PHIL OSOPHICAL
PERSPECTIVE
OF THE SELF
ACTIVIT WHAT IS
PHILOSOPHY?
PHILOSOPHY
AND THE SELF
APPLICATION AND
ASSESSMENT
Y
1
LEARNING OUTCOME
1. Explain the role of philosophy in understanding the self.
2. Discuss the different concepts of the self from the
philosophical perspective.
3. Differentiate the various concepts of the self and identify
their similarities.
4. Develop your own philosophy of the self.
Activity 01
Do you TRULY Know
Yourself?
ASK YOURSELF
1. How would you characterize your self?
2. What makes you stand out from the rest?
What makes your self special?
3. How has your self transformed itself?
4. How is your self connected to your body?
5. How is your self related to other selves?
6. What will happen to your self after you die?
ANALYSIS
QUESTIONS EASY OR DIFFICULT TO WHY?
ANSWER
6
WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY?
PHILOSOPHY IS ABOUT:
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?
• What is the mind?
…….and much, 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,
Analysis,
Problem solving
Which allow you to:
• Justify your opinions
• Spot a bad argument, no matter what the topic
• Explain to people why they are wrong and you are
right
• Philosophy basically teaches you to think!
The first to use
the term
philosophy
PYTHAGORAS
LOVE OF WISDOM
PHILO SOPHIA
Greek word for Greek word for
Love Wisdom
ORIGIN OF PHILOSOPHY + LOGIC
• Philosophy ask a lot of questions
• Search for truth
• Search is to look for something
• Search for meaning
Importance
Significance
Value
Relevance
PHILOSOPHY AND
THE SELF
ANCIENT GREEK PHILOSOPHERS
SOCRATES PLATO ARISTOTLE
“ KNOW THYSELF”
-Socrates
SOCRATES
:
AN UNEXAMINED
LIFE IS NOT WORTH
LIVING
SOCRATES
Every man is dualistic
Composed of body and soul
Two important aspects of his personhood
Body
Imperfect and impermanent
Soul
Perfect and permanent
Socrates’ two (2) dichotomous realms
Physical realm Ideal realm
Changeable, transient Unchanging, eternal, and
and imperfect immortal
The body belongs to The soul belongs to this realm
realm
SOCRATES
Socrates was the first thinker to focus on the
full power of reason on the human self: who
we are, who we should be, and who we will
become.
The soul strives for wisdom and perfection,
and reason is the soul’s tool to achieve an
exalted state of life.
A person can have a meaningful and happy life only
if he becomes virtuous and knows the value of
himself that can be achieved through constant soul-
searching.
For him, this is best achieved when one tries to
separate the body from the soul as much as
possible.
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 that in the existence of the mind and
soul.
Mind and soul is given in perfection with God.
PLATO: SOUL HAS
THREE PARTS
1. RATIONAL SOUND
Reason and intellect
Divine 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
and aggressiveness
3. APPETITIVE SOUL
Basic needs
Includes our basic
biological needs such as
hunger, thirst, and
sexual desire.
These three elements of our
selves are in a dynamic
relationship with one
another, sometimes in
conflict.
When conflicts occurs, Plato
believes that it is the
responsibility of our reason
to sort things out and exert
control, restoring a
harmonious relationship
among the three elements
of our selves.
PLATO
Plato believes that
genuine happiness can
only be achieved by
people who consistently
make sure that their
reason is in control of
their Spirit and
Appetite.
ARISTOTLE:
THE SOUL IS THE
ESSENCE OF THE
SELF
ARISTOTLE
A student of Plato
The body and soul are not two separate elements
but are one thing.
The soul is simply the form of the body, and is not
capable of existing without the body.
The soul is that which makes a person a person.
The soul is the essence of the self.
Aristotle suggests that the rational nature of the
self is to lead a good, flourishing, and fulfilling life.
Without the body the soul cannot exist. The soul
dies along with the body.
He introduced the three kinds of soul.
ARISTOTLE: 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 man knows 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 spirit of the 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
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 AM DOUBTING,
THEREFORE I AM
RENE DESCARTES
The act of thinking about
self – of being self-conscious-
is in itself proof that there is self.
Descartes’ two (2) distinct entities
COGITO EXTENZA
The thing that thinks The extension body
Mind
Cogito ergo sum
“I think therefore, I am”
- Rene Descartes
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
Locke theorized
that when they are
born, all babies
know absolutely
nothing
In essence, he argued
that the inside of a
baby’s brain was
empty- ready to learn
everything through
experience.
THE SELF IS CONSCIOUSNESS
CONSCIOUSNESS
Necessary to have a coherent
personal identity or
knowledge of the self as a
person.
What makes possible our
belief that we are the same
identity in different situations
GILBERT
RYLE:
THE SELF IS THE
WAY PEOPLE
BEHAVE
GILBERY 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
“I act therefore I am”, in short the
self is the same as bodily behavior
The self is the way people have
PAUL
CHURCHLAND:
THE SELF IS THE
BRAIN
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
The mind does not really exist
It is the brain and not the imaginary mind
The self is the brain
MAURICE
MERLEAU-PONTY:
THE SELF IS EMBODIED
SUBJECTIVITY
MAURICE 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 our selves 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
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 perpetual flux and
movement
The idea of personal identity is a result of imagination
There is no self
The self construct its own reality creating a world that is
familiar and predictable
APPLICATION AND ASSESSMENT
APPLICATION AND ASSESSMENT
Quiz next meeting
-END-
