Philosophical Perspectives of the Self By: Asst.Prof. Gino A. Cabrera, MPsy, CSIOP, RPm Who am I? What I am? Are others aware of who they are? Who or what defines the self? These pressing questions have been asked and debated by philosophers, scholars, and religious thinkers since time immemorial. Their arguments were based on their own personal opinions, experiences, critical thinking, observations, and even imaginative speculations. In short, these philosophers or thinkers relied on their individualized way of looking at the self as an entity of analysis. As a result, they arrived at a wide array of conceptions about the self. Some of their perspectives come as a reaction to the other, making them sometimes opposing and distinctly unique. This chapter will introduce to you the various philosophical views of early thinkers that may help you in your quest for self-discovery, in understanding the self, others, and the world. We shall also discover a glimpse of these philosophers’ life experiences which might have influenced their philosophy about the self. In the same way, you may also reflect your own journey through life in order to come up with your own philosophical perspective about the self or self-developed theory that is grounded on your experiences. Learning Outcomes ‘At the end of this lesson, students should be able to: 1. Familiarize the different philosophers and thinkers who offered a concept in understanding the self; Appreciate the various philosophical viewpoints in understanding the self; and Develop a deeper understanding of the self through the various philosophical perspectives. wn Discussion “An unexamined life is not worth living.” - Socrates The quest to understand the self started as early as the Greek civilization where ancient Greek philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle offered their philosophical frameworks. It continuous to flourish during the Medieval period with Christian thinkers like St. Augustine and with the likes of René Descartes during the pre- modern age. Until the post-modernism period, perspectives on understanding the self constantly grow to suggest that all reality should be questioned and that people construct meanings into their lives based on their culture and society (Neukrug, 2011). The word philosophy came from the Greek words “phifos” which means love or loving, and “sophos" meaning wise that literally translates to /ove of wisdom. Philosophy ‘employs the inquisitive mind to discover the ultimate causes, reasons, and principles of everything (Go-Monilla & Ramirez, 2018). It is a discipline that is different from science and does not engage in scientific method of investigation but rather explore to understandreality and human existence through personal hunches and in-depth inquiries, Philosophy remains as the unique discipline that asks significant questions that other fields are unable to address (Bulaong et al., 2018). Understanding the self is one of the prime focus of philosophers and thinkers. ‘We will now begin the journey of getting to know who these philosophers and thinkers and their respective viewpoints about the self, Socrates (470 - 399 BC) Socrates was known for his expression “an unexamined life is mot worth living” or simply “know thyself.” Understanding the self has probably started during his time about 2, 000 years ago. His expression “know thyself” is considered the forerunner of the introspective method. He was the first one who suggested that we should rely on rational though and introspection or the careful examination of one’s own thoughts and emotions in order to achieve self- knowledge or to understand the self (Rathus, 2012). Followers of Socrates called this as the Socratic method. Later, introspection will be re-introduced by St. Augustine in a more systematic way. Socrates, © Pinterest.com He believed that the self is the soul and suggested that reality consists of two dichotomous realms — physical and ideal. The physical realm is changeable, transient, and imperfect. The ideal realm is unchanging, eternal, and immortal. The body belongs to the physical realms while the intellectual essences of the soul such as truth, goodness, and beauty belong to the ideal realm. For him, a person can have a happy and meaningful life by becoming virtuous and knowing one’s own significance which can be achieved through soul-searching or introspection (Go-Monilla & Ramirez, 2018). Plato (428/427 - 348/347 BC) Plato, also a Greek thinker, is credited as one of the pioneers of philosophy as his various writings brings up and discuss carefully and creatively some of the questions that later thinkers called Neo-platonic like St. Augustine, will find to be of great significance to humankind. He started a school in Athens which would be known as the Academy and is believed to be the first institution of higher learning in the Western World (Bulaong et al., 2018). As a student of Socrates, he also believed with the soul. For him, it is distinct to man and it is God-given. Thus, it inhibits the body | plato. © Pinterest.co.ukas “knower,” “thinker,” and “determiner” of individual's actions (Aguierre et al., 2012). He also introduced the three parts of the soul. First is the reason which is the divine essence that enables us to think deeply, make wise choices, and achieve a true understanding of eternal truths. Second is the physical appetite that includes our basic instinctual needs including hunger, thirst, and sexual desire. Thirdly, the spirit or passion includes basic emotions such as love, anger, ambition, aggressiveness, and empathy. These three elements are in dynamic and sometimes conflicting relationship. Reason has the responsibility to sort things out to restore the balance between these elements (Go- Monilla & Ramirez, 2018). To him, knowledge existed in the soul prior to any actual experience. In one of his writings, he questioned an uneducated slave boy in such a manner that the boy appears to have knowledge of geometry, even though he had never had any acquaintance with the subject. The implication is that the knowledge existed in the soul prior to birth (Lundin, 1991). Aristotle (384 - 322 BC) Aristotle studied philosophy under Plato in Athens. He was considered to be the brightest among Plato's students in the Academy. He later founded his own school, Lyceum, where he became a very productive intellectual who also served as the mentor of Alexander the Great (Bulaong et al., 2018). He is considered to be the first person to put into writing an explanation pertaining to behavior of man (Aguierre et al., 2012). He also believed with the soul and introduced its three functions. The first function is vegetative which deals with the basic maintenance of life. The second one is appetitive which focuses on the desires and motives. Lastly, the rational governs reason that is located in the heart. For him, the brain is simply a gland Aristotle. © Nytimes.com | that can only perform basic functions. He argued that human behavior, like movements of the stars and the seas, is subject to rules and laws or how they exist or evolve (Rathus, 2012). For Aristotle, the rational makes us different from other living creatures. In addition, he also proposed four concepts which give way to understand any being. According to Aristotle, any being can have four causes. First, we recognize that any being is corporeal, possessed, or made up of physical materials. This refers to the material cause. Because it is made up of material stuff, it takes a shape that could identify that a man is different from a monkey. The shape refers to the form of the being, so each being has a formal cause. Also, there is something which brings about the presence of another being, such as a parent beget a child or a log was made into a table, This refers to the efficient cause. Lastly, since every being has an apparent end or goal, there must be a final cause (Bulaong et al., 2018). Like a child to become an adult, final cause gives a way to understand the selfFurther, he also offered the concept of potency and act. A being may carry within itself certain potentials (potency), but this requires to be actualized (act). In such a way, a child is not yet a full-grown adult, this potency is latent in the child and will be actualized as the child grows up and achieves what he/ she is supposed to be (Bulaong et al., 2018). St. Augustine (354 - 430 AD) St. Augustine of Hippo was born in North Africa of a pagan father and a Christian mother. After a youth of revelry, he was converted to Christianity and later became the Bishop of Hippo in North Africa. He is a Catholic saint who combined the Greek Platonic though with Christian thinking. He introduced the method of introspection where in an individual tries to describe his own conscious process (Aguierre et al., 2012). He believed that one should detached from worldy affairs, for true knowledge can only be attained through God. Through introspection, the soul could know what was true and known by faith. The soul works like the Trinity of three functions: memory, intelligence (understanding), and will, Still ike the Trinity, which was a three-in-one, the soul was a single unity not divisible into parts. In today's World, [~s. asgusine © Tylrmarshlicom introspection works in therapies and projective testing in statements like “tell me anything that comes to your mind” (Lundin, 1991). The soul is the “spouse” of the body; united and attached to one another. But unlike the earlier philosopher, his definition of soul has a religious flavor. Augustine is convinced that the self is known only through knowing God, He espouses the significance of reflection, as well as the importance of prayers and confessions to arrive at a justification for the existence of God. For him, "knowledge can only come by seeing the truth that dwells within us” and that truth is knowing God. The self seeks to be united with God through faith and reason (Go-Monilla & Ramirez, 2018). René Descartes (1596 - 1650) Descartes is revered as a philosopher, a mathematician, and a psychologist who was born in France. He is considered as the father of modern philosophy. He has brought an entirely new perspective to philosophy and the self. He wants to penetrate the nature of reasoning process and understand its relationship to the human self. The Latin phrase Cogito ergo sum —"I think therefore I am” is the keystone of his concept of self. For him,the act of thinking about the self or of being self-conscious is in itself a solid basis that there is self that exists (Go- Monilla & Ramirez, 2018). He introduced the idea of dualism and the concept of reflex action which indicates that the mind and body interact. The mind is the spiritual entity — the thinking self and the body is the physical or material entity — the physical self. Although they are considered to be distinct from each other, they work together to make the individual functional (Aguierre et al., 2012). He explained his theory on reflexes by comparing the operation of the human body to a machine. He presumed the nerves were hallow tubes with animal spirits which are gaseous substances derived from the body by a process of distillation. He thought of the animal spirits as material substances which could move René Descartes, © imdb.com | Very Quickly, like sparks shooting off from a flame. It is said that Descartes originated his idea of the action of the nervous system from observing how fountains worked in the gardens of the great palaces (Lundin, 1991). John Locke (1632 - 1704) Locke was born in England and was educated in Oxford. He introduced the idea that all experiences may be analyzed. He is also well-known for his term “Tabula Rasa” of a blank slate of which at birth, the mind is just a blank sheet that collects its contents through experiences that a person will go through in his/ her entire life (Aguierre et al., 2012). Locke had read the work of Descartes and he ‘opposed his notion that some ideas were inborn through his own theory of knowledge. He argued that if ideas were innate, they should be constant in all minds, but neither the new-born nor the illiterate shared them. If innate, ideas should not show development, but they did. In his analysis, Locke wrote that all ideas came from experience. Basically, the mind was passive, and could only do two things. First, it could receive experiences from the outside world: this involved the act of sensing. Locke was actively concerned with the whole process of sensation, since it was the primary source of all knowledge. Second, the mind could reflect upon itself. It was basically through this process of reflection, or what we call it today as introspection, that it became possible for people to engage in the process we call thinking. (Lundin, 1991). In stating that all knowledge came from experience, he was obviously a follower of the Aristotelian thoughts. John Locke. © thegreatthinkers.orgDavid Hume (1711 - 1776) Hume was a Scotsman who believed that the mind is nothing but a heap or collection of different perceptions, unified together by certain relationships (Lundin, 1991). As an empiricist, he believes that one can know what comes from the sense and experience. The self is nothing but the physical body. Empiricism is the school of thought that espouses the idea that knowledge can only be possible if it is sensed and experienced (Alata et al., 2018). To Hume, what people experience is just a bundle or collection of different perceptions. He maintains that if people carefully examine the contents of their experience through introspection, they will find that there are only distinct entities: impressions and ideas (Go-Monilla & Ramirez, David Hume. © onthisday.com | 2018). All we knew was that we had impressions (sensations) and ideas. We believed there was a real object only because our impressions tended to fit together such as you cannot prove a table existed in the classroom after you have left the room (Lundin, 1991). Impressions are basic sensations that include hate, love, joy, grief, pain, cold, and heat that are so strong and lively. They are the core of our thoughts. Meanwhile, ideas are thoughts and images from impressions that are less lively and vivid (Go-Monilla & Ramirez, 2018). When one touches an ice cube, the cold sensation is an impression. Impressions therefore are vivid because they are products of our direct experience with the world while ideas are copies of impressions. Because of this, they are not as lively and vivid as our impressions. When one imagines the feelings of being in love for the first time, that is an idea (Alata et al., 2018). Hume claims that people have no experience of a simple and individual impression that they can call the self where the self is the totality of a person’s consciousness (Go- Monilla & Ramirez, 2018). Hence, for him, there is no self. Immanuel Kant (1724 - 1804) Kant is a German Enlightenment philosopher who brought our attention to the fact that we, human beings, have the faculty called rationa/ will, which is the capacity to act according to principles that we determine ourselves (Bulaong et al., 2018). The word “faculty” here means inherent mental capacity. He opposed the concept of Locke that the mind is a blank slate, rather, according to him, it is capable of acquiring knowledge through sensory experience (Aguierre et al., 2012)Rationality consists of the mental faculty to construct ideas and thoughts that are beyond our immediate surroundings. This is the capacity for mental abstraction, which arises from the operations of the faculty of reason, This makes humans different from animals, we have the ability to stop and think about what we are doing, We can remove ourselves mentally from the immediacy of ‘our surroundings and reflect on our actions and how such actions affect the world. Thus, we do not only have the capacity to imagine, reflect on, and construct mental images, but we also have the ability to act on and make them real. This ability is the basis for the rational will (Bulaong et al., 2018). In other words, humans can act according to reasons while animals act according to their impulses. Gilbert Ryle (1900 - 1976) Immanuel Kant. © gosouth.coza Gilbert Ryle was born in Brighton, Sussex, England. He solves the mind-body dichotomy that has been running for " a long time in the history of thought as reflected in the previous philosophers by denying blatantly the concept of an internal, non-physical self. For him, what truly matter is the behaviors that a person does. He referred to the self an entity no one can locate and analyze. It is rather a convenient name that people use to refer to all the behaviors that people make (Alata et al., 2018). Ryle’s concept of the human self provides us with the principle, “[ act, therefore I am.” In short, the self is the same as bodily behaviors. He concludes the human mind is the totality of the human person, the way we behave, our Gilbert Ryle. © jstor.org Ramirez, 2018) Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908 - 1961) system of thoughts, and our emotions (Go-Monilla & Maurice Merleau-Ponty, a French philosopher and public intellectual, was the leading academic proponent of existentialism and phenomenology in post-war France. Best known for his original and influential work on embodiment, perception, and ontology, he also made important contributions to the philosophy of art, history, language, nature, and politics (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2016).He asserted that the mind-body issue that has been going on for a long time is an invalid problem. Unlike Ryle who denied the self, Merleau-Ponty said that the mind and body are intertwined that they cannot be separated from one another, One cannot find any experience that is not an embodied experience. Because of this, he also dismissed the Cartesian Dualism which he described as a plain misunderstanding. The living body, thoughts, emotions, and experiences are all one (Alata et al., 2018). Paul Churchland (born 1942) Maurice Merleau-Ponty. © prabook.cam Paul Churchland is a Canadian philosopher and author who is known for his “eliminative materialism", the view that the mindisthe brain. The self, therefore, is inseparable from the brain and the physiology of the body. Hence, “no brain, no self.” For him, the physical brain and not the imaginary mind, gives people the sense of self. The mind does not really exist because it cannot be experienced by the senses (Go-Monilla & Ramirez, 2018). Paul Churchland. © alehet Evaluation Multiple Choice. Write the letter of your answer in the space provided before each number. 1. During this period, perspectives on understanding the self suggest that all reality should be questioned, and that people construct meanings into their lives. a. Greek civilization c. Medieval period b. Pre-modern period d. Post-modern period 2. When you engage yourself in the process of carefully examining your own thoughts and emotions, you are doing . a, self-discovery . introspection b. prayerful reflection d. phenomenology 3. If body is to physical realm; truth, goodness, and beauty is to realm.