Lesson 1

Philosophical Self

ABSTRACTION
Discussion: Philosophical Self
Originally, the word “Philosophy” comes from the Greek roots Philo- which means love and Sophos means wisdom. Socrates, Plato,
and Aristotle were considered great Greek philosophers in the Western during ancient times. They contributed vast authentic ideas about life,
love, beauty, nature, and many more over centuries along with other philosophers. And the "self" or the need to understand the self was also
one hot topic among those philosophers. Hence, this lesson will let you walk through the important philosophical views in your quest to
understand yourself.

Greeks are the first who strived to seek the truth about the self. They tried to cross-examine the ageless question such as “Who am I?” As
a result, they have produced various perspectives and views on the self from the ancient period until contemporary times. The self is made up
of body and soul and its relationship is one of their timeless and famous concepts. Come let’s visit them.

Philosophers Famo Period Views on the Self

us
Lines
Socrates “An Classica  The first philosopher who engaged in a systematic questioning about the self.
unexamin l
ed life is Antiquit  Invented the phrase “Know Thyself” and he believed that it is the true task of a
not worth y philosopher. Know Thyself would mean that a person must stand and live according to
living” his/her nature. One must look at him/herself. The knowledge of oneself can be achieved
only through the Socratic Method, the dialogue between the soul and itself. He often
played the role of a questioner. He questions because he believed & knows that he knows
nothing, in this way he discovers the truths.

 He notes that everyone is composed of body and soul. Individuals have an imperfect,
impermanent aspect, the body; while maintaining that there is also a soul that is perfect
and permanent.
  He claimed that without striving to know and understand ourselves, life is worthless.

Therefore:
The self can be understood through self-knowledge and self-examination

Plato “Good  The famous student of Socrates. He took off when his teacher died and vastly elaborated
actions on his philosophy.
give
strength to  He is a dualist; the self has both immaterial mind (soul) and material body, and it is the
ourselves soul that knows the forms (ideas).
and inspire
good  He claimed that the soul (mind) itself is divided into 3 parts and that person differs as to
actions in which part of their nature is predominant:
others” (1) Rational soul
– reason;
– seeks philosophical and knowledge

(2) Spirited soul

– will, emotion, passion;
– victory loving and seek reputation

(3) Appetitive soul

– physical urges;
– profit-loving and seeking material gain

 He emphasizes that “justice in the human person can only be attained if the three parts of
the soul are working harmoniously with one another.”
Therefore:
The self centers around the theory of Forms (or Ideas) and the concept of the
soul.
St. Augustine of “Grant Middle Ages  One the most significant Christian thinkers.
Hippo Lord, that
I may  He agreed with Plato that human being is dualistic, and he then combined his beliefs in the
know newfound doctrine of Christianity.
Myself
that I may  Unsurprisingly, he also viewed the "self" as an immaterial (but rational) soul.
know
Thee”  To give the theory of forms a Christian perspective, he asserted that these forms were
concepts existing within the perfect and eternal God (The Catholic University of America
 Press, 1982).
 He believed that the body possessed senses, such as imagination, memory, reason, and
mind through which the soul experienced the world. And the senses can only grasp/feel the
temporal objects in the material world, yet the immaterial but intangible God can only be
clear to the mind if one tune into his/her immaterial self/soul.
 THEREFORE:
The self is a restless soul seeking its ultimate fulfillment and rest in God’s love
Thomas “The  The doctor of the church and the most eminent 13th century scholar and stalwart of the
Aquinas greatest medieval philosophy
kindness
one can  He elucidates that man is composed of two parts:
render to (1) Matter
any man – refers to the common stuff that makes up everything in the
consists in universe.
(2) Form
leading him
– refers to the essence of a substance or thing, it is what makes it what it
from error
is.
to truth”
 In humans, the body of the person is something that he/she shares including animals.

 The soul makes the human different from the animals as the soul is what animates the
body, it is what makes us humans.

Therefore:
The self is a rational and immortal soul uniquely united with a physical body,
created in the image of God.
Rene “I think Renaissance  A French philosopher and considered as the father of modern Western philosophy.
Descartes therefor
e I am”  His is known in his famous line “Cogito ergo sum” translated as “I think, therefore I am”.
He stressed that everything that can be perceived by the senses through the body could
NOT be used as proof of existence and there is only one thing that one could be sure of in
this world and that is doing the act of doubting (Otig, V. et.al., 2018).

 The body is nothing else but a machine that is attached to the mind. So, what makes a
person a person? Descartes said: "But what then, am I? A thinking thing. It has been said.
But what is a thinking thing? It is a thing that doubts, understands (conceives), affirms,
 denies, wills, refuses; that imagines also and perceives (Descartes, 2008)

Therefore:
The self is a thinking, conscious entity with an inherent
existence, distinct from the body and inseparable from the mind.
John Locke “No man’s  He introduced the concept of the "tabula rasa" or "blank slate. It means that the human
knowledg mind at birth is like a blank slate that has not been written on, meaning it does not possess
e can go innate ideas, knowledge, or pre-existing content.
beyond
his  He believed that the self is identified with consciousness and this self consists of sameness
experienc of consciousness. It would mean that the self consists of memory; that the person existing
e.” now is the same person yesterday because he/she remembers the thoughts, experiences, or
actions of the earlier self.

 For him, a person’s memories provide a continuity of experience that allows him/her to
identify himself/herself as the same person over time.

 According to Locke since you are the same “self” in the passing of time, you can be held
accountable for past behavior. However, Locke insisted that a person could only be held
accountable for behaviors he/she can remember.

Therefore:
The self is not an innate entity but rather a product of
individual consciousness and the continuous experiences that shape
one's identity over time.
David Hume “A wise  A Scottish Enlightenment philosopher, which highlights empiricism. Empiricism is the
man school of thought that espouses the idea that knowledge can only be possible if it is
proportion sensed and experienced.
his belief to
the  As an empiricist, Hume believed that one can know only through one’s senses and
evidence.” experiences. Argued that the self is nothing but what his/her predecessors thought of it. It
is not an entity over and beyond the physical body.

 What is the self then? Self is simply a bundle of collection of different perceptions, which
succeed each other with an inconceivable rapidity, and are in a perpetual flux and
movement (Hume & Steinberg, 1992).
 Therefore:
The self is a bundle of perceptions and experiences, lacking a unified and
enduring substance.
Immanuel “Genius is  Thinking of the self as a mere combination of impressions was problematic to Kant.
Kant the ability
to  He thinks that the things that men perceive around them are not just randomly infused into
independen the human person without an organizing principle that regulates the relationship of all
tly arrive at these impressions.
and
understand  He asserts that without the self, one cannot organize the different impressions that one
concepts gets in relation to his own existence.
that would
normally  He suggests that the self is an actively engaged intelligence in man that synthesizes all
have to be knowledge and experience.
taught by
another Therefore:
person.” The self is a transcendental unity of apperception, the necessary condition
for organizing all experiences and
concepts.
Gilbert Ryle “I act, Modern  A philosopher and professor who wrote The Concept of Mind (1949), where he criticized
therefor Time Descartes' idea that the mind is distinct from the body.
e I am”
 He defended that the distinction between mind and matter is a "category mistake" because
it attempts to analyze the relation between mind and body as if the two were terms of the
same categories (Nath, 2013).

 For him, what truly matters is the daily behavior that a person manifests.
  He believed that the actions and behaviors of a person define the sense of self. "I act,
therefore I am."

Therefore:
The self is the result of a "category mistake," an
erroneous belief in a separate mental entity distinct from observable
behaviors and dispositions.
Maurice “Physical  He was a philosopher and author who rejected the mind- body dualism view instead he
Merleau- body is an insisted that the mind and body are intertwined, that they cannot be separated.
Ponty important
part of the  He argued that the body is part of the mind, and the mind is part of the body. The mind
self” perceives what the body senses experience from the external world, then the body acts out
of what the mind perceives.

Therefore:
The self is an embodied and inseparable entity,
existing within the lived experiences and interactions with the surrounding
world.

Indeed, philosophers have varying views on the self, however it is important to note about their historical backgrounds and orientations
which likely influenced most their views. These ideas were presented for you to contemplate with and determine whether you fit or relate into
the given descriptions of the self.
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