UNDERSTANDING THE SELF

SELF ACCORDING TO PHILOSOPHERS

 Socrates
- It is the state of our soul, our inner being, which determines the quality of life.

It is clear to us that Socrates focused on soul and considered it as his perception regarding the
true meaning of self. And in addition, we just want to clarify something regarding the soul. Ancient
Greek lived before the ascension of Christianity, and hence from the notion of the “soul”, it does
not have the same religious connotations that it has for us.

 Plato
- Dualistic metaphysis of mind and body

Thus, he believed that the human self is fundamentally an intellectual entity whose true or
essential nature exists as separate from the physical world.

 Augustine
- Sense of self is about the relation to God.

St. Augustine believes that if it were not for the rare appearance of an accidental and undeserved
God, humans could not be moral. Wherein, morality is very essential for our inner being and
perhaps a building block for a virtuous inner self.

 David Hume
- No self-theory.

He believes that we can never be directly aware of ourselves, only of what we are experiencing at
any given moment. Although the relations between our feelings, and so on, may be traced
through time with memory, there is no real evidence of any core that connects them. Thus, For
David Hume, self is just a bundle of perceptions.

 Gilbert Ryle
- The self is how you behave

His perception about self, posed a question regarding the concept of separated mind and body or
the dualistic concept, that if the body and the mind are two radically substances, how precisely
they can connect to each other? And how could we ever discover such a connection? Thus, he
concluded that our self is how we behave and opposed the idea of the dualistic theory and
believed that our constant use of the word mind has cause us to believe that minds exist.

 Marleau Ponty
- The physical body is an important part of what makes us the subjective self.

He believes that self and perception are encompassed in a physical body. The physical body is part
of the self.

 Churchland
- Nothing but matter exist
 - Churchland holds to materialism and believes that when we are discussing the mind, this
means that the physical brain, and not the mind, exist.

OUR PERCEPTION ABOUT SELF

We believe that ‘There is no absolute self’. Unlike other theories, our concept of self-differs from

the notion of mind, soul or body. We believe that we can never be directly establish a solid identification

of ourselves since our emotions, feelings, and perceptions are temporary and may differ at one time to

another. For an instance, what you are right now is different of what you will be later. You might be

attentive right now but 2 hours later, you’ll be hungry. Thus, a proof that you are constantly changing and

the absolute you does not exist.