MODULE 1:

LESSON 1.2
PHILOSOPHICAL VIEW OF SELF
SS3: UNDERSTANDING THE SELF: LECTURE

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 WHY START WITH
PHILOSOPHY?
Philosophically, discussion of the self is a
basic search for meaning and purpose in
life
Determination, rationalization, and
identification of the self set the direction
from which an individual travels to fulfill
his or her purpose in life

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 SOCRATES:
KNOW YOURSELF
“PEOPLE SHOULD BRING THEMSELVES INTO THE LIGHT “

Self-knowledge - means knowing one’s degree of understanding

about the world and knowing one’s capabilities and potentialities
Self is achieved and not just discovered, something to work on and
not a product of a mere realization
Virtue is the core of the Socratic ethics
“An unexamined life is not worth living”; the worst thing that can
happen to anyone is to live but die inside

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 PLATO:
THE IDEAL SELF, THE PERFECT SELF

- We are all-knowing before we are

born but stripped with our
knowledge when we are brought
into the world
- One should try emulate the self
before they are born (The
Ideal/Perfect Self) by living a life of
virtue

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 ST. AUGUSTINE
“LOVE AND JUSTICE AS THE FOUNDATION OF SELF”

- Following the ancient view of Plato and infusing it with the

newfound doctrine of Christianity; that is, an aspect of man dwells in
the world and is imperfect and continuously yearns to be with the
divine.
- The goal of every human person is to attain this communion and
bliss with the Divine by living his life in virtue

Virtuous life = turning towards love

Wicked life = turning away from love

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 RENE DESCARTES
FATHER OF MODERN PHILOSOPHY
“COGITO, ERGO SUM”

Self is real and not just an illusion; the only thing that one
cannot doubt is the existence of the self, for even one doubts
oneself, that only proves that THERE IS A DOUBTING SELF, a
thing that thinks therefore cannot be doubted.
The SELF is different from the BODY. Thus body and self
exists, but differ in existence and reality.
Self is a feature of the mind rather than the body thus it is
mental rather than physical.

Methodic Doubt- the existence of anything

that you register from your senses can be
doubted . Whichever thought a person
chooses is the one being carried to the
persons “I am”.
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 JOHN LOCKE
PERSONAL IDENTITY

The Self is not in the brain but founded in the

consciousness (memory)
Tabula Rasa
The Self evolves over the course of a person life.

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 DAVID HUME
THE SELF IS A BUNDLE OF THEORY OF THE MIND

There is NO single impression of self that exist

There is no stable thing called self, for the self is nothing but a
complex set of successive impressions or perceptions
What you think and what you feel constitute what you are in that
very moment. That is what you are; that is who you are

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 IMMANUEL KANT
RESPECT FOR SELF

- the self is not just what gives one his

personality; it is also the seat of knowledge
acquisitions for all human persons
- Every man in an end in himself and never should
be treated merely as a means for others
Respect others as you should respect your self
- All have the same basic rights and should treat
each other as equals

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 GILBERT RYLE
“WHAT TRULY MATTERS IS THE BEHAVIOR
THAT A PERSON MANIFESTS IN HIS DAY
TO DAY LIFE”
The mind is not separate from the body
Mind consists of dispositions of people based on what they
know, what they feel, what they want, and so on
Knowing and believing are just dispositions but these
influence people’s actions
The disposition you know, believe, feel, and act is called
the MIND
Self is the combination of the body and the mind
Self is how the people behave; it is not an entity one can
locate and analyze but simply the convenient name that
people use to refer to all behaviors that people make

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 POINTS TO REMEMBER:
- When learning about each of the philosophical view of the self, it is important to
take into account the time period it was theorized.
- The creation of a new philosophy does not mean the other is no longer important.
- Philosophies are guide into understanding things; especially the self

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 NEXT…
MODULE 1: LESSON 1.3
PSYCHOLOGICAL VIEW OF SELF

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