OUR LADY OF FATIMA UNIVERSITY

SALVADOR, MIA FRANCE M.

BSN 1-YB-1

UNDERSTANDING THE SELF

TASK 1-PHILOSOPHY

Socrates

Socrates’ idea of the Self: An Unexamined Life is Not Worth Living

He believed that we exist in two parts, one part is our physical which is mortal and the other is
our soul which is immortal. We all know that when we die our bodies will be buried but Socrates
expands on the idea that after we die our soul travels which makes it immortal. I’m also sided
with his idea because even though a person died, we can still feel their presence it’s like they
never leave our side and always in our hearts. Also, knowing yourself can help you improve your
life.

Plato

Plato’s Philosophy about Self: The Soul is Immortal

Plato’s Philosophy can be explained by the process of self-knowledge and soul purification.
According to Plato, the self consists of three parts: reason, spirit or passion, and physical
appetite. The reason is how we think deeply and make wise decisions, Spirit or passion is our
emotions, and Physical appetite is our biological needs. Sometimes those three elements are in
conflict and to achieve a harmonious relationship and genuine happiness we must make sure
that reason is in control of our passion and appetite. Applying Plato’s concept in my life when
I’m buying something I have to make sure that my reason is reasonable not just because I want
it, I will buy it because I need it. We should find a balance between our mind and body.
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St. Augustine

St. Augustine’s View on the Self: I ‘am doubting, Therefore I am

His self-view is all about his relationship with God and Self-realization. We can achieve inner
peace by finding God’s love, as long as God is with us, he will guide us to the right path. We will
find comfort in God as we surrender everything to him by then we will have peace in our hearts,
soul, and mind. In my own experience every time something is bothering me or when I’m
making a huge decision, I am always seeking God’s wisdom and guidance after that I will feel
relieved because I know God didn’t leave my side.

Rene Descartes

Descartes's Idea of the Self: I Think Therefore I am

Descartes' self-concept is reflected in the phrase "I think therefore I am." According to him, the
only thing that is beyond dispute is the self's existence, which is why Descartes also had the
concept of "Cogito" (the thing that thinks) and eztenza (extension of mind/body). According to
my understanding, Descartes' theory is about how we think, how our bodies respond or take
actions, and his fervent denial of existence.

John Locke

Locke’s Philosophy about Self: The Self is Consciousness

He believed that the self or self-identity is constructed from sense experiences or more
specifically in what we see, smell, taste, and feel. Those experiences mold us to become a
better version of ourselves s we discover more about ourselves we are becoming more aware of
our self-identity. According to Locke the state of a person who cannot remember his/her
behavior same as the state of a person who committed the act, which meant the person was
ignorant.
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David Hume

Hume’s View on the Self: There Is No Self

Hume’s idea about self is the result of our imagination. He disagrees with all the aforementioned
philosophers because he believed that the self is not an entity beyond the physical body and
the self is nothing but a bundle of impressions and ideas. He also suggests that if people carefully
examine their experiences through introspection, they will discover that there is no self. That we
want to believe that there is a unified soul, mind, coherent self, etc. but it is just a combination of
experiences.

Immanuel Kant

Kant’s Idea about Self: We Construct the Self

Kant’s Philosophy is all about our inner self as empirical self-consciousness, also we construct our
reality of the world that is familiar and predictable. Self for him is the Inner and outer self, Inner
self refers to our psychological state and the Inner self is our sense in the physical world.
According to him, our mind is actively constructing sensations and impressions to form
knowledge from experiences.

Sigmund Freud

Freud’s Philosophy about the self: The Self is Multilayered

According to Freud, the self consists of three layers: Consciousness. Unconscious, and
Preconscious. The conscious self is driven by our reality principle it is how we think rationally and
appropriately. The unconscious is governed by the pleasure principle it is the social taboo. Lastly,
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we have the Preconscious which is located between conscious and unconscious the part of self
that is easily brought to mind.
He also further structured the psyche/mind into three parts: Id, ego, and superego. It is our
pleasure principle; the ego is our reality principle and the superego is our moral principle.
According to Freud superego and ego function in different level of consciousness there is a
constant movement of memories from another level. Meanwhile, Id is unaffected of reality or
the world as it operates within unconscious part of mind

Gilbert Ryle

Ryle’s View on the Self: The Self is the way People Behave
The way we behave is a reflection of who we are. In our daily interactions with others, we
remember them mostly based on how they treat us. In my personal experience, if someone
treats me poorly, I will presume that this is indicative of who they are as a person, and I will
always bear that in mind. Because of his upbeat outlook, a person's ability to see themselves
positively will manifest. According to Ryle, the idea of a unique "person" is merely a product of
our experiences and activities.

Paul Churchland

Churchland’s Idea of the self: The Self is the Brain

The physiology of the body and the brain are inextricably linked to the self. Churchland asserted
that the mind does not exist and that our feeling of self comes from our physical brain, not from
our fictitious minds. If we take these people in a literal sense, we can say that they are
braindead or in a vegetative condition since we can see that they are unable to even function,
and sometimes we are unable to even recognize them. If brain is gone, we have no self.
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Maurice Merlau-Ponty

Maurice’s View on the Self: The Self is the Embodied Subjectivity

The living body is an opening toward the existence of the world, it plays an important role to
make up our subjective self. We create an understanding using our physical body as it defines
who we are. Our body reacts to the result of our subjective self, it is not just a mere “house”
where our mind resides. Rather it is through the lived experiences of the body that you perceive.
Our physical body is an important part of the self.