CHAPTER I

Lesson 1
THE SELF FROM VARIOUS
PHILOSOPHICAL
PERSPECTIVES
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

1. Discuss the different representations and conceptualizations of

the self from various disciplinal perspectives.
2. Examine the different influences, factors, and forces that shape
the self.
3. Compare and contrast how the self has been represented across
the different disciplines and perspectives.
4. Demonstrate critical and reflective thought in analyzing the
development of one's self and identity by developing a theory of
the self.
Philosophy – the study of
acquiring knowledge through
rational thinking and inquiries
that involves answering questions
regarding the nature and
existence of man and the world
we live in.
 Philosophy of the Self

Philosophy is
often called the SELF as “ a unified
“mother of all being, essentially
disciplines,’ connected to
encompassing the consciousness,
entire breadth of awareness and
inquiry about agency ( or at
humans and the least, with the
universe they faculty of rational
inhabit. choice).”
 Socrates

HOW CAN I MAKE

MYSELF HAPPY?
 Socrates
SOCRATES
First martyr of education, knowledge, and
philosophy. His philosophy underlies in
the importance of the notion "knowing
oneself".
A person's acceptance of ignorance is the
beginning of acquisition of knowledge.
But possession of knowledge is a virtue;
ignorance is a depravity (evil, corruption,
wickedness).
Knowing ourselves, lies in our own
abilities, and wisdom. Understanding
ourselves is through internal questioning
or introspection (understanding our
strengths and weaknesses, like vs.
dislike).
 His way of teaching is called the Socratic Method or Socratic
conversation (the role of both the teacher and the student is known
to the world; asking and answering questions to stimulate critical
thinking and to draw out ideas and underlying presumptions).
I cannot teach anybody anything.
I can only make them think. - Socrates
But for him, men's goal in
life is to obtain happiness. It
motivates us to act towards or
avoid things that could have
negative effects on our lives.
As such, by fully knowing
oneself a person will be able to
achieve happiness.
Thought-Provoking Questions

1.If you could have only one superpower, what would it be?

2. How would you change the world if you could?

3. What are you most afraid of?

4. What’s one thing you did in the last 24 hours to make someone’s
life better?
5. What do you do when you can’t sleep at night?
MICHAEL JACKSON
Michael Jackson’s transformations dramatize
philosophical questions about identity.
“An
unexamined
life is not
worth living.”
- Socrates
 PLATO
He is a student of Socrates that is
the reason he followed the idea of
Socrates in knowing thyself.

He was called the Father of

academy (a place where learning
and sharing of knowledge
happens; Later became one of the
pillars and basis of what schools
and education is now in the
present).
According to Plato, a person who is a follower of truth and wisdom will not be tempted by
vices and will always be correct/moral/ethical. He believed in the division of a person's body
and soul which forms the person as a whole aside from the material things and that could be
observed and associated with a person. He believed that the soul is divided into 3 different
parts that has different views, leading to different behaviors

Rational Spirited Appetitive

• the drive of our • courageous part of a • the part of the
lives. The part that person. One who person that is driven
thinks and plan for wants to do by desire and need
the future (the something or to to satisfy oneself.
conscious mind). It right the wrongs This satisfaction
decides what to do, that they observe. involves physical
when to do it and This is very needs, pleasures and
the possible results competitive and is desires, objects, and
one could have very active. situations .
depending on their Competitiveness
actions. drives one to expect
positive results and
winning.
 ST. AUGUSTINE
A saint and a philosopher of the church. He follows
the idea that God encompasses us all, that
everything will be better if we are with God.
He believed that God and his teachings affects
various aspects in life (that everything is better if we
devote ourselves in mending our relationship with
God).

His idea of a man and how to understand who we are as a

person is related to our understanding of who we are and
how we question ourselves.
He also relates our existence to God being modelled in his
likeness though being alive means that we are still far
from god and has yet to be truly with him.
 St. Augustine emphasized
that we may not be able to give
our agreement to everything
other people tell us, but we can
still agree to those who we are
from our own perception.
His believes that teaching
the church and establishing our
sense of self with God identifies
the essence of our existence
and role in the world (the reason
for this is because our bodies
are limited).
 A French philosopher known RENE DESCARTES
to be the father of modern
philosophy because of his
radical use of systematic and
early scientific method to aid
his ideas and assumptions.
He believed in modern dualism
or the existence of body and
mind and its importance to
one's existence were
presented with the evidences
from experiments as well as
philosophical reasoning.
 Descartes is known to be the proponent of the methodical doubt
(continues process questioning, doubting, asking questions are part of one’s
existence. He defined the roles of the mind and body to the notion of one’s
existence and sense of self.
Rene Descartes
He is known for the statement "cogito
ergo sum" (I think therefore I am) and
according to him, a person is comprised of
mind (thinks and questions what the body
has experienced) and body (perceives from
the different senses).
The body and its perceptions cannot
fully be trusted or can easily be deceived
(for example: there are times that we feel
that a dream is real before actually waking
up.
Descartes believes that we should focus
on the mind in order to perceive as who
we are or the essence of our existence
because we cannot always trust our
senses.

He explained that the more we think and

doubt what we perceived from our
senses and the answer that came from
such thin king or doubting leads to better
understanding of ourselves. He also
emphasizes that being in constant doubt
regarding one's existence is proof that a
person exists.
 Do you agree with
Descartes that “ if you
would be a real seeker
after truth, it is
necessary that at least
once in your life you
doubt, as far as
possible, all things?”
Descartes
The self is a combination of two distinct
entities:
1. The cogito or the thing that thinks, which
is the mind.
2. The extenza or extension of the mind
which is the body.
The body is nothing else but a machine that
is attached to the mind.
 An English philosopher and
physician. He is the Father
of Classical Liberation.

• All knowledge originates in

our direct sense experience,
which acts as the final court
of judgement in evaluating
the accuracy and value of
ideas.
 Rationalism – regards
He works on the self is most represented reason as the chief source
by the concept "tabula rasa" (blank and test of knowledge

slate). The experiences and perceptions of

a person is important in the establishment
of who that person can become.
Locke does not disregard the experiences
of the person in the identification and
establishment of who we are as a person.
He stated that a person is born with
knowing nothing and that is susceptible to
stimulation and accumulation of learning
from the experiences, failures, references,
and observations of the person
 A Scottish • Skepticism – always in
philosopher.
He focused doubt and that knowledge
his work in the is uncertain.
field of
empiricism,
• Empiricism – all of our
skepticism, and
naturalism. knowledge comes from
our sensory experience.

David Hume
• Naturalism – all beings
and events in the universe
are natural.
He explained that the Self is the accumulation of different impressions and does not
exceed the physical realm.
For him, there is no permanent self because impressions of things are based from
our experiences where we can create our ideas and knowledge. Thus, it may improve
or totally be replaced.
 1. Impressions – are the basic
sensations of our experiences,
the elemental data of our
minds : pain. Pleasure , heat
cold, happiness grief, fear and so
on. These impressions are lively
and vivid.
According to David 2. Ideas – are copies of impression,
Hume. If we carefully and as a result they are less
examine the contents lively and vivid. Include thoughts
of our experience, and images that are build up
there are two distinct from our primary impressions
entities: through a variety of
relationships.
 -

A German philosopher that is

known for his works on empiricism
and rationalism.
He established that the collection of
impressions and different contents
is what it only takes to define a
person.
He believes that the awareness of
different emotions that we have,
impressions and behavior is only a
part of ourselves.
Immanuel Kant
He emphasizes that a person who fully understand
the self has a certain level of consciousness or sense
that uses our intuition which synthesizes all the
experiences, impressions and perceptions of
ourselves will pave the way to define and know who
we are really are.

But he argued that the sense called

"transcendental apperception" is an essence of
our consciousness that provides basis for
understanding and establishing the notion of self
by synthesizing one's accumulation of
experiences, intuition, and imagination.
He conceptualized the different levels of
consciousness that provide an idea of how a person
SIGMUND FREUD
develops a sense of self:

Man has 3 aspects of personality

1. Id- the child aspect of a person; attention is on

the satisfaction of one's needs and self-
gratification. Driven by the pleasure principle.

2. Superego- the conscience of one's personality. An Austrian psychologist and

Has the inclination to uphold justice and do what is physician.
morally right and socially acceptable actions.
Involved in the notion of right or wrong that is The Father of psychoanalysis.
imparted to us by our parents or people that took Freud is well known for his work
care of us during childhood. on human nature and the
unconscious. He believed that
3. Ego - police or the mediator between id and man has different constructs of
superego. Operates within the boundaries of reality, personality.
its primary function is to maintain the impulses of
the id to an acceptable degree.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzS7VQNFH-w
 Sigmund Freud
Introduced the Levels of Consciousness:
1. Conscious- where minority of our memories are being stored and the
memories that are in the conscious is easier to be tapped or accessed

2. Pre-conscious - the middle part of the entirety of our consciousness; the

memories stored in this area can still be accessed but with a little difficulty.

3. Unconscious- this area is where majority of our memories since childhood

are deeply stored. It is very difficult to tap the memories. It would need a
trained professional and several special techniques in order to make some
memories resurface
He believed that we are a by-product of our experiences in the past and that
are actions are driven by the idea of resisting or avoiding pain, and are molded
from our need for pleasure or being happy.
 Gilbert Ryle
He used behavioristic approach to self.
According to him, self is the behavior
presented by the person.
The behavior that we show, emotions, and
actions are the reflection of our mind and
as such is the manifestation of who we are.

He does not believe that the mind and body

are two separate entities which is said to be
evident in the unexplainable phenomenon
or abilities of the mind where the soul is
considered; however, to some they can co-
exist.
 Gilbert Ryle
He explained that the self is exemplified
in his "ghost in the machine" view (man is a
complex machine with different functioning
parts, and the intelligence and other
characteristic or behavior of man are
represented by the ghost in the said machine.

His idea is saying that the things that we

do, how we behave and react, and all other
components like the way we talk, walk and
look are generally who we are as a person.
 Paul Churchland
A Canadian philosopher whose focus is on the idea that people should
improve our association and use of worth in identifying the self.
The self is defined by the movement of our brain. A constant
movement of the brain can be the basis of who the person is
(emphasized by Churchland and his wife in the statement "the brain as
the self").
 Man is composed of
THOMAS AQUINAS two parts:
- The most eminent 13th century scholar and 1. Matter, or hyle
stalwart of the medieval philosophy, appended
in Greek, refers
something to this Christian view.
to the “common
stuff that makes
up everything in
the universe.”

2. Form, or morphe
in Greek refers to
the “essence of a
substance or thing.”
THOMAS AQUINAS
-

Example a sculptor takes

block of marble (which
itself embodies both
matter and form) and
then gives it further form
of shaping it into the
formal design he or she
has in his mind.
 MAURICE JEAN JACQUES
MERLEAU-PONTY

A French philosopher. He is known for his works

on existentialism and phenomenology. He coined
the idea of phenomenology of perception (unity
of the function of the mind and the body).

Merleau-Ponty regarded that the body and mind are not separate
entities but rather those two components are one and the same. His idea of
perception follows the idea of Gestalt psychology (which gives importance
to the whole rather than the sum of its parts). Perception guides our action-
based on our experiences.

The body perceives while our consciousness provides the meaning or

interprets the various perception we have in the world and the self could be
established by the perceptions we have in the world.

One’s actions, behavior, and language used could be said to be the

reflection of our united perception of the world.
 Merleau-Ponty
• Primacy of Perception – where he said that “
there is harmony between what we aim at and
what is given , between intention and
performance.
• He claimed that ‘Consciousness is primarily
not a matter of “I think that” but “I
can”.
QUALITIES OF A CRITICAL THINKER:

 Curious
They explore situations with probing questions that penetrate
beneath the surface of issues, instead of being satisfied with
superficial explanations.

 Independent thinkers
They are not afraid to disagree with the group opinion. They
develop well-supported beliefs through thoughtful analysis, instead
of uncritically “borrowing” the beliefs of others or simply going
along with the crowd.
QUALITIES OF A CRITICAL THINKER:

 Insightful
They are able to get to the heart of the issue or problem.

 Skilled discussants
They are able to discuss ideas in an organized and
intelligent way. Even when the issues are
controversial, they listen carefully to opposing
viewpoints and respond thoughtfully.
Open- Knowledgeable
minded When they offer an opinion, it’s always based on facts or evidence. On the
other hand, if they lack knowledge of the subject, they acknowledge this.
In discussion, they listen
carefully to every viewpoint,
evaluating each perspective Mentally active
carefully and fairly. In They take initiative and actively use their intelligence to confront problems
and meet challenges, instead of simply responding passively to events.