.
to the concept of self from his point of
- Self can only be established by
view, where people may be able to
organizing and synthesizing one's
distinguish their sense of selves because
accumulation of experiences, intuition,
of it.
thoughts, imagination, and perception.
- The Self is identified, in the form of
consciousness, is primarily based on
DAVID HUME
various transcendental deductions of
- The Scottish Philosopher David Hume is categories or concepts, which helps us
known on Philosophical Empiricism, to make sense of the world that we live
Skepticism, and Naturalism. He insisted in and the experiences that we have.
that there is no "self", and that people - Transcendental Apperception is an
and their experiences are just a intrinsic nature of our consciousness
collection of perceptions from the that goes beyond sense experiences.
physical realm, which led to our This is similar to certain abstract ideas
impressions and ideas about who we an example of which, is the concept of
are. time and love.
- Impressions are feelings and/or - We may be aware about the
sensations that people have, such as, implications of the concept of love
love, hate, fear, cold, heat, and sadness. through our experiences as well as
It can be observed and introspected. characteristics that is related to them,
Since one’s feelings and different but the entirety of the concept cannot
sensation is not constant or may change solely be understood on simple
depending on the experience or observation because it is something
 that is not concrete as a whole and is aware of, the thought, feelings,
only represented through concepts, motivations, and preferences and is
actions and various behavior that we readily accessible for us. It is the area
have in our environment. where reality and rationality are.
B. The unconscious is a part of our selves
SIGMUND FREUD
where our instinctual drives and pools
- Known for his work on human nature of our feelings, thoughts, and memories
and the unconscious. that is outside of our awareness. It can
- Austrian psychiatrist that established be memories that we have forgotten or
himself as a father of psychoanalysis. we want to forget, fantasies from our
- Freud's idea of self revolves around the childhood, and may include some
role of the consciousness and its various unpleasant aspects of ourselves that we
levels. chose to forget.
- According to Freud, the Self can be C. The preconscious could be said to be
divided into three layers: the conscious, like a boundary between awareness and
preconscious and the unconscious. unawareness, these are still memories
- He believed that people have various and thoughts that is not necessarily
constructs of personality and the levels available at any given time but could
of consciousness where every person's still be easily brought into the
experiences and desires take part in the consciousness.
establishment of the self.

GILBERT RYLE

- Philosopher known for his Behavioristic

approach to self, he emphasized that
the behavior presented by an individual,
emotions and actions are the reflection
of our mind and as such is the
manifestation of our self that reflects to
his statement "I act, therefor I am".
- His explanation of the self is further
exemplified in his "ghost in the
machine" view. This concept explained
that a person can be compared to a
complex machine with different
functioning parts, and the intelligence
and behavior of man is represented as
the "ghost". The ghost, who is not seen
but is believed to be the driving force in
the said machine.

A. The conscious is a layer of self that

PAUL CHURCHLAND
contains all of the things that we are
 - Canadian philosopher that is known
primarily for his philosophy "eliminative
materialism" which revolves around the
premise that "nothing but matter exist".
- With that in mind, he argues that the
self which is the accumulation of all the
emotions, perceptions, actions and
behavior of a person is attached to their
source which is the brain. This leads to
his idea of Neurophilosophy, he
believed that to fully understand one’s
behavior, one should understand the
different neurological movement of the
brain.

MAURICE MERLEAU PONTY

- French philosopher, who unlike others

that believe on the separation of the
mind and body, he believes that if one
studies their experiences a person may
identify that the mind and body is
unified.
- From his work in "Phenomenology of
Perception" which follow the gestalt
notion "the whole is greater than the
sum of its parts", emphasizes on the
importance of consciousness of which
all our perceptions are gathered.
- According to him, the Self, can be
established based on the conscious
understanding of our experiences with
ourselves and our environment, thus,
leading us into considering the body,
the perceived world, and the people
and the world. These areas do not only
focus on the individual and one’s own
perception, but also the accepted
influence and assumed role that we
have while considering others. This
strengthens Merleau-Ponty's idea that
our concept of the Self is embedded in
subjectivity.