After reading all the philosophical perspectives on the self, make your own

philosophy of the self incorporating the ideas you learned from the different
philosophers.

MY PHILOSOPHY OF THE SELF

I agree with Hume’s observation of the “self”, in the fact that all of our selves are
the culmination of all our experiences. I also believe that the self is all the aspects that we
embody. Mind, body, soul, subconscious, preconscious, or conscious, these are all aspects
of ourselves and as such belong to the singular entity known as the “self”.

The opinion that I have reached after reading all those views on the “self” from
various academics throughout history, is that the “self” is the consolidation of all our
experiences and impressions. I believe that for us to further understand the “self” we only
need to continue on with our life. Learning about or self is not just one big burst of
“eureka” and suddenly you know and understand all that there is about you.

To me the process of learning who the “self” is not a short term goal, but rather a
life long journey. I believe that as we continue our journey through and continue
experiencing things we gradually get to know who our “self” is. Through every experience
we get closer and closer to the knowledge of who our “self” is, so there shouldn’t be any
rush to learn about the “self”. I believe that to let life take it’s course is the only way we will
truly get to learn about our self.

I do not think that learning about the self is merely knowing our brain, or learning of
our various stages of conscience. The “self” does not have to be separated into parts in
order for us to learn of it, rather I believe that we must look at it as a whole. In order for us
to understand the self we must look at it as a whole, after all we cannot see the image if
we look at a tapestry thread by thread, it is only when we look at it as a whole do we see
the picture it paints. I am not saying that we disregard the researcher of the academics that
have come before us, but I believe that we must hold our own opinions and formulate our
own thoughts without entirely copying them. Holding those before us as an example is
acceptable, but for to make them the “template” for what our own opinions is, for me
unacceptable.
 With all that I’ve read and written, I have come to the conclusion that with
every experience our “self” changes. With those changes that occur with every
experience of ours it makes it impossible to know our “self”. To me, we can only
truly know our “self”. With every impression you’ve made, every experience you’ve
gone through, it is all brought to the cusp of death, all your life consolidated into a
single moment, when you breathe your last breath it is only then can you know who
your “self” is.