School of Thought Contention
Dualism Dualism is the concept that our mind is
more than just our brain. It postulates
that the physical body and the soul are
two different entities or are two different
aspects of the self.
Dualism (see previous description) Plato
Philosopher Key Ideas
Socrates · Socrates is known as the Father of (Western) Philosophy.
· Being a dualist, Socrates believed that the physical body is the
part that is mortal and can be/is constantly changing. The soul on
the otherhand is immortal, unvarying, and believed to be our true
self.
·   He postulated that the goal for human existence is to “know 
thyself” and improve the quality of one’s soul by living a life of 
virtue. He maintained that knowledge is essential in order to live a
life of virtue which would consequently lead to happiness.
·   The only way to which an individual achieves the “know thyself” 
contention is through the Socratic method which is done through
a continuous dialogue between the soul and body (the two
separate entities of the self), in a question and answer format.
· Socrates and Plato both share the dualist school of thought in
which acknowledges the mind and body as the separate aspects
of oneself. There’s the body, which is material, mortal and 
“moved”. Then, there’s the soul, which is ideal, immortal and 
“unmoved”, as the core essence of living being.
· Plato introduced a three-part soul namely: reason (responsible
for cognition), physical appetite (biological needs and
physiological responses), spirit or passion (basic emotions like
love, and anger)
· The three parts are in a continuous process of balancing each
needs and drives. It could be in harmony (which is achieved once
reason takes control over the spirit and the appetite resulting) or
could be in conflict (when reason is not in control).

Dualism/ Neoplatonism Neoplatonists are majorly influenced by St. Augustine
Plato
Rationalism This view postulates that reason and the Descartes
thinking process is the ultimate source of
human knowledge. It gives importance to
intellect and deductive reasoning. It was
associated with the incorporation of
mathematical methods into philosophy.
· Although Plato primarily subscribed to the idea of Socrates, he
also emphasized the importance of social influences. People need
other people because social interaction helps individuals to attain
self-knowledge. Both philosophers also emphasized that
knowledge is important in attaining happiness. Without
knowledge one cannot truly uncover one’s purpose.
· St. Augustine subscribed to the idea of dualism which is similar
to Socrates and Plato. St. Augustine also believed that body and
soul remains divided. The body will perish while the soul lives
eternally.
· He integrated those views with the concepts in Christianity. St.
Augustine believed that the SELF emerges as one utilizes his
faculty of free will to become submissive to the will of God.
·  The “immaterial reality” that Plato emphasized gave St. 
Augustine a justification that God exists.
· He postulated that individuals have immortal souls that are in a
constant striving for a union with God by the means of faith and
reason.
Descartes was also influenced by Socrates and Plato regarding the
duality of mind and body. He stated that the self as a thinking
entity is separate from the self as a physical body.
Even though Descartes has similar views with the dualist in which
reason is important, he emphasized not just reason per se but
also the thinking process which is essential considering the self as
a thinking entity.
·   “I think therefore I am”. This goes to show that the ability of an 
individual to think makes that individual exist.
· The self that exist is a product of the ability to think.

Empiricism This view states that experience is the Locke
principal source of all knowledge and
being attuned to these experiences would
enable individuals to understand and
navigate their worlds better.
Empiricism (see previous description) Hume
· The self is conscious when that individual has the aptitude to
use thinking abilities, analyze, experiment, and develop well
formulated arguments and conclusions.
· Subscribed to the idea of Plato and Augustine regarding the
existence of God and that the self strives for the unity with God.
Locke disagreed with rationalist perspective in which knowledge is
innate. He maintained that individuals are like an empty vessel or
blank slates (tabula rasa) at birth. This goes to show that
experience make up an individual’s self.
He also rejected the idea of thinking and learning. He postulated
that knowledge comes from careful observation of experiences.
· Sensations and perceptions are essential factors in uncovering
the self. Sensations refers to the objective elements such as
sound, sight, etc. while perception is the subjective interpretation
of these sensations.
· Being aware and attuned by these sensations and perceptions
or the holistic experience is key to the formation of the self.
· For Descartes, reasoning ability is the origin of knowledge. But
for Locke, experience is the basis for knowledge.
·     Hume continued Locke’s perspective that experience is the 
primary source of the self.
· Hume believed that the entire contents of the mind were
drawn from experience alone.
· However, Hume concluded somewhat differently than Locke
when he stated that there is no self at all. He explained that the
self is based on sensations and perceptions. These sensations and
perceptions are just fleeting or in other words temporary so
accordingly the self also cease to exist with the absence of
experience.
 · The self cannot be directly known, he argued, because it is an
idea or concept, which can only be known through the
impressions or perceptions serving as the basis for the concept.
·     In his own words self is a” system of different perceptions or 
different experiences, which are linked together by the relation of
cause and effect, and which mutually produce, destroy, influence,
and modify each other.”
Rationalism (see previous description) Kant ·     Kant’s perspective was in response to Hume’s ideas. Hume’s 
idea about the self is passive and fleeting which means that it is
only a memory and imagination. On the other hand, Kant’s 
rationalistic view argues that the mind is actively reconstructing
information through unity or synthesis of experience. This is
referred to as Transcendental apperception. Kant argues that the
self is Transcendental which functions to unite all appearances
into one experience. The contents of consciousness must have
causal connections to be unified.
· For Kant, the self is a product from a synthesis of experience,
representations, and consciousness.
·     In his own words “When we are conscious of ourselves as 
subject, we are conscious of ourselves as the single common
subject of a number of representations."
·     He also emphasized the use of knowledge to attain one’s self.

Behaviorism This view is a psychological school of Ryle Ryle’s proposition is an effort to debunk the dualist perspective 

thought that postulates that all behaviors replacing it with the logical and conceptual understanding of the
are acquired though conditioning. It self.
emphasizes the importance of observable
events which refers to behaviors of
people and discounting their inner
thoughts
He argued that Descartes, Plato, Socrates and other dualists’ idea 
on the soul and body is a misconception that creates confusion.
 The dualism is just a metaphor and it is not what is actually
existing in reality.

· He coined the term category mistakes which is about

mistakenly putting a thing to a specific group which actually
belongs to another. He maintained that there is no hidden entity
so called the “mind” inside the so called “body”.
· The Concept of Mind - The workings of the mind are not an
independent mechanism that governs the workings of the body.
The workings of the mind are not distinct from the actions of the
body; they are rather a way of explaining the actions of the body.

Physicalism This view states that everything is physical Churchland Churchland also rejected the idea of dualism. He argued that the
and that there is nothing over and above soul is not a physical entity because it cannot be experienced by
the physical. This is also closely related to the senses and is therefore a myth. He maintained that non-
eliminative materialism which contends physical things cannot be explained by science.
that matter is the most basic substance in
nature and some mental states produced
by common sense are non existent.

· IF the mind cannot be experienced by the senses, then the

mind does not exist.
· It is the physical brain and not the imaginary mind that give
individuals a sense of self. The self is a product of the activity of
the human brain.
· Physical things can be accounted by hard sciences such as
biology, Chemistry, Physics, etc.
Phenomenology This view states that all knowledge of one Merleau-Ponty This again rejects the dualist idea of Plato, Socrates, etc.
self is based on the phenomenon of
experience. It discounts psychological
factors or causal explanations. Its goal is
to give meaning to the experience in
itself.

Psychodynamic This View maintains that the self is
divided into the unconscious,
preconscious, and conscious. With the
unconscious operating the most part of
the self.
· Merleau-Ponty postulates that the living body is a unity of
the both the mind and biology. The dualist idea of dividing those
entities separately is illogical.
· the "self" is understood as being embedded in and
supported by the "field of experience
·         A person’s consciousness, his/her world, and his/her human 
body are entwined and are mutually interdependent.
· Mind cannot be only identified by just self-knowledge, more
importantly it is dependent on the harmonious relationship of the
structures and actions of the human world.
Freud · id, ego, and superego
·        the id’s goal is to pursue pleasure and satisfy the biological 
drives. the ego’s goal is to find safe and socially acceptable ways 
of satisfying the id’s desires and to negotiate between the id’s 
wants and the superego’s prohibitions. The superego’s goal is to 
apply the moral values and standards
· the goal is for the ego to dominate the totality of the self so
as to achieve balance and harmony between pleasure and
morality.