UNDERSTANDING THE SELF

Ms. ROHAIDA A. MACAUMBANG, RPm

THE SELF FROM VARIOUS
PHILOSOPHICAL
PERSPECTIVES
CHAPTER 1
SOCRATES
 SOCRATES
“Father of Western
Philosophy”

Two important aspects of

Personhood:
(1) Body: imperfect and
impermanent aspect
(2) Soul: perfect and
permanent “The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothi
-Socrates
PLATO
 PLATO
Three components of the soul:

(1) Rational Soul: reason and intellect

(2) Spirited Soul: emotions
(3) Appetitive Soul: base desires

“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the

the real tragedy is when men are afraid of the light
-Plato
AURELIUS AUGUSTINUS
HIPPONENSIS
AURELIUS AUGUSTINUS
HIPPONENSIS
Two parts of the Self:

(1) Body: bound to die

on earth
(2) Soul: anticipate living
eternally

“Don’t you believe that there is in man a

deep so profound
as to be hidden even to him in whom it is?”
THOMAS AQUINAS
 THOMAS
AQUINAS
Man is composed of two parts:

(1) Matter (or hyle): the

common stuff that makes
up everything
(2) Form (or morphe): essence
of the substance or thing

“The things that we love tell us what we are..

-Thomas Aquinas
RENE DESCARTES
 RENE
DESCARTES
“Father of Modern Philosophy”,
cogito er sum or “I think therefore
I am.”

Man is dual in nature:

(1) Mind (or cogito):
the thing that thinks
(2) Body (or extenza):
“It is not enough to have a good mind; the main th
extension of the mind is to use it well.”
-Rene Descartes
DAVID HUME
 DAVID HUME
Experiences are categorized
into two:

(1) Impressions: products of

“direct” experiences
(2) Ideas: products of
“indirect” experiences

“Nothing is more surprising than the easiness w

which the many are governed by the few.”
-David Hume
IMMANUEL KANT
 IMMANUEL
KANT
The self is a combination of:
(1) Knowledge:
(2) Experience

“Respect others as you would respect

yourself.”

“Never wish to see a just cause defende

with unjust means.”
-Immanuel Kant
GILBERT RYLE
 GILBERT RYLE
According to Ryle, the self refers
to all the behaviors
that people make.

“A person who has a good nose for arguments or j

may have a bad head for facts.”
-Gilbert Ryle
MAURICE MERLEAU-
PONTY
 MAURICE
MERLEAU-
PONTY
Merleau-Ponty asserted that the
mind and the body are so
“intertwined” that they cannot
be separated from one another.

“We should be sensitive to the thread of silence fr

which the tissue of speech is woven.”
-Maurice Merleau-Ponty
STAY SAFE!
PRESENTATION ENDS HERE.