THE SELF from Various Philosophical Perspectives

Lecture 1 in UNDERSTANDING THE SELF

PHILOSOPHY

- study of the fundamental nature of knowledge,

reality, and existence, especially in an academic
discipline.
- a particular theory that someone has about how to
live or how to deal with a particular situation.

Much of philosophy concerns with the fundamental

nature of self.
a
The Greeks were the ones who seriously
questioned myths and moved away from them to
understand reality and respond to perennial
questions of curiosity, including the question of
the self.

The following are discussions of different

perspectives and under standings of the self
_according to its prime movers. From
philosophers of the ancient times to the
contemporary period.

DO YOU AGREE THAT THERE IS A DIFFERENCE

BETWEEN THE BODY AND THE SOUL?

DO YOU THINK YOU HAVE BOTH?

WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWWEEN THE TWO?

SOCRATES
• concerned with the problem of the self
• "the true task of the philosopher is to
know oneself"
• "the unexamined life is not worth
living"
• underwent a trial for 'corrupting the
minds of the youth'
• succeeded made people think about
who they are
SOCRATES

• 'the worst thing that

can happen to anyone
is to live but die inside
• "every person is
dualistic"
SOCRATES

• man = body + soul

• individual =
imperfect/permanent (body)
+ perfect & permanent (soul)
PLATO

3 components to the soul

rational soul - reason & intellect to
govern affairs spirited soul - emotions should be
kept at bay appetitive soul - base desires (food,
drink, sleep, sexual needs, etc.)
• when these are attained, the human
person's soul becomes just & virtuous
a

WHAT HAPPENS TO A PERSON WHOSE 3

COMPONENTS OF THE SOUL ARE IMBALANCED?
(ST.) AUGUSTINE

• 'spirit of man’ in medieval philosophy

• following view of Plato but adds
Christianity
• man is of a bifurcated nature
• part of man dwells in the world imperfect)
and yearns to be with the Divine
• other part is capable of reaching
immortality
• body - dies on earth; soul - lives eternally
in spiritual bliss with "God” (#lifegoalz)

DO YOU BELIEVE IN THE CONCEPT OF THE SOUL

COMING TO HEAVEN AFTER DEATH?

WHAT MAKES US PEOPLE DIFFERENT FROM

ANIMALS?
(ST) THOMAS AQUINAS
• man = matter + form
• matter (hyle) - "common stuff that
makes up everything in the universe"
• form (morphe) – "essence of a substance
or thing"; (what makes it what it is)
• the body of the human is similar to
animals/objects, but what makes a human is his
essence
• "the soul is what makes us humans"

MODERN PHILOSOPHY
Rene DESCARTES

• Father of Modern Philosophy

• human person = body + mind
• "there is so much that we should
doubt"
• "if something is so clear and lucid as
not to be doubted, that's the only time
one should believe.”
• the only thing one can't doubt is
existence of the self
Rene DESCARTES

• "I think, therefore I am"

• the self = cogito (the thing that thinks)
+ extenza (extension of mind body)
• the body is a machine attached to the
mind
• it's the mind that makes the man
• "I am a thinking thing. . . A thing that
doubts, understands, affirms, denies, wills,
refuses, imagines, perceives.”

DO YOU AGREE WITH THE STATEMENTS ABOUT

THE SELF (body & soul) SO FAR?
WHAT SEEMS TO BE QUESTIONNABLE IN THEIR
CONJECTURES?
David HUME

• disagrees with the all the other

aforementioned philosophers
• "one can only know what comes from the
senses & experiences” (he is an empiricist)
• "the self is not an entity beyond the
physical body"
• you know that other people are humans not
because you have seen their soul, but because
you see them, hear them, feel them etc
David HUME

• "the self is nothing but a bundle of

impressions and ideas"
• impression -
- basic objects of our
experience/sensation
- forms the core of our thoughts
• idea -
- copies of impressions - not as “real” as
impressions - feeling mo lang yun!
David HUME

• self = a collection of different

perceptions which rapidly succeed each
other
• self = in a perpetual flux and
movement
• we want to believe that there is a
unified , coherent self, soul, mind, etc. but
~~actually~~ it is all just a combination of
experiences.
Immanuel KANT

• agrees with HUME that everything

starts with perception/sensation of
impressions
• there is a MIND that regulates these
impressions
• "time, space, etc. are ideas that one
cannot find in the world, but is built in
our minds
• "apparatus of the mind”
Immanuel KANT

• the self organizes different impressions

that one gets in relation to his own
existence
• we need active intelligence to
synthesize all knowledge and
experience
• the self is not only personality but also
the seat of knowledge
a

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE DISCUSSION SO

FAR?
Gilbert RYLE
• the self is not an entity_one can locate
and analyze but simply the convenient name that we
use to refer to the behaviors that we make
MERLEAU-PONTY

• a phenomenologist who says the mind

body bifurcation is an invalid problem
• mind and body are inseparable
• "one's body is his opening toward his
existence to the world”
• the living body, his thoughts, emotions,
and experiences are all one.
MERLEAU-PONTY

• if you hate this subject, Merleau-Ponty

understands you.
ANY QUESTIONS?