PHILOSOPHICAL SELF

What
from do you
Easter hope
Island to learn?
suggest the ese monolithic
contemplative gures
nature of
philosophy, whichquestions
can help you grapple
of life. with the big
•Studying philosophy will help you develop
the understanding and insight you will need
to make intelligent choices and ful ll your
potential as an individual. To use a metaphor,
you are an a ist, creating your life po rait,
and your paints and brush- strokes are the
choices you make each day.
•How do you feel about the po rait you have
created so far? Have you de ned yourself as
the person you always wanted to be, or are
you a “work in progress”? Are you achieving
your full potential as a human being,
“actively exercising your soul’s powers”—
•Wonder
what is philosophy ?
•“All philosophy has its origins in wonder” —Plato
•A Dynamic Process
•“ e beginning of philosophy is

. . . the con ict between opinions” —Epictitus
•Wisdom
•“Philosophy is simply the love of wisdom” —Cicero
•Truth
•“Philosophy is the science that considers the truth”
—Aristotle
Socrates
•Socrates probably came closest to
capturing the essence of philosophy when
he issued a sta ling challenge that has
reverberated through the centuries:
• “ e unexamined life is not wo h living.”
• e ability to re ect on one’s life and
one’s self is a distinctly human ability.
•Psyche-soul; one’s central identity makes
one unique. It is where one’s thoughts,
wishes, dreams and aspirations are
generated.
• convinced
e unexamined
that we life is
have not
a wo
moral h living. Socrates
obligation to was
achieve
our soul our full human potential,
’s powers. When we live our lives
“actively exercising

unre ectively,
questions such not
as actively exploring deeper
“Who am I?” and “What is the
meaning
value. of my life? ” then our lives have diminished

• Philosophy
reevaluate provides
ect withtheclarity andus with the
discipline, intellectual
to criticallytools to
knowledge tochoices
make we
more have made,
enlightened and to
choicesuse this
in the
future.
• unique
e stakes
abilityare high:
to think If we fail to make
philosophically use
aboutof this
ourselves, then, according
have diminished potential. to Socrates, our lives
• Socrates
stimulate believed
and guidethat his
others special
in the wisdom consisted
philosophical in his
exploration ability
of to
profound questions, enabling
understanding. (profession of the parents)them to “give bi h” to their own

• For Socrates, the central concern of philosophy is the

“true self” or “soul.” What is the soul? It is your core identity, your
psyche, the
unique
authentic spirit that makes
personality, youryou distinctively
distinctive you .
character. is
Youris your
soul is the
source
unique of your
life forcedeepest
that thoughts
shapes and and
de highest
nes itself aspirations,
through the
choices
made
and on a daily
imperishable, basis.
and According
after death to Socrates,
should your
continue soul
to is “immo al
exist in
another world.”
• Eve
de ned soulpathseeks
to happiness,
achieving Socrates
happiness, believes,
though and
many there
don is a clearly
’t choose to
take it.
vibehave e
uousrightly only
and wise,people
who who
live reare truly
ective, happy are those who
“examined” lives and strive to
are
create souls and
that arejustly
good, in eve
wise, area
and of their
courageous lives.
and ese
as a people
result
they achieve genuine and lasting happiness.
•For Socrates, goodness and wisdom were
pa ners, inextricably connected at their
roots. He believed that vi ue and excellence
of the soul is the consequence of knowledge
and wisdom . It is by determined and
clearheaded thinking that we develop an
understanding of the rigorous standards of
conduct that humans should follow,
individually and socially. By training our
minds to explore the central questions in life
regarding justice, morality, and goodness, we
cannot help but become good persons
ourselves
PLATO
•A person’s soul (life’s essence or form), as
Plato thought of it to be, is the instrument
upon which individuals comprehend forms.
•For him, education is reminiscing; that is,
learning is a matter of extracting from our
mind that which is already there.
•Put simply, knowledge is already within the
self, and we could understand the world
around us through reason and thoughtful
introspection. e idea that the self
contains knowledge connects well with the
Socratic dictum “Know thyself”
 PLATO
•Forms
In discussing
and a essence,
world of he spoke
Phenomena of
. a eworld
rst of
is
permanent and eternal; the second is
constantly changing, and it dies and withers.
•Form-permanent; phenomena-changing
•inFordiexample,
erent the
shapeschair
and as perceived
sizes, but the may
formcome
or
the idea
existence of a chair is
independent, constant
real, and
and its
eternal. e
form of the chair is its essence.
•It reinforces the examination of one’s own
life. According to Plato, self-examination
leads to a better understanding not only of
the self but also of the world.
• Plato provides di erent depictions of the
structure of the soul. Adhering to the
vitalistic perspective, he describes the soul
as unita to emphasize its vital principle.
Also, he holds a dual view of the soul; that
is, it has rational and irrational aspects. He
points out that humans have both reason
and a “wild beast” deep inside of them that
needs to be controlled.
• Lastly, the soul has a tripa ite structure
that consists of reason, spirit, and appetite.
Plato distinguishes between the highly
manageable self (spirited) and the unruly
self (appetite) of the human’s irrational side.
e tripa ite structure is like a chariot
drawn by two energetic horses, one of
which wants to go on its own way, and the
other is manageable. Holding the reins of
the chariot is reason, the charioteer that
does its best to direct the chariot to its goal.
•.
•Consider a person whose goal is to excel
academically. From the tripa ite
perspective, there seems to be a pa of
the self that is motivated to do work
(spirited); the person studies hard and
does homework diligently. Another aspect
of the self wants to relax and do
something fun (appetite). It is reason (the
reasonable self) that puts the person back
on track and makes one manage time
e ciently
ARISTOTLE
 ARISTOTLE
•ofAristotle
the adheres
soul or to
psyche a vitalistic
that makes principle
matter
alive.
•alive,erefore, having a soul means being
and only living things have a soul.
•nonliving
e soul but
distinguishes
does not the living
exactly de and
ne the
dinon-thinking
erence between
beings.the thinking and the
• In contrast to Plato’s idea that Form
exists separately and eternally,
Aristotle argues that a pa icular
object has a form that is inseparable
from it. us, there is no form
without matter and vice versa.
• is is known as hylomorphism, the
philosophical theo that states that
things are. composed of both matter
and form Following this line of
thinking, the body and the psyche
cannot exist without the other.
•fromrough
the Aristotelian
body. It can lens,
be the
said self
that is
the inseparable
body is
the conditio
which) of thesine qua non
experiencing (condition
self, meaning without
without
without the
the body,
body, the
thereself
is cannot
no self experience;
to experience
in the rst place.
•Aristotle
the expounds
psyche can be fu her
divided that
in the
several functions
ways. A of
commonly
functions, used
namely,division includes
nutritive psyche three
, sensitive
psyche, and rational
hierarchical fashion. psyche; and it behaves in a
•
•
•At the base of the hierarchy is the nutritive psyche.
is is what is obse ed in plants involving basic
nourishment and reproduction.
•Next, the sensitive psyche is for all animals. It
includes locomotion and perception.
• e rational psyche, the highest of the three, is for
human beings. It refers to the capacity for reason as
well as all other functions. In this sense, the
functions of the soul are said to be nested: the
higher functions presuppose the presence of the
lower functions.
• erefore, humans are endowed with functions
above all living things because of their capacity to
reason, yet they share typical characteristics of
 Trivia

•Aristotle believed that the center of the
soul was the hea because it reacted when
one experienced joy or sorrow. Plato,
however, believed that the seat of reason,
the organ of the soul, was the brain
because it was nearer to the heavens. In a
sense, Plato was correct based on a
“wrong” argument.

•
• Activity
•In your view, discuss the signi cance of the
Socratic statement “Know yself”
especially for college students in the
typical context of their lives.
•Roman philosopher Plotinus (204–270 CE)
and St. Augustine (354 – 430 CE) are
aligned with Neoplatonism.
• is school of thought is often linked to
religious thinking. Many major religions,
such as Islam, Christianity, and Judaism,
are said to be in uenced by Neoplatonism,
or they have at least studied and
discussed it through the centuries up to
the present.
•Plato’s ideas had strong in uence on
Plotinus, the founder of Neoplatonism,
foremost of which is the asse ion that the
soul is but a prisoner of the body.
•Plotinus pushed for the freeing of the person
from this bondage and to move towards
pe ection. is is made possible because,
although the soul and body are together,
they are not necessarily fused or combined.
He fu her explained that the soul is merely
coexisting with the body therefore making it
at the same time independent from it.
Plotinus

•the self has to endeavor for higher unde akings,
meaning pursuing a life guided by values and
vi ues.
•In other words, between nourishment for the soul
and demands of the esh, the soul “. . . shall
overcome.” is is possible for him because of his
ardent belief in the superiority of the soul over the
body.
•Plotinus posits three activities of the soul:
• Perception-- in perceiving we direct consciousness to
an object.
•Re ection--implies that the consciousness is split into
subject and object or occasions wherein we are
conscious of ourselves, sensing and perceiving
•Contemplation--the soul is believed to
transcend the ever changing and
impermanent and to enter into the
unchanging and eternal.
St. Augustine
of Hippo
•philosophers
St. Augustineofis one of
all time.the greatest Christian
•thought,
He was highly in
especially uenced
the by
ideas Neoplatonist
of Plotinus and
Plato.
•Plato
e soul
and is given
Plotinus, primacy
St. over
Augustine the body.
shares With
the
view
body, that
but the
it issoul
also is not only
superior todiit. erent
As a from the
Christian
philosopher,
achieve unity he asse
with Gods the need
through for
faith the
as soul
well to
as
reason.
• One interesting asse ion by St. Augustine about the soul’s
quest for heaven is the need to have ‘contempt of the self.’
• e self in this context represents the mundane and worldly
demands and not what is represented by the soul that is capable
of higher aspirations and unity with God.
• e soul needs to go through several steps with the end goal of
freeing itself from the demands of self. In City of God, Augustine
describes two cities made of love: the ea hly city by the love of
self and contempt of God, while the heavenly city is made out of
the love of God and contempt of self. e former dwells on
satisfying personal gains, while the latter only glori es the Lord.
From this perspective, the self is viewed as the bastion of
personal interest and gain, pride, and vanity from which the
person must transcend if he or she desires to nd union with the
Lord on Judgement Day. Perhaps it is from these ideas that we
speak of the words sel sh and sel ess. e former referring to
exclusive personal gains, while the latter is often directed for the
bene t of others or a larger cause.





St. omas of
Aquinas
 e Synthesis of Faith and Reason: Aquinas,
• St. omas Aquinas (1225–1274 CE) rose
to prominence in his contributions to
philosophy and religion.
• Aquinas employs Aristotelian thought.
• Both Plato and Aristotle talked about
form in their philosophies.
• In other words, the person is both body
and soul.
• However, Aristotle’s forms cannot be
separated from the physical objects
where they are embedded because the
reality of the objects is that they are
both form and matter.
• For Aristotle, the soul is the form that all
living things possess.
•Aquinas
where he’s position follows that of Aristotle
argues that all living things possess a
soul.
•He
even believed
in death. that
Hishuman
reason soul
is bycontinues
operation to exist
of the
soul whose object of thought can
or abstract entities, including perhaps God, etc be the eternal
•said
A human
to be soul that
incomplete is separated
and nds from
its its body
completion is
again
such only
as its when it
resurrectionanimates
during a body
the once
second more,
coming of Christ.
•Isthethere
sense a self
of to
the speak
human of for
soul, a dead
there isperson?
still a In
self
although incomplete
when body and soul are reunited. until the resurrection
• Aquinas
imprisoned doesin not
an adhere
impe to
ect the
body idea
or that
that the
it is soul
inside is
the
body as a kind of punishment.
• Its presence
described as in the
good, body
as is
well in
asfact what
natural can only
. e soul is be
enriched and nourished when it is joined
e union of body and soul completes human nature. with the body.
• Also,
throughthis union
the makes
senses the
possible.acquisition
e body, of knowledge
therefore, is
not something
desired and to be
appreciated abhorred
when or
it rejected,
is in union but
withrather
the
soul.
and Aquinas
soulful paved
needs or the way
desires in
in harmonizing
the same way bodily
as he
reconciled
the key faith
persons and
in thereason,
histo which
of made
philosophy him one
and of
thought.
•
 Activity
•Which among the di erent perspectives of
the self you nd more aligned with your
own beliefs? Explain your answer
•What is “the self” for you? What
circumstances, events and situations in
your life do you think are responsible for
your perspective?
•
 Modern
Philosophy
 René
Desca es
 René Desca es
•is considered the father of modern philosophy.
•He is said
perspective to have
to brought
philosophy. in a
While fresh
many look and
philosophers
dwelled on answering fundamental questions,
“Does God exist?”, “What is the soul’s nature?”, and
such as
“What is the ideal society?”, he was more focused on
understanding
questions. the thought process in answering the
•He
knowbelieved
what that
one isthere
ce ’s the need to doubt, in order to
ain. It is the right way to sta
when
person building
to createa system
a solid of beliefs.
foundation foris allows
ideas the
held
about the world and about the self.
•Desca es puts primacy to one’s capacity
to think.
•His recommendation appears elegant and
simple, though it is not easy to do because
it necessitates casting doubt at personal
beliefs. Doubt holds practical value.
•A person is likely in a better position to be
critical and to analyze as well as to search
more information to resolve the doubt.
Cogito ergo sum (“I think therefore I am”)
constitutes the rst principle of Desca es’s
knowledge philosophy.
•By this, he meant the ce ainty of one’s
existence because of the ability to think and be
conscious.
•Being conscious of self is the key to why one
holds a personal identity and a sense of
sel ood. Without the ability to be conscious of
self or to be aware of self, one cannot gain any
idea of personal identity; in other words, one
cannot have a sense of self (Cha ee, 2016).
•Desca es preferred to use mind instead of soul
for clarity and to avoid ambiguity
•Desca es asse s that a person can have a
clear and distinct concept about the
thinking self or the essential self and the
body. In this case, there is a suggestion of
Platonic and Neoplatonic in uence.
•For Desca es, the self that thinks is the
soul or mind, and it is an immo al and
conscious entity, which is not subject to
natural law; while the body is subject to
the laws of nature, and it is a mo al entity.
• is is the classic mind-body split. e body
(physical self) is governed by laws of nature,
while the mind (conscious self) is pa of
what is spiritual and eternal, which is not
governed by physical laws but by reason and
God’s laws. Despite the mind-body split,
Desca es still acknowledges the close
relationship between body and mind.
•Desca es was considered a rationalist for
his asse ion that one’s reasoning prowess
sets the base for acquiring knowledge, as
well as the yardstick to measure the accuracy
of the ideas produced
John Locke
--English philosopher, an empiricist
for positing the primacy of sense
experience in acquiring knowledge
and that only through careful focus on
our sense experience, we can judge
the accuracy of our conclusions.
• All knowledge is derived from
senso experience.
• TABULA RASA
•consciousness
Locke’s idea ofand selfnot
is founded
on the on
substance
such as the soul or body.
•required
In fact, the
in same
being consciousness
the same self is
whether
itsoul)
be the same substance
or multiple substances. (same body or
•transplanted
If a person’stoconsciousness
some were
individual 100 to be
years
would from
still now,
be that
the same life in the
person future
whether
it be another substance or vessel.
David Hume
• Scottish philosopher David Hume
(1711–1776 CE) is an avid empiricist.
• However, he disagrees with the idea of
a continuing identity hence arguing for
an extreme view of self; that is, there is
no self!
• He hypothesizes that after a person
examines sense experience, the
individual will arrive at the conclusion
of the absence of the self.
•Impressions are the basic constituents of our
experience upon which ideas are derived.
• ese impressions are more vivid than ideas
since ideas are just derivatives and copies of
impressions;
•therefore, ideas are fa her from reality than
what comes as impressions. However, no
impressions persist for they are always in
constant motion and ux. is means one
cannot nd a sensation (impression) of a
“constant self” that makes up the identity of the
person simply because impressions are eeting.
--He then concludes
that because
cannot nd a we
self in
these changing
sensations, perhaps
the self
exist. does not
Immanuel
Kant
•One of the greatest thinkers of modern philosophy
•He worked to synthesize what seemingly were
di erent perspectives in the acquisition of
knowledge: experience and reason.
• His view of self is a response to Hume’s position of
the absence of self. He acknowledges the role that
senso experience plays in knowing about the
world, as argued by Hume. However, instead of
maintaining Hume’s position that the experiences
are disjoint eeting sensations, Kant argues that
the organized and connected experiences of the
world are fairly stable.
•of ese experiences,
fragmented therefore,
sensations or are not
impressions.just a
Allseries
happen
middle as
of interrelated
the experiences,
comprehension and and in the
understanding
is the concept of a conscious self.
•Kant
isprods agrees
impoonant with
and Hume
the primathat empirical
sta ing experience
point but
to state
from experience alone that not all knowledge comes
•(derived
Also, persons
by have
logic andknowledge
not that
necessarily is a priori
accompanied
independent by
of raw facts)
empirical and
senso perhaps
experiences ( a
posteriori
with ones knowledge).
senso is knowledge
impressions, and it blends
may be
hard to distinguish without skillful practice.
•In a sense, Kant is stating that the mind is
constantly at work in organizing and putting
order and coherent meaning to information
that the person receives from the senses.
e individual seems to have a set of rules
on putting order to what he or she
experiences and is capable of organizing
fragmented and totally unrelated pictures in
such a way that they make sense and create
a coherent sto . e rules are said to be
present before experienced sensations thus,
they are a priori knowledge.
•Where is the self then in all these? Kant
posits that the self makes a person’s
senso experience understandable and
meaningful. It is the organizing entity, the
weaver, the music conductor, or the
architect that puts it all together, thereby
making the individual’s senso
experiences whole, recognizable,
meaningful, and connected.