Unit I: 

THE SELF FROM THE VARIOUS PERSPECTIVES

(PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVES OF THE SELF)

ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY
 Prior to Socrates, the Greek thinkers, sometimes collectively
called the Pre-Socratics to denote that some of them preceded
Socrates while others existed around Socrates’s time as well,
preoccupied themselves with the question of the primary
substratum, arché that explains the multiplicity of things in the
world. These men like Thales, Pythagoras, Parmenides,
Heraclitus, and Empedocles, to name a few, were concerned
with explaining what the world is really made up of, why the
world is so, and what explains the changes that they observed
around them. 
SOCRATES
 Unlike the Pre-Socratics, Socrates was more concerned with
another subject, the problem of the self.
 He was first the philosopher who ever engaged in a systematic
questioning about the self. To Socrates, and this has become
his life-long mission, the true task of a philosopher is to know
oneself.
 Plato claimed in his dialogues that Socrates affirmed that the
unexamined life is not worth living. During his trial for allegedly
corrupting the minds of the youth and for impiety, Socrates
declared without regret that his being indicted was brought
about by his going around Athens engaging men, youth and
old, to question their presuppositions about themselves and
about the world, particularly about who they are (Plato 2012).
 Socrates took it upon himself to serve as a "gadfly" that
disturbed Athenian men from their slumber and shook them off
in order to reach the truth and wisdom. most men, in his
reckoning, were really not fully aware of who they are and the
virtues that they were supposed to attain in order to preserve
their souls for the afterlife.
 Socrates thought that this is the worst that can happen to
anyone: to live but die inside.
 For Socrates, every man is dualistic we are composed of body
and a soul.
 Two important aspects of personhood:
1. BODY - which is imperfect and impermanent and the
2. SOUL - perfect and permanent.
 For Socrates, this means all individuals have an imperfect,
impermanent aspect to him, and the body while maintaining
that there is also a soul that is perfect and permanent
PLATO
 Plato, Socrates’ student, basically took off from his master and
supported the idea that man has a dual nature of body and
soul. In addition to what Socrates earlier espoused, Plato
added that there are three components of the soul: the
rational soul, the spirited soul, and the appetitive soul.
 In his magnum opus, “the republic” (Plato 2000), Plato
emphasizes that justice in the human person can only be
attained if the three parts of the soul are working harmoniously
with one another.
Three components of the soul:
1. RATIONAL SOUL - forged by reason and intellect has to
govern the affairs of the human person.
2. SPIRITED PART - which is in charge of emotions should be
kept at bay.
3. APPETITE SOUL - in charge of base desires like eating,
drinking, sleeping, and having sex are controlled as well. when
his ideal state is attained, then the human person’s soul
becomes just and virtuous. 
Plato: The Three Souls
(Plato was a virtue ethicist too)
1. Intellectual soul whose virtue is wisdom, the most important
virtue. Intellectual soul should rule over the other parts of the
souls.
2. The will-soul whose virtue is courage which is the second
most important virtue.
3. Desire-soul whose virtue is moderation which is the third most
important virtue.
Plato's Tripartite Soul
 Plato (428-348 BC) identified three hierarchical elements of the
soul, which reflect the Caste hierarchy of ancient Indo-
European societies.
 1. LOGISTIKON 'Reason'
Caste: Philisopher-Kings
Drives: Truth, Wisdom, Cosmic
Order
Body Part: Head

2. THUMETIKON 'Spirit'
Caste: Warriors
Drives: Honor, Glory, Victory
Body Part: Heart

3. EPITHUMETIKON 'Appetite
Caste: Workers
Drives: Carnal Desires, Materialism
Body Part: Stomach, Genitalia