CHAPTER 1

PHILOSOPHICAL VIEW OF THE

SELF
PHILOSOPHICAL VIEW OF
THE SELF
 Philosophy employs the inquisitive mind to discover the
ultimate causes, reasons, and principles of everything.
It goes beyond scientific investigation by exploring all
areas of knowledge such as religion, psychology, politics,
physics, and even medicine.
“Love of Wisdom”
 The different views of prominent philosophers regarding
the nature of the self
SOCRATES: AN
UNEXAMINED LIFE IS NOT
WORTH LIVING
 The self is synonymous with the soul
 Every human possesses an immortal soul that survives
the physical body.
 He was the first to focus on the full power of reason on
the human self:
 Who we are
 Who we should be
 Who we will become
SOCRATES: AN
UNEXAMINED LIFE IS NOT
WORTH LIVING
 Socrates suggests that reality consists of two dichotomous
realms:
 Physical realms
 Ideal realms

 The physical realm is changeable, transient, and imperfect.

 The ideal realm is unchanging, eternal, and immortal.
 The physical world in which man lives belongs to the physical
realm.
 The body belongs to the physical realm
 The soul belongs to the ideal realm
SOCRATES: AN
UNEXAMINED LIFE IS NOT
WORTH LIVING
 Socrates explains that the essence of the self ----- the
soul— is the immortal entity.
 The soul strives for wisdom and perfection, and reason is
the soul’s tool to achieve this exalted state.
Man must live an examined life and a life of purpose and
value.
 For him, an unexamined life is not worth living.
SOCRATES: AN
UNEXAMINED LIFE IS NOT
WORTH LIVING
 The individual person can have a meaningful and happy
life only if he becomes virtuous and knows the value of
himself that can be achieved through incessant soul-
searching.
 Introspection – is a method of carefully examining
one’s thoughts and emotions- to gain self-knowledge.
SOCRATES: AN
UNEXAMINED LIFE IS NOT
WORTH LIVING
Hugot ni Socrates:

“Hanapin at kilalanin mo
muna ang SARILI mo.”
PLATO: THE SELF IS AN
IMMORTAL SOUL
 Plato also believes that the self is synonymous with the
soul.
 His philosophy can be explained as a process of self-
knowledge and purification of the soul.
 Introduces the idea of a three-part soul/self:
 Reason
 Physical Appetite
 Spirit or Passion
PLATO: THE SELF IS AN
IMMORTAL SOUL
 Reason is the divine essence that enables us to think
deeply, make wise choices, and achieve a true
understanding of eternal truths.
 Physical appetite includes our basic biological needs
such as hunger, thirst, and sexual desire.
 Spirit or passion includes basic emotions such as love,
anger, ambition, aggressiveness, and empathy.
 These three elements of our selves are in a dynamic
relationship with one another, sometimes in conflict.
PLATO: THE SELF IS AN
IMMORTAL SOUL
 When conflict occurs, it is the responsibility of the
Reason to sort things out and exert control, restoring a
harmonious relationship among the three elements of our
selves.
 Plato believes that genuine happiness can only be
achieved by people who consistently make sure that their
Reason is in control of their Spirits and Appetites.
 If man lives in accordance to his nature, then he is giving
justice to his existence.
PLATO: THE SELF IS AN
IMMORTAL SOUL
 Theory of Forms (Concepts of the two worlds):
 The world of forms (Non-physical ideas)
 Real and permanent
 The world of sense (Reality)
 Temporary and only a replica of the ideal world

 Since the soul is regarded as something permanent, man

should give more importance to it than the physical body
which resides in the world of sense.
PLATO: THE SELF IS AN
IMMORTAL SOUL
Hugot ni Plato:

“WAG KANG
MATAKOT
MAGPAKATOTOO”
ARISTOTLE: THE SOUL IS
THE ESSENCE OF THE
SELF
 Believes that the soul is merely a set of defining features
and does not consider the body and soul as separate entities.
 That anything with life has a soul. The soul is the essence
of all living things.
 Thus, the soul is the essence of the self.
 Humans differ from other living things because of their
capacity for rational thinking.
ARISTOTLE: THE SOUL IS
THE ESSENCE OF THE
SELF
 His discussion about the self centers in the kinds of soul
possessed by man.
 Three kinds of soul:
 Vegetative soul – includes the physical body that can grow
 Sentient soul – includes sensual desires, feelings, and emotions.
 Rational soul – is what makes man human.
 It includes the intellect that allows man to know and
understand things.
 Thus, Aristotle suggests that the rational nature of the self is to
lead a good, flourishing, and fulfilling life (self-actualization).
 The pursuit of happiness is a search for a good life that
includes doing virtuous actions.
ARISTOTLE: THE SOUL IS
THE ESSENCE OF THE
SELF
Hugot ni Aristotle:

“GAWIN MO ANG
NAGPAPASAYA SAYO
BASTA WALA KA
LANG TINATAPAKANG
TAO”
ST. AUGUSTINE: THE SELF
HAS AN IMMORTAL SOUL
 Believes that the physical body is radically different from
and inferior to its inhabitant, the immortal soul.
He ultimately came to view the body as “spouse” of the
soul, both attached to one another by a “natural appetite”.
 He believes that the body is united with the soul, so that
man may be entire and complete.
 Emphasis on the soul as an important element of man.
 He believes that the soul is what governs and defines
man.
ST. AUGUSTINE: THE SELF
HAS AN IMMORTAL SOUL
 In his work, Confessions, he describe that humankind is
created in the image and likeness of God. Everything
created by God who is all good is good.
 He is convinced that the self is known only through
knowing God.
 He espouses the significance of reflection, as well as the
importance of prayers and confessions to arrive at a
justification for the existence of God.
 He provides the philosophical principle, “I am doubting,
therefore I am.”
RENE DESCARTES: I
THINK THEREFORE I AM
 Father of Modern Philosophy
 Cogito ergo sum – “I think therefore I am”
 The keystone of Descartes’ concept of self.

 For him, the act of thinking about the self – of being self-
conscious --- is in itself proof that there is a self.
 The essence of the human self- a thinking entity that
doubts, understands, analyzes, questions, and reasons.
RENE DESCARTES: I
THINK THEREFORE I AM
 If man reflects thoughtfully, he will realize that there are
two dimensions of the human self: the self as a thinking
entity and the self as a physical body.
 Thinking self (soul) as non-material, immortal,
conscious being, and independent of the physical laws of
the universe.
 Physical body is a material, mortal, non-thinking entity,
fully governed by the physical laws of nature.
JOHN LOCKE: THE SELF IS
CONSCIOUSNESS
 The human mind at birth is tabula rasa or a blank slate.
 The self or personal identity is constructed primarily
from sense experiences --- or more specifically, what people
see, hear, smell, taste, and feel.
 Conscious awareness and memory of previous
experiences are the keys to understanding the self.
 Self-consciousness is necessary to have a coherent
personal identity or knowledge of the self as a person.
 Thus, using the power of reason and introspection
enables one to understand and achieve accurate conclusions
about the self or personal identity.
DAVID HUME: THERE IS
NO SELF
 If people carefully examine their sense experience
through the process of introspection, they will discover that
there is no self.
 What people experience is just a bundle or collection of
different perceptions.
 Distinct entities: Impressions and Ideas
 Impressions are the basic sensations of people’s experience such as
hate, love, joy, grief, pain, cold, and heat. These are vivid perceptions
and are strong and lively.
 Ideas are thoughts and images from impressions so they are less
lively and vivid.
DAVID HUME: THERE IS
NO SELF
 Argues that it cannot be from any of these impressions
that the idea of self is derived and consequently, there is no
self.
 The idea of personal identity is a result of imagination.
IMMANUEL KANT: WE
CONSTRUCT THE SELF
 It is the self that makes experiencing an intelligible world
possible because it is the self that is actively organizing and
synthesizing all of our thoughts and perceptions.
 The self, in the form of consciousness, utilizes conceptual
categories which he calls transcendental deduction of categories,
to construct an orderly and objective world that is stable and can
be investigated scientifically.
 In other words, the self constructs its own reality, actively
creating a world that is familiar, predictable, and most
significantly, mine.
 The self transcends experience because the mind can grasp
aspects of reality which are not limited to the senses.
 Through rationality, people are able to understand certain
abstract ideas that have no corresponding physical object or
sensory experience.
SIGMUND FREUD: THE
SELF IS MULTILAYERED
 Freud holds that the self consists of three layers:
 Conscious self
 Preconscious self
 Unconscious self

 The conscious self is governed by the “reality principle”.

The conscious part of the self is organized in ways that are
rational, practical, and appropriate to the environment. It
usually takes into account the realistic demands of the
situation, the consequences of various actions, and the
overriding need to preserve the equilibrium (balance) of the
self.
SIGMUND FREUD: THE
SELF IS MULTILAYERED
 The unconscious part of the self contains the basic
instinctual drives including sexuality, aggressiveness, and
self-destruction; and thoughts and feelings that would be
considered socially taboo.
 “Pleasure principle”

 Much of the self is determined by the unconscious.

 Preconscious self contains material that is not threatening
and is easily brought to mind. It is located between the
conscious and the unconscious part of the self.
GILBERT RYLE: THE SELF
IS THE WAY PEOPLE
BEHAVE
 Believes that the self is best understood as a pattern of
behavior, the tendency or disposition of a person to behave
in a certain way in certain circumstances.
 “I act therefore, I am.”
 Considers the mind and body to be intrinsically linked in
complex and intimate ways.
 Convinced that the mind expresses the entire system of
thoughts, emotions, and actions that make up the human self.
PAUL CHURCHLAND: THE
SELF IS THE BRAIN
 Eliminative materialism or the idea that the self is
inseparable from the brain and the physiology of the body.
 All person has brain, and so if the brain is gone, there is
no self.
 The physical brain and not the imaginary mind, gives
people the sense of self.
 The mind does not really exist because it cannot be
experienced by the senses.
MAURICE MERLEAU-
PONTY: THE SELF IS
EMBODIED SUBJECTIVITY
 All knowledge about the self is based on the
“phenomena” of experience.
 The “I” is a single integrated core identity, a combination
of the mental, physical, and emotional structures around a
core identity of the self.
 When people examine the self, people will discover that
the mind and body are unified, not separate.
In his work, Phenomenology of Perception, he affirm that
everything that people are aware of is contained within the
consciousness.
 Perception is not merely a consequence of sensory
experience; rather, it is a conscious experience.
 THANK YOU! 

Copyright © 2006 Pearson

29
Education Canada Inc.