PHILOSOPHERS
PHILOSOPHIES OF THE SELF
PLATO
PLATO
The conditions of identity that make one subject of
experience distinct from all others. Contemporary
discussions on the nature of the self are not
thereby discussions on the nature of personhood,
or personal identity.
The self is sometimes understood as a unified
being essentially connected to consciousness,
awareness, and agency (or, at least, with the
faculty of rational choice).
PLATO
Various theories on the metaphysical nature of the
self have been proposed. Among them metaphysical
nature of the self has been proposed to be that of an
immaterial substance.
The self of one individual is exhibited in the conduct
and discourse of that individual. Therefore, the
intentions of another individual can only be inferred
from something that emanates from that individual.
The particular characteristics of the self determines
its identity.
IMMANUEL KANT
IMMANUEL KANT
Two Kinds of Consciousness of Self
1. Consciousness of oneself and one's
psychological states in inner sense (empirical
self- consciousness)
2. Consciousness of oneself and one's states via
performing acts of apperception (transcendental
apperception)
IMMANUEL KANT
Representational Base of Consciousness of Oneself and One's
States
Most ordinary representations generated by most ordinary acts of
synthesis provide the representational base of consciousness of
oneself and one's states.
Consciousness in Inner Sense is Only of How One Appears to
Oneself
In inner sense, one is conscious of oneself only as one appears to
oneself, not as one is.
Referential Machinery of Consciousness of Self
The referential machinery used to obtain consciousness of self as
subject requires no identifying (or other) ascription of properties to
oneself.
IMMANUEL KANT
No Manifold in Consciousness of Self
When one is conscious of oneself as subject, one has a bare
consciousness of self in which “nothing manifold is given.
Consciousness of Self is not Knowledge of Self
When one is conscious of oneself as subject, one's bare
consciousness of self yields no knowledge of self.
Conscious of Self as Single, Common Subject of Experience
When we are conscious of ourselves as subject, we are conscious
of ourselves as the “single common subject” of a number of
representations.
FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE
FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE
German Philosopher, essayist, cultural critic and
philologist. He was known for his critical tests on
religion, morality, contemporary culture, philosophy
and science. One of his famous ideas that are
greatly known are: Death of God, Perspectivism, the
Übermensch, the eternal reccurence, and the will to
power.
übermensch is a German word for "superman" or
"overman" Self overcoming - refers to conquering
and defeating that part of you from striving and
achieving your goals.
FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE
Metamorphosis #1. The camel "What is difficult? asks the spirits
that would bear much, and kneels down like a camel wanting to
be well loaded. What is difficult, o heroes, asks the spirit that
would bear much, that I may take it upon myself and exult in my
strength?“
Metamorphosis #2: The lion Existential crisis - where we find
ourselves questioning everything.
Metamorphosis #3: The child A child mind - is a mind immersed
in the moment and filled with wonder and playfulness.
The one who can will his own will, create his own virtue and
create his own meaning of life.
JOHN LOCKE
JOHN LOCKE
In his 1690 work An Essay Concerning Human Understanding,
John Locke proposes that one's personal identity extends only
so far as their own consciousness. The connection between
consciousness and memory in Locke’s theory has earned it the
title of the "memory theory of personal identity."
Locke suggests that the self is “a thinking intelligent being, that
has reason and reflection, and can consider itself as itself, the
same thinking thing, in different times and places” and
continues to define personal identity simply as “the sameness
of a rational being” (Locke). So long as one is the same self,
the same rational being, one has the same personal identity.
JOHN LOCKE
Self is the memory of the thinking thing. Locke
believed that "Self" identified with consciousness
and this "Self" consists of sameness of
consciousness.
RENE DESCARTES
RENE DESCARTES
Widely considered the “founder of modern philosophy.”
Descartes brought an entirely new—and thoroughly modern—
perspective to philosophy in general and the self in particular.
instead of simply using reason to try to answer questions,
Descartes wanted to penetrate the nature of our reasoning
process and understand its relation to the human self. He was
convinced that to develop the most informed and well-
grounded beliefs about human existence, we need to be clear
about the thinking instrument we are employing. For if our
thinking instrument is flawed, then it is likely that our
conclusions will be flawed as well.
RENE DESCARTES
In a passage from his Discourse on Method, Descartes contrasts
the process of learning to construct knowledge by thinking
independently with simply absorbing information from authorities.
This, then, is the beginning of Descartes’s quest for true
knowledge that leads to his famous first principle: Cogito, ergo
sum—“I think, therefore I am.”
This is the essence of your self—you are a “thinking thing,” a
dynamic identity that engages in all of those mental operations
we associate with being a human self.
