1 UNDERSTANDING THE SELF
MALAGUENO
LESSON 1: FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF PHILOSOPHY
THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE SELF
➢ The Self has been defined as “as a unified being,
essentially connected to consciousness,
awareness, and agency (or, at least, with the
faculty of rational choice) “.
➢ Different philosophers have come up with more
specific characteristics of the Self, and over time,
these meanings have transformed from pure
abstractions to explanations that hold scientific
evidences.
Approximately 600 BCE
➢ The Birth of Philosophy or the “love for wisdom” in
Athens of Ancient Greece.
➢ The Greeks in search for knowledge came up
with answers that are both cognitive and
scientific nature. (Prince, 2000)
Greek Philosophers in MILETUS:
➢ They chose to seek natural explanations to
events and phenomena around them instead of
seeking for supernatural explanations from the
gods that was passed down through generations
IN THE 5th CENTURY BCE…
➢ Athenians settle arguments by discussion and
debate
➢ People skilled in doing this were called Sophists,
the first teachers of the West
“The early philosophers sought to understand the nature
of human beings, problems of morality and life
philosophies.”
- Price, 2000
SOCRATES (470 – 399 BCE)
➢ “The unexamined life is
not worth living.”
- The mentor of Plato
- Wanted to discover the
essential nature of
knowledge, justice, beauty
and goodness (Moore and
Bruder, 2002)
- He didn’t write anything;
he is not a writer.
- A lot of his thoughts
were only known through Plato’s writing (The
Dialogues)
SOCRATIC METHOD
➢ This is Socrates’ method for discovering what is
essential in the world and in people
➢ In this method, Socrates did not lecture, he
instead would ask questions and engage the
person in a discussion
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o He would begin by acting as if he did not
know anything and would get the other
person to clarify their ideas and resolve
logical inconsistencies (Price, 2000)
➢ Using this method, the questioner should be
skilled at detecting misconceptions and at
revealing them by asking the right questions.
➢ His Socratic method allowed him to question
people’s beliefs and ideas, exposing their
misconceptions and get them to touch their souls
o The goal is to bring the person closer to
the final understanding
VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE
 Socrates believed that the real self is not the
physical body, but rather the psyche (or soul). He
further posited that the appearance of the body
is inferior to its functions.
 Socrates believed that his mission in life was to
seek the highest knowledge and convince others
who were willing to seek his knowledge with him
 He wanted to discover the essential nature of
knowledge, justice, beauty and goodness
(Moore and Bruder, 2002)
TRUE SELF
 The touching of the soul, may mean helping the
person to get in touch with his true self
 The true self, Socrates said, is not the
body but the soul. Virtue is inner
goodness, and real beauty is that of the
soul (Price, 2000)
VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE
 According to Socrates, real understanding
comes from within the person
 His Socratic method forces people to
use their innate reason by reaching
inside themselves to their deepest nature
➢ The aim of the Socratic Method is to make
people think, seek and ask again and again.
Some may be angered and frustrated, but what
is important is for them to realize that they do not
know everything, that there are things that they
are ignorant of, to accept this and to continue
learning and searching for answers (Moore and
Bruder, 2002)
GOOD AND EVIL
➢ GOOD: Wealth, status, pleasure, social
acceptance is the thing we considered the
greatest good in life;
➢ EVIL: ‘all human beings strive for happiness, for
happiness is the final end in life. Everything we do
because we think it will make us a happy.
Therefore, we follow the label that what will bring
us happiness is good and what will bring us
suffering and pain is evil”
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2 UNDERSTANDING THE SELF
LESSON 1: FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF PHILOSOPHY
VIRTUE
 One supreme good, ultimate good and moral
excellence
 Virtue – “a virtuous person is one whose
character is made up of the moral qualities
accepted as virtues include courage, justice,
prudence, and temperance.
 Virtue is greatest good in life, for it can alone
secure happiness
 It is most important of the state of soul
HAPPINESS
 “Human being naturally desires good as it alone
secure happiness, with that knowledge they
have no choice but to be virtuous”
 When we arrived at the knowledge of virtue, we
would become virtuous and we will make our
soul good and beautiful and when we perfect
our soul we will attain true happiness.
Knowledge=virtues=happiness
PLATO (428- 348 BCE)
➢ “Wise men speak
because they have
something to say; fools
because they have to say
something”
- His real name is
Aristocles
o He was nicknamed
“Plato” because of his
physical built which means
wide/broad
- Left Athens for 12 years
after the death of Socrates
o When he returned, he established a
school known as “The Academy”
THEORY OF FORMS
 Plato’s Metaphysics (philosophical study on the
causes and nature of things)
 Plato explained that Forms refers to what are real
 They are not objects encountered with
the senses but can only be grasped
intellectually
 Plato explained that forms refer to what are real
and they are not object that can be seen but
can only be grasped intellectually.
1. The Forms are ageless and therefore
eternal
2. The Forms are unchanging and therefore
permanent
3. The Forms are unmoving and indivisible
WEEK 1 // M.A. MALAGUENO
PLATO’S DUALISM
➢ THE REALM OF SHADOWS
o Composed of changing, ‘sensible’ things
which are lesser entities and therefore
imperfect and flawed.
➢ THE REALM OF FORMS
o Composed of eternal things which are
permanent and perfect. It is the source
of all reality and true knowledge.
PLATO’S VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE
 Think more and Know Yourself
 Give ourselves a time to think about our lives and
how to lead them.
 Strengthen your self-knowledge you don’t get
yourself easily pulled around by feelings by
subjecting your ideas to examination rather
acting on impulse.
 According people we just go along with “doxa”
means popular opinion.
 In honor of his mentor, he called to process of
examination “Socratic Discussion”.
VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE
 He believed that knowledge lies within the
person’s soul
 He considered human beings as
microcosms of the universal macrocosms
i.e. everything in the universe can also be
found on people – earth, air, fire, water,
mind and spirit (Price, 2000)

SOUL
Plato described the soul as having three components:
1. The Reason is rational and is the motivation for
goodness and truth
2. The Spirited is non-rational and is the will or the
drive toward action
3. The Appetites are irrational and lean towards the
desire for pleasures of the body
Plato believed that people are intrinsically good.
Sometimes however, judgements are made in ignorance
and Plato equates ignorance with evil. (Price, 2000)
THEORY OF LOVE AND BECOMING
➢ ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE
o What people see are only shadows of
reality which they believe are real things
and represents knowledge
▪ What these people fail to realize
is that the shadows are not real
for according to Plato, “only the
Forms are real”
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3 UNDERSTANDING THE SELF WEEK 1 // M.A. MALAGUENO
LESSON 1: FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF PHILOSOPHY

REPRESENTATION: CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHERS

> Prisoners: General ➢ Their concern was with God and man’s
Public relationship with God
>Shadows: ➢ These Christian philosophers did not believe that
Superficial Reality, self-knowledge and happiness were the ultimate
Person’s Reality goals of man
>Fire:
Representation of Greek Philosophers Christian Philosophers
reality, the little They see man as basically
They see man as sinners
information good and becomes evil
who reject/go against a
>Sun: Real source through ignorance of
loving God’s commands.
>Sunlight: Enlightenment, Absolute truth what is good

 The most famous allegory in philosophy. ST. AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO (354-436 CE)
 The story was intended to compare “the effect of
education and lack of it on our nature”.
 The story of the cave is an allegory of the life of ➢ “God loves each of us as if there
enlightened people. were only of us”
 For Plato we are most of our lives in shadow,
many of the things we get excited about like - Hippo, Africa
fame, perfect partner, high status job are - Became a priest and
infinitely less real that we suppose they are for the bishop of Hippo
most are phantoms projected by our culture. - Initially rejected
Christianity for it seemed
THEORY OF LOVE AND BECOMING to him then that
Christianity could not
➢ THEORY OF BEING provide him answers to
o In knowing the truth, according to Plato, questions that
the person must become the truth. interested him
o To know for Plato is to be. The more the
person knows, the more he is and the VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE
better he is.
PLATO’S LOVE 1. GOD as the source of all reality and truth
- Through a mystical experience, a man is capable
➢ Plato’s love begins with a feeling or experience of knowing the eternal truths
that there is something lacking o This is possible through the existence of
o This then drives the person to seek for one eternal truth which is God
that which is lacking - God is within man and transcends him
o Thoughts and efforts are then directed
towards the pursuit of which is lacking 2. The sinfulness of man
➢ The person you need to get together with should - The cause of sin or evil is an act of man’s freewill
have good qualities which you yourself lack. - MORAL GOODNESS CAN BE ONLY ACHIEVED
➢ For Plato, in a good relationship, a couple should THROUGH THE GRACE OF GOD
not love each other exactly as they are right now
rather they should be committed to educating
each other to be the best version of themselves. THE ROLE OF LOVE
➢ The deeper the thought, the stronger is the love.
“For God is love and He created humans for them to also
“LOVE IS A PROCESS OF SEEKING HIGHER STAGES OF love”
BEING.”
➢ Disordered love results when man loves the
The GREATER the love, the MORE intellectual component it wrong things, he believes will give him happiness.
will contain
St. Augustine explains….
➢ Lifelong longing and pursuit seek even higher
stages of love which lead to the possession of 1. Love of physical objects leads to sin of greed
absolute beauty (Moore and Bruder, 2002) 2. Love for other people is not lasting and excessive
love for them is the sin of jealousy
To love the highest according to Plato is to become the 3. Love for the self leads to the sin of people
best. 4. Love for God is the supreme virtue and only
through loving God can man find real happiness

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4 UNDERSTANDING THE SELF
LESSON 1: FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF PHILOSOPHY
RENE DESCARTES (1596 – 1650)
➢ “Cogito ergo sum”
- Father of Modern
Philosophy
- One of the Rationalist
Philosophers of Europe
- These philosophers
considered truth as universal
concept and reason is
superior to and independent
of sensory experience
- Cartesian Method and
Analytic Geometry
DESCARTE’S VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE
 I think, therefore I am”
 Descartes believes that to doubt is to think.
 Skepticism refers to an attitude of doubt or
disbelief, either in general or toward a particular
object, or to any doubting or questioning
attitude or state of mind.
 The cognitive aspect of human nature is his basis
for existence of the self.
Descartes deduced that a thinker is a thing that doubts,
understands, affirms, denies, wills, refuses and also
imagines and feels
(Price, 2000)
DESCARTE’S SYSTEM
Through math, he discovered that the human mind has
TWO POWERS:
1. INTUITION or the ability to apprehend direction of
certain truths
2. DEDUCTION or the power to discover what is not
known by progressing in an orderly way from
what is already known
THE MIND-BODY PROBLEM
The body, according to Descartes, is like a
machine that is controlled by the will and aided by the
mind.
JOHN LOCKE (1632-1704)
➢ “No man’s knowledge here can
go beyond his experience.”
- Born in Wrington, England
- Interested in politics; Defender of
the parliamentary system
- At Oxford, he studied
medicine which would play a
central role in his life.
- At 57 years old, Locke
published a book which played a
WEEK 1 // M.A. MALAGUENO
significant role in the era of Enlightenment (Price,
2000)
He believed that knowledge results from ideas
produced a posteriori or objects that were
experienced.
The process involves 2 forms:
1. Sensation wherein objects are experienced
through senses.
2. Reflection by which the mind ‘looks’ at the objects
that were experienced to discover relationships that
may exist between them.
Locke contended that ideas are not innate but rather
the mind at birth is a “TABULA RASA”
(i.e. Blank Slate)
LOCKE’S VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE
 He believed that we are all born as tabula rasa
(blank state)
 He argued that all knowledge is obtained
through experience; he rejected the concept of
Rene’s ideas.
 Locke thought that “we were born knowing
nothing and instead all of our knowledge comes
to us through sensory data”
 Since there are no innate ideas according Locke,
morals, religious, and political values must come
from experience.
VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE
Moral good depends on the conformity of a person’s
behavior towards some law
There are 3 laws according to Locke:
1. LAW OF OPINION – where actions that are
praiseworthy are called VIRTUES and those are
not are VICES
2. CIVIL LAW – where right actions are enforced by
people in authority
3. DIVINE LAW – set by God on the actions of man
EMPIRICISM
 Belief that sense
– experience is the most
reliable source of
knowledge.
 It emphasizes
the role of experience
and evidence, especially
sensory perception, in the
formation of ideas, and
argues that the only
knowledge humans can
have is a based on experience.
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5 UNDERSTANDING THE SELF
LESSON 1: FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF PHILOSOPHY
DAVID HUME (1711-1776)
➢ “A wise proportions his belief to
the evidence”
- Born in Edinburgh, Scotland
- At the time he was enrolled at
the University of Edinburgh, he
lost his faith
- He relied on the
scientific method,
believing that it could
analyze human nature
and explain the workings
of the mind
THE HUMAN MIND
According to Hume, there are two types of
perceptions:
1. IMPRESSIONS: Immediate sensations of
external reality
2. IDEAS: Recollections of the impressions
In examining the patterns of thinking, Hume formulated
three principles on how ideas relate to one another:
• THE PRINCIPLE OF RESEMBLANCE
• THE PRINCIPLE OF CONTIGUITY
• THE PRINCIPLE OF CAUSE AND EFFECT
HUME’S VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE
 Hume believed that we
are more influenced by
our feelings than by
reason.
 People are more
motivated by our feelings
than any other analysis
and logic.
 Hume argued that the
idea of the self doesn’t
persist over time. He said
there is no you that is the
same person from birth to death. He said the
concept of the self is just an illusion.
➢ Hume said that the so- called “self” is just a
bundle of impressions, consisting of a zillion
different things – your body, your mind, emotions,
preferences, memories, even labels that are
imposed on you by others.
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 He believed that like causality, ‘the self’ is also a
product of imagination
 There is no such thing as ‘personal identity’
behind perceptions and feelings that come and
go; THERE IS NO PERMANENT/UNCHANGING SELF
IMMANUEL KANT (1724 – 1804)
➢ “I have no knowledge of myself
as I am, but merely as I appear to
myself.”
- Lived in the town of Konisberg in
East Prussia (presently Western
Russia)
- Founder of German Idealism
- Wrote three books:
Critique of Pure Reason,
Critique of Practical reason
and Critique of Judgement
VIEWS OF THE MIND
- Kant argued that the mind is not just a passive
receiver of sense experience but rather actively
participates in knowing the objects it experiences
VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE AND THE SELF
“When the self sees an object, it tends to remember its
characteristics and applies on it, the forms of time and
space”
 The term he used for this experience of the self
and its unity with objects is TRANSCENDENTAL
APPERCEPTION
 He concluded that all objects of knowledge,
which includes the self, are phenomenal.
KANT’S VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE
 Kant argued, in order to determine what’s right,
you have to use reason.
 He believed that we should not look to religion
for morality because morality is constant.
 He pointed out that, most of the time, whether or
not we ought to do something isn’t really a moral
choice, instead it’s just contingent on our desires.
e.g. If your desire is to get money, then you ought to get
a job
In the matter of God, Kant stated that the Kingdom of
God is within man
➢ God is manifested in people’s lives therefore it is
man’s duty to move towards perfection

➢ It all begins with impressions, without impressions

there will be no ideas.

VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE

In looking for ‘the self’, Hume only discovered sense of

impressions

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LESSON 1: FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF PHILOSOPHY
SIGMUND FREUD (1856-1939)
➢ “The mind is like an iceberg: it
floats with one seventh of its bulk
above water.”
- Austrian Neurologist;
considered as one of the
pioneering figures in the field
of psychology
- His psychodynamic
theory has characteristics of
philosophical thought
- Freud made use of
methods like free association
and dream analysis for his clinical practice
STRUCTURES OF THE MIND
In Freud’s illustration,
he made use of the
typical iceberg to
show how the mind
works based on his
theorizing.
The three levels of the
mind are structured
by the following
components:
• ID – based on
the pleasure principle
• EGO – based on
the reality principle
• SUPER EGO –
primarily dependent on
learning the difference
between right or wrong
Freud in his 1920 book, Beyond the Pleasure Principle, he
presented 2 kinds of instincts that drive individual
behavior:
➢ EROS – Life Instinct; the energy is called LIBIDO
and urges necessary for individual and species
survival like thirst, hunger and sex
➢ THANATOS – Death Instinct; behavior that is
directed towards destruction in the form of
aggression and violence
VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE
“Man’s behavior by his pleasure-seeking life instinct and
his destructive instinct is said to be born with his ego
already in conflict”
 He sees man as a product of his past lodged
within his subconscious.
 Man then lives his life balancing the forces of life
and death – making mere existence a challenge
WEEK 1 // M.A. MALAGUENO
GILBERT RYLE (1900-1976)
➢ “Man need not to be
degraded into a machine by
being denied to be a ghost in a
machine”
- English Philosopher
- Contradicted Cartesian
Dualism
- Stated that many of the
philosophical problems
were caused by the wrong
use of language
- He wrote the book “The Concept of the Mind”
VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE AND KNOWLEDGE
 Ryle thought that freewill was invented to answer
the question of whether an action deserves
praise or blame.
 He assumes that “Man’s actions must be moral
for it to be free”
RYLE TOUCHED TWO TYPES OF KNOWLEDGE:
➢ KNOWING-THAT: Refers to knowing facts/
information
➢ KNOWING-HOW: Using facts in the performance
of some skill or technical abilities
“A person may acquire a great bulk of knowledge but
without the ability to use it to solve some practical
problems to make his life easier, this bulk of knowledge is
deemed to be worthless”
PATRICIA & PAUL CHURCHLAND
➢ “There isn’t a special thing called
the mind. The mind is just the
brain.” (Patricia Churchland)
- Patricia Churchland
o Born on July 16, 1943
o Canadian-American
Philosopher, known for her
claims that man’s brain is
responsible for the identity
known as the self.
- Paul Churchland
o Born on
October 21, 1942
o Canadian
Philosopher.
Patricia coined the term NEUROPHILOSOPHY, who
together with Paul, was dissatisfied with the particular
approach of philosophers and instead sought to guide
scientific theorizing with philosophy and guide philosophy
with scientific inquiry
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7 UNDERSTANDING THE SELF WEEK 1 // M.A. MALAGUENO
LESSON 1: FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF PHILOSOPHY
The PHILOSOPHY OF NEUROSCIENCE is the study of the
philosophy of the mind, the philosophy of science,
neuroscience and psychology.
 Aims to explore the relevance of the
neuroscientific studies to the philosophy of the
mind

Patricia claims that the man’s brain is responsible for the

identity known as ‘the self’
 The biochemical properties of the brain
according to this philosophy is really responsible
for man’s thoughts, feelings and behavior

VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE

“Man is endowed with more than just physical or

neurological characteristics. Despite research findings,
neurophilosophy states that the self is real, that it is the
tool that helps the person tune-in to the realities of the
brain and the extant reality”

MAURICE MERLEAU-PONTY (1908-1961)

- French Phenomenological Philosopher

- ‘Philosopher of the Body’
- Center of his philosophy is
the emphasis placed on
the human body as the
primary site of knowing the
world
- He focus on the
relationship of self –
experience and
experience of other
through PERCEPTION.

VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE

According to Merleau-Ponty,
- The world and the sense of self are emergent
phenomena in the ongoing process of man’s
‘becoming’
- In addition, he stated that perception is not
purely the result of sensations nor is it purely
interpretation. Rather, consciousness is a process
that includes sensing as well as
interpreting/reasoning
- It is possible that one object may be perceived
from various perspectives.
- Man, the perceiver, may thus experience all the
perspectives of the object from the other objects
in its environment and at the same time perceive
all the other perspective the object may have on
other objects/being surrounding it.

*END OF LESSON 1*

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