JOHN LOCKE (The Self is consciousness)

• Consciousness is what makes identity of a person similar in different situations.

• For him, the human mind at birth is tabula rasa or a blank state.
• The self or personal identity is constructed primarily from sense experience.
-These experiences shape and mold the self throughout a person’s life
• For Locke, the keys to understanding the self are conscious awareness and memory of
previous experiences.
• The essence of the self is its conscious awareness of itself.
- Consciousness accompanies thinking and makes possible the concept people have of a
self.
• The power of reason and introspection enables one to understand and achieve accurate
conclusions about the self.
❖ Knowledge- based on careful observation of the 1experiences.
❖ Reason- plays an important role in helping to figure out the significance of sense
experience and to reach intelligent conclusions.

Lockean Memory Theory of Personal Identity

▪ Memory is therefore, according to Locke, a necessary condition of personal identity
▪ The consciousness Locke refers to can be equated with memory

SIGMUND FREUD (The Self is Multilayered)

▪ The self consists of three layers:

❖ Conscious – is governed by the reality principle. The conscious self usually
considers of realistic demands of the situation; The consequences of various
actions, and the overriding need to preserve the equilibrium (balance) of the entire
psychodynamic system of the self.
➢ the conscious self has the task of controlling the constant pressures
of the unconscious self, as its primitive impulses continually seek
for immediate discharge.
➢ the current state of awareness
❖ Unconscious – It is the part of the self that contains the basic instinctual drives
including sexuality, aggressiveness, and self-destruction; traumatic memories;
unfulfilled wishes and childhood fantasies; thoughts and feelings that are
considered socially taboo.
➢ The unconscious self that holds the greatest fascination for Freud,
and which has the dominant influence in our personalities.
➢ The unconscious level is characterized by the most primitive level
of human motivation and human functioning which is governed by
the “Pleasure Principle.”
❖ Preconscious – Contains material that is not threating and is easily brought into
the mind. It is located between the conscious and unconscious part of the self.
▪ According to Freud, we can never simply accept our conscious thoughts and overt
behavior at face value—there is always the possibility that there are hidden unconscious
meanings and motivations causing and influencing them.
PAUL CHURCHLAND (The Self is the Brain)

▪ Advocated the idea of eliminative materialism.

▪ The self is inseparable from the brain and the physiology of the body
▪ There is no self if the brain is gone.
▪ The physical brain and not the imaginary mind, gives the sense of self.
▪ The mind does not really exist because it cannot be experienced by the senses.
▪ Churchland disagrees with dualism – a view that the mind and body are separable (we
have a single brain and a different mind)