UNDERSTANDING THE SELF – MODULE 2

2.1

10. Plato's identification of these three distinct elements of a person's inner life is unique, and can be
validated by directly turning inward to one's own experience of the self.

Plato’s three elements of the psyche are

First is The appetites, which are made up of all of our numerous desires for different comforts, joys, and
physiological ease. Plato does not list all of these appetites since there are too many, but he does notice
that they frequently struggle with one another.

Second the spirited or hot-blooded portion, which becomes furious when it notices (for instance) an
injustice being committed. This is the part of ourselves that enjoys facing and conquering significant
obstacles, the portion that can persevere in the face of difficulty, and the part that cherishes triumph,
winning, challenge, and glory.

And lastly The mind, our conscious awareness. This is the part of ourselves that thinks, analyzes,
anticipates, balances possibilities rationally, and seeks to determine what is best and genuine
throughout.

9. Primary of Perception - The concept of Primary of Perception that is written by Maurice Merleau
Ponty is it is how a person understand or think about in the action that he/she had made . It will reflect
to once performance and intention between what we aim at and what is actually given to us. It is being
aware through our senses such us what we see, hear more than what is actually the outcome of
something and because of that we are going to be aware of one’s surroundings.

8. Materialism – According to Paul Montgomery Churchland a modern- day philosopher whose studies
greatly focuses on the workings of the brain. It is the brain which is the thalamus that plays a vital role
for us to think, to move and to function our bodies. Empirical evidence describes how our brains and
bodies function we are able to determine how we feel and how certain situations affects us.

7. Super Ego – requires compliance to societal norms. The superego is granting the wishes to these
societal norms such as the unwritten rules of beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors that are considered
acceptable in a particular social group or culture.

6. Ego - The ego which is the self , the one who is in the middle who maintains the balance between
these two structures of the mind such as the superego and the id.

5. Id- The Id demands pleasure and gratification of urges. It demands a deep feeling of happiness,
satisfaction and enjoyment such as the fulfillment of ones need or desire.

4. Outer Self- The outer self is generally our physical self. It involves how we present our looks such as
how we dress, we style our hair and many more.

3.Inner Self- The inner self is the intellect as well as the physiological state of a being. The inner self is
thru person’s internal mind and soul.

2. Tabula Rasa- is a concept thru experience. John Locke believes at birth the mind is a blank slate
without innate ideas but because of life experiences it provides us knowledge provided by sensory
experiences and reflections. Start from the beginning of our birth, it is the time that we are able to have
a memory

1. Theory of Mind - it is the stepping stone, the success towards the origin of modern understanding of
the concept of identity and the self.

2.2

1. Know thyself – by the help of self-examine we are able to know thyself, we should discuss about
about the self because by the help of this we are able to achieve what is the greatest good to a life. We
as a human being for us to learn and discover the truth, we should accept that we knows nothing and
we knows and accepts that we knows nothing. Because by accepting this statement we are able to learn
more in life.

2 I think, therefore I am – “Cogito , ergo sum” which is “ I think, therefore I am” it is use to assess one’s
self a first step in demonstrating the attainability of certain knowledge. The idea of being a human will
bring about an awareness of the self which may lead to the development of a unique identity. Your
ability to think already means that you are existing. Our own reasoning can tell us things that are true
about the world we are living.

3. Nothing but matter exists- While Paul Montgomery Churchland focuses on working on the brain. He
argued that ‘nothing but matter exists’ in this statement shows that all such things that are existing
matters. It is the physical brain and not the imaginary mind that gives us our sense of self.

4. We are a ghost in the machine - Gilbert Ryle believed that mental phenomena are explained by
observing public behavior. As we observed people in the street, schools, and any public places it is
where we tend to adopt such feelings of being scared to and the anxiety that we are making up into our
minds for such circumstances that we are building and thinking every time that we are in outside places.

2.3

1. Asserting that things happen for a reason –

In life we believe in this statement that things happen for a reason. It may be in a good terms or bad
terms in our life ,but we always tend to believe that it happened because there is always a reason for
it.It happen because it is a blessing for us or it happen because it is not meant for us . In every situation
in our life there is always be a purpose or a reason for any matter.

2. Stating that what others see is exactly what they get. –

One is liable only for the acts of which he is conscious is same as the statement stating that what others
see is exactly what they get. If a person knows and aware of the things that they are doing such as in
their actions then what they see is exactly what they will get, it is going to be the fruit of the actions that
you are making. If you are picturing for a good and a phosphorus life in the future and you know to
yourself that you are doing your best and you are doing what is right and there is no such doubts that
what you see is exactly what you will get.
3. Believing that things can be done if you want to. – MAURICE

If you are determined enough and you put efforts, hard work and you are able to sacrifice everything
and you put so much trust in you then you should believe that things can be done if you want to. There
is no such easy way to do everything but you just need to beliee in yourself. Maurice Merleau Ponty
claims that “consciousness is primarily not matter of “ I think that”, but of “I can” is same as the
statement Believing that things can be done if you want to . Without the hesitation of “I think that” but
of believing in yourself that “ I Can “ is root for believing that things can be done if you want to because
if you really trust in you ,there is no such thing that you cant do.

4. Saying that indecisiveness is a result of a conflict from within. – sigmeund freud

Saying that indecisiveness is a result of conflict from within. Me personally is experiencing indecisiveness
and there is no dought that most of my age is at the same situation of mine. It is true that indecisiveness
is a result of a conflict from within it is hard to make decisions there is always be a dought in the
decisions that we are making ,we are not confident enoght of our own decisions because we are afraid
to fail, to be judged by other people and also not make our parents proud . and because of
indecisiveness we tend to change our decisions, and chose the way that you think make them proud of
you even it will kill your own happiness and dreams. Same as conflicting force between the superego
and the id. They are a constant conflict because they have different desires. While id demands pleasure
and gratification of urges while the superego requires compliance to social norms. Because of the id and
superego it is where the issue will result into a conflict.

5. Reafirming that we learn exactly from our experiences. –

Life experiences is the best lessons that we learn from our whole existence . In our life we face diffent
type of battles and that battles holds a different type of experiences that we will treasure for a lifetime.
Since we are kid remembering the things that we do, will automatically makes us happy how crazy and
fun it is to remember the things that we do way back then, as we grow old and go to school where we
tend make more friends, experience this so called puppy love, and disobeying the rules of our parents
that we will treasure forever and those moments you are sharing with them , how time flies so fast and
now I am experiencing a life away from my family and friends, away from my home . Where this place
will also going to be part of my lie experiences together with the happy, frustrating , memorable
moments that I will encounter in this journey. We learn from these experiences and this experiences will
make us stong, wiser and braver those experiences will be a lesson for the next things that we are going
to do it will become our guide for a better future.

I believe that this statement is related to David Hume because both the statement Reafirming that we
exactly from our experiences from the word experiences and to the statement that David Hume had
mentioned that all human knowledge is ultimately founded solely in experience.