UNDERSTANDING

THE
SELF
 SELF
the union of elements (such as body, emotions, thoughts, and
sensations) that constitute the individuality and identity of a person

Self -Knowledge
Self- Awareness
Self -Esteem Self -Perception

With these aspects, the person is able to alter, change, add or modify
himself/herself for the purpose of gaining social acceptance.
NATURE OF THE SELF
 PHILOSOPHICAL
PERSPECTIVE OF THE
SELF
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

1 explain why it is essential to 3 Compare and contrast how the

self has been represented in
understand the self;
different philosophical schools;

2 Describe and discuss the different

4
and
examine one's self against the
notions of the self from the different views of self that were
point-of-view of the various discussed in class
philosophers across time and place
 PHILOSOPHY
Etymology: Greek
Philos: Love Sophia: Wisdom
" Love of Wisdom"
Philosophy investigates the legitimacy of concepts by rational
arguments concerning their implications, relationships as well as
moral judgment and etc.
Ancient Philosophy
PRE - SOCRATICS
concerned with explaining
what the world is really made up of,
why the world is so,
and what explains the changes that they observed around them.

(Thales, Pythagoras, Parmenides, Heraclitus, and Empedocles)

SOCRATES
He was concerned with the 'problem of the self'
DUALISTIC
Body (imperfect and impermanent)
Soul (perfect and permanent)
The first one to focus on the full power of reason on
the human self: who we are, who we should be, and
who we will become.
He believed that the real self is the soul or the psyche.
The worst thing that can happen yo anyone is to "live
but die inside"
"KNOW THYSELF"
"AN UNEXAMINED LIFE IS NOT WORTH LIVING
 PLAT0
He was a student of Socrates.
The Physical World is not the real world because the
ultimate really exists beyond the physical world.
THREE COMPONENT OF THE SOUL / THEORY OF
FORMS
RATIONAL: the divine essence that lets us think deeply
(wisdom), make wise choices and achieve a true
understanding of eternal truths.
APPETITIVE: accounts for the basic biological needs such
ashunger, thirst and sexual desire.
SPIRITUAL: accounts for the basic emotions such as love,
anger,ambition, aggressiveness, empathy.
Medieval Philosophy
ST. AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO
He integrates the ideas of Plato and teachings of
Christianity.
Man is of a bifurcated nature. An aspect of man
dwells in the world and is imperfect and continously
yearns to be with the Divine (body) and the other is
capable of reaching mortality (soul).
GOAL OF THE PERSON: To attain communion and
bliss by living his life on earth in virtue.
WORLD OF MATERIAL - temporary home
The real world is the one where GOD is.
ST. THOMAS OF AQUINAS
Man is composed of matter and form.

MATTER (hyle) - common stuff that

makes up everything (man's body, cell)

FORM(morphe) - the essence or

substance of a thing. (man's soul)
Modern Philosophy
RENE DESCARTES
Father of Modern Philosophy
He claims that there are so much that we should doubt.
Descartes thought that the only thing that one cannot
doubt is the existence of the self, for even if one doubts
oneself, that only proves that there is a doubting self, a
thing that thinks and therefore, that cannot be doubted.

Cogito ergo sum / "I think, Therefore I am."

Self is a combination of two distinct entities:
Cogito - the mind ;Extenza - the body
Descartes’s view, the body is nothing else but a machine
that is attached to the mind. The human person has it but
it is not what makes man a man..
 DAVID HUME
Influence by empiricism. Empiricism is the school of
thought that espouses the idea that knowledge can only be
possible if it is sensed and experienced. Men can only
attain knowledge by experiencing.
Self is nothing else but a bundle o impressions. Experiences
can be categorized into two:
IMPRESSION: the product of direct experience
IDEAS: copies of impression
"Self is a bundle or collection of different perceptions,
which succeed each other with an inconceivable
rapidity, and are in a perpetual flux and movement."
(Hume and Steinberg 1992)
A unified self is the combination of all experiences with
particular person.
IMMANNUEL KANT
WE CONSTRUCT THE SELF
Contests Hume's idea by alluding to the primary
experience of the world that is not a
disconnected stream of sensations.
There is a mind that organizes the impressions
that men get from the external world.
Self is the seat of knowledge acquisition for all
human person.
Contemporary Philosophy
GILBERT RYLE
Denies the existence of the
internal, non - physical self.
The self is NOT an entity one
can locate. It is a name we use
to refer to all behavior
MAURICE JEAN JACQUES
MERLEAU - PONTY
Denies the dualistic ideas.
The mind and body are so intertwined that
they cannot be separated from one another.
He dismisses the Cartesian Dualism that has
spelled so much devastation in the history of
man. For him, the Cartesian problem is nothing
else but plain misunderstanding. The living
body, his thoughts, emotions, and
experiences are all one.
ASESSMENT TASK!
Prepare for a SHORT QUIZ!