Understanding The Self

Philosophical Perspective of the Self

The self is sometimes referred to as the soul, ego, psyche, identity, I, me, am, or being.
The self is the sense of who you are or who we are.

What is Philosophy?
Finding answers to serious questions about ourselves and about the world we live in:
What is morally right and wrong? And why?
What is a good life?
Does God exist?
and so much more
Questioning existing knowledge and intuitions to get closer to the truth

What will you get out of Philosophy?

The skills are:

Critical Thinking
Argument Skills
Communication
Reasoning
Problem Solving
Which allow you to:
Justify your opinions
Stop a bad arguments, no matter what the topic is
Explain to people why they are wrong and your are right
Philosophy basically teaches you to think

Pythagoras
The first to use the term "Philosophy"
Greek work for "love"
Greek word for "wisdom"

Origin of Philosophy and Logic

 Search for truth
Search is to look for something
Search for meaning
Importance
Significance
Value
Relevance
Philosophy as a lot of questions

Philosophy and the Self

Ancient Greek Philosophers
Aristotle | Socrates | Plato
Philosophers agree that self-knowledge is a pre-requisite to a happy and
meaningful life.

Socrates:
"An unexamined life is not worth living" - Socrates:
Every man is dualistic
Composed of body and soul
Two (2) important aspect of personhood:
Body
Imperfect and impermanent
Soul
Perfect and permanent
Socrates' two (2) dichotomous realm
Physical Realm
Changeable, transient, and imperfect
The body belongs to this realm
Ideal Realm
Unchanging, eternal, and immortal
The soul belongs to this realm
Socrates
Socrates was the first tinker to focus on the full power of reason on the human self:
who we are, who we should be and who will become.
 The should strives for wisdom and perfection, and the reason is the soul's tool to
achieve an exalted state of life
Our preoccupation with bodily needs such as food, drink, sex, pleasure, material
possessions and wealth keep us from obtaining wisdom.
A person can have a meaningful and happy life only if he becomes virtuous and
knows the values of himself that can be achieved through constant soul-searching

Plato:
"The soul is immortal" - Plato
A student of Socrates
Philosophy of the self can be explained as a process of self-knowledge and
purification of the soul
He believed in the existence of the mind and soul.
Mind and soul are given in perfection by God
Soul has three (3) parts
1. Rational Soul
Reason and intellect
Diving essence that enables us to think deeply, make wise choices and achieve a
true understanding of eternal truths.
2. Spirited Soul
Emotion and passion
Basic emotions such as love, anger, ambition, empathy, aggressiveness, etc.,
3. Appetitive Soul
Basic Needs
Includes our physiological needs such as hunger, thirst, and sexual desire.
These 3 elements of ourselves are in a dynamic relationship with one another,
sometimes in conflict.
When conflict occurs, Plato believes that it is the responsibility of our Rational Soul
to sort things out and exert control, restoring a harmonious relationship among the
three elements of ourselves
He also believes that genuine happiness can only be achieved by people who
consistently make sure that their Rational is in control of their Spirits and Appetites.

Aristotle:
"Soul and body, I suggest react sympathetically upon each other.
A change in the state of the soul produces a change in the shape
of the body and conversely, a change in the shape of the body
produces a change in the state of the soul." - Aristotle

A student of Plato
The body and soul are not two separate elements but are one thing
The soul is simply the For of the body, and is not capable of existing without the
body
The soul makes a person a person. The soul is the essence of the self.
Aristotle suggest that the rational nature of the self is to lead a good, flourishing and
fulfilling life (Self-actualization).
Without the body, the soul cannot exist. The soul dies along with the body.
he suggested that anything with life has soul.
His discussion about the self centers on the kind of soul possessed by a man.
He introduced the 3 kinds of soul.
Three (3) kinds of soul
1. Vegetative
Includes the physical body that can grow
2. Sentient
Includes the sensual desires, feelings, and emotions
3. Rational
Is what makes man human. It includes the intellect that makes know and
understand things
St. Augustine:
"I am doubting therefore I am" - St. Augustine
Integrated the ideas of Plato and Christianity
Augustine's view of the human person reflects the entire medieval world
The soul is united with the body so that man may be entire and complete.
Believed humankind is created in the image and likeness of God
Therefore, the human person being a creation of God is always geared towards the
good
The self is known only through knowing God
Self-knowledge is a consequence of knowledge of God
"Knowledge can only come by seeing the truth that dwells within us." - St. Augustine

Rene Descartes:
"I think therefore I am" - Rene Descartes
The act of thinking about self of being self-conscious is in itself proof that there is self
Descartes' 2 distinctive entities:
Cogito
The thing that thinks
Minds
 Extenza
The extension
Body

John Locke:
"The self is consciousness" - John Locke
The human mind at birth is tabula rasa or blank slate
He felt that the self is constructed primarily from sense experiences
The theorized that when they are born, all babies know absolutely nothing
He argued that the inside of a baby;s brain was empty- ready to learn everything
through experience

The self consciousness

Consciousness
Necessary to have a coherent personal identity or knowledge of the self a s a person
What6 makes possible our belief, is that we are the same identity in different
situations.

David Hume:
"There is no self" - David Hume:
Self is simply a bundle or collection of different perceptions, which succeed each
other with an inconceivable rapidly and are in a person flex and movement
The idea of personal identity is a result of imagination
There is no self

Immanuel Kant:
"We construct the self" - Immanuel Kant
Self is not just what gives one his personality but also the seat of knowledge
acquisition for all human persons
The self constructs its own reality creating a world that is familiar and predictable
Through our rationality, the self transcends sense experience

Sigmund Freud:
"The self is multilayered" - Sigmund Freud
Considered as the father of psychoanalysis.
 One of his famous ideas the the tripartite division of man's mind:
1. ID - represents man's biological nature; the impulses and the bodily desire
2. Ego - The self; the reality principle
3. Superego - represents ethical component of the personality and provides the
moral standards by which the ego operates

Gilbert Ryle
"The self is the way people behave" - Gilbert Ryle
Self is not an entity one can locate and analyze but simply the convenient name that
people use to refer to all the behaviors that people make
The self is the way people behave

Paul Churchland:
"The mind and the body are separate" - Paul Churchland
The self is inseparable from the brain and the physiology of the body
All we have is the brain and so, if the brain is gone, there is no self
The physical brain and not the imaginary mind, gives us our sense of self

Maruce merleau Ponty:

"The self is embodied subjectivity" - Maurce Merleau Ponty
The mind-body bifurcation that has been going on for a long time is a futile
endeavor and an invalid problem
All knowledge of ourselves and our world is based on subjective experience
The self can never be truly objectified or known in a completely objective sort of way
The self is embodied subjectivity