PHILOSOPHICAL VIEW

SOCRATES

• An unexamined life is not worth living

• Self is synonymous with the soul.

• He believes that that every human possesses an immortal soul that survives the physical body.

• First to focus on the full power of reason on the human self: who we are, who we should be, and
who we will become.

Realms

• Physical realm - changeable, transient, and imperfect. The physical world in which man lives as
well as the body belongs in this realm.

• Ideal realm - unchanging, eternal, and immortal. This composes the intellectual essences of the
universe such as truth, goodness, and beauty. Soul belongs in this realm.

Soul

• Immortal entity.

• Soul strives for wisdom and perfection, and reason is the soul’s tools to achieve this exalted
state.

• As long as the soul is tied to the body, the quest for wisdom is inhibited.

• Socrates: must live an examined life and a life of purpose and value. He added that an
unexamined life is not worth living.

Know thyself

• If a person knows who he or she is, all basic issues and difficulties in life will vanish and
everything will be clearer and simpler.

• Self-knowledge means knowing one’s degree of understanding about the world and knowing
one’s capabilities and potentials.

• These basic questions are intended for humans to define these simple things in order to move
forward and act accordingly based on their definition of the self:

 Who am I?

 What is the purpose of my life?

 What am I doing here?

 What is justice

*Answers to these questions will always be subjective and there is no right or wrong answers.

• Possession of knowledge is virtue and ignorance are vice.

• A person’s acceptance of ignorance is a springboard for the acquisition of knowledge later.

• This implies that one must first have the humility to acknowledge one’s ignorance to acquire
knowledge.

Socratic Method

• Called introspection

• A method of carefully examining one’s thoughts and emotions – to gain self-knowledge.

PLATO

• Self is an immortal soul.

• An ancient Greek philosopher who was a student of Socrates and a teacher of Aristotle.

• His work has become the basis for western thought.

Three-part soul/self:

 Reason: the divine essence that enables us to think deeply; make wise choices; and achieve a
true understanding of eternal truths.

 Physical appetite: basic biological needs such as hunger, thirst, and sexual desire.

 Spirit or passion: Basic emotions such as love, anger, ambition, aggressiveness, and empathy.

• These three elements of our selves are in a dynamic relationship with one another, sometimes
in conflict.

• When conflict occurs, Plato believes that it is the responsibility of the Reason to sort things out
and exert control, restoring a harmonious relationship among the three elements.

• Genuine happiness can only be achieved by people who consistently make sure that their
Reason is in control of their Spirits and Appetites.

• The harmonious integration under the control of Reason is the essence of Plato’s concept of
justice.

• If a man lives in accordance with his nature, then he is giving justice to his existence.

ARISTOTLE

• The souls is the essence of the self.

• Does not consider the body and soul as separate entities.

• Soul is the essence of all living things; thus, the soul is the essence of the self. Anything with life
has a soul.

• Humans differ from other living things because of their capacity of rational thinking.

Three kinds of soul:

 Vegetative soul: includes the physical body that can grow.

 Sentient soul: includes sensual desires, feelings, and emotions.

 Rational soul: what makes man human. It includes the intellect that allows man to know and
understand things.

• The pursuit of happiness is a search for a good life that includes doing virtuous actions. Part of
the rational soul is characterized by moral virtues such as justice and courage.

ST. AUGUSTINE

• The self has an immortal soul

• African philosopher regarded as a saint (St. Augustine of Hippo)

• He integrated the ideas of Plato and teachings of Christianity.

• Body is unified with the soul, so that man may be entire and complete

• Emphasizes on the soul as an important element of a man.

• He believes that the soul is what governs and define a man.

• In his work Confessions, he described that humankind is created in the image and likeness of
God. Everything created by God who is all good is good.

• A human being created by God is always geared towards the good.

• Self-knowledge is a consequence of knowledge of God.

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

Man is composed two parts:

• Matter

 “Common things that make up everything in the universe”.

 Man’s body is part of this matter.

• Form

 “Essence of a substance or thing”.

 What makes a human person a human person, and not a

 dog or a tiger, is his soul, his essence.

• To Aquinas, the soul is what animates the body, and it is what makes us humans.

RENE DESCARTES

• I think therefore I am

• Father of modern philosophy

• French philosopher and mathematician

• Cogito ergo sum - I think therefore I am

• Keystone of Descartes

 Act of thinking about the self – of being self conscious – is in itself proof that there is a self.

 Descartes is confident that no rational person will doubt his or her own experience as a
conscious, thinking entity – while we are aware of thinking about our selves.

 This is the essence of the human self – a thinking entity that doubts, understands, analyses,
questions, and reasons.

• Two dimensions of the human self

 Self as a thinking entity: The idea of the thinking self (or soul) as non-material, immortal,
conscious being, and independent of the physical laws of the universe.

 Self as a physical body: material, mortal, non-thinking entity, fully governed by the physical laws
of nature.

• Note:
 Soul and the body are independent of one another, and each can exist and function without the
other.

 Thinking self can exist independently of the physical body.

JOHN LOCKE

• The self is consciousness

• For Locke, the human mind at birth is tabula rasa or a blank state.

• Self, or personal identity, is constructed primarily from sense experiences (what people see,
hear, smell, taste, feel). These experiences shape and mould the self throughout a person’s life.

• Conscious awareness and memory of previous experiences are the keys to understanding the
self

• Consciousness is being aware that we are thinking

• The essence of the self is its conscious awareness of itself as a thinking, reasoning, and reflecting
identity

• Contends that consciousness accompanies thinking and makes possible the concept people have
of a self.

• Self-consciousness is necessary to have a coherent personal (self) identity or knowledge of the

self as a person

• Using the power of reason and introspection enable one to understand and achieve accurate
conclusions about the self or personal identity

DAVID HUME

• There is no self

• Scottish philosopher

• If people carefully examine their sense experience through the process of introspection, they
will discover that there is no self.

• Our memories and experiences are made up of impressions and ideas.

• Impressions: basic sensations of people’s experiences such as hate, love, joy, grief, pain, cold,
and heat. These are vivid perceptions and are strong and lively.

• Ideas: thoughts and images from impressions so that they are less lively and vivid

• The idea of personal identity is a result of imagination.

IMMANUEL KANT
• We construct the self.

• German philosopher

• For Kant, it is the self that makes experiencing an intelligible word possible because it is the self
that is actively organizing and synthesizing all our thoughts and perceptions (apperception)

• The self constructs its own reality, actively creating a world that is familiar and predictable

SIGMUN FREUD

• The self is multi-layered

• Level of Mental Life

 Conscious: Contains whatever we are thinking about or experiencing at a given moment.

Contains the ego.

 Preconscious: Contains memories that are not part of the current thoughts but can readily be
available in the mind if the need arises. Where memories and knowledge are stored. Contains superego.

 Unconscious: Contains thoughts, desires, and impulses of which we are unaware.

• Provinces of the Mind

 Id (Pleasure Principle) - Instinctual drive that is in the unconscious. Subjective and directed
toward self. Seeks immediate gratification of impulses and drives like unacceptable urges, desires,
memories, and impulses found in the unconscious.

 Ego (Reality Principle) - In contact with the outside world. Objective and directed outside self.
Operates according to the reality principle by delaying gratification

 Superego (Morality Principle) - Conscience. Center of moral standards of an individual.

Supresses expression of sexual, aggressive, and antisocial instincts.

 2 Aspects of Superego

 Conscience: internal ages that punishes us when we do wrong

 Ego Ideal: rewards all behaviour that is considered right, appropriate, and morally acceptable

Note: The nature of each personality is the outcome of the dynamic relationship involving the
interaction of the id, ego and superego

• 2 Types of Instincts

 Eros - Life Instinct or Sexual Instinct. Known as libido (energy of life instinct). The physical desire,
erotic tendencies, sexual desires, and the motive of sexual life. Energy for preserving life and others.

 Thanatos - Death Instinct. Promotes aggressiveness that may explain wars, atrocities, and
religious persecutions.
PAUL CHRUCHLAND

• The self is the brain

• Canadian philosopher

• Eliminative materialism: self is inseparable from the brain and the physiology of the body

• 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.

MAURICE MERLEAU-PONTY

• The self as embodied subjectivity

• All knowledge about the self (e.g., understanding the nature of the self) is based on the
“phenomena of experience.”

• Perception is not merely a consequence of sensory experience; rather, it is a conscious

experience. Thus, the self is embodied subjectivity

• In his book, Phenomenology of Perception, that everything that people are aware of is
contained within the consciousness.