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Self From The Perspective of Philosophy 2
Self From The Perspective of Philosophy 2
Self From The Perspective of Philosophy 2
U N D E R S TA N D I N G T H E S E L F
PHILOSOPHY
SOCRATES
• succeeded made people think about who
they are, who they should be and who they
will become
• He is known for his Socratic Approach.
• “the unexamined life is not worth living”
• “Know Thyself”
- Philosophers said that self-
knowledge is a pre-requisite to happy and
meaningful life.
PHILOSOPHY
PLATO
Philosophy of the self can be explained as a process
of self-knowledge and purification of the soul.
• 3 components to the soul
1. rational soul – reason & intellect to
govern affairs
2. spirited soul – emotions should be kept
at bay
3. appetitive soul – basic desires
PHILOSOPHY
S T. A U G U S T I N E
• man is of a bifurcated nature
Two Aspects:
1. part of man dwells in the world (imperfect)
PHILOSOPHY
According to St. Augustine, the human nature is composed of two realms:
PHILOSOPHY
MODERN PHILOSOPHY
RENE DESCARTES
• Father of Modern Philosophy
• “I think therefore I am”
• Hyperbolical Doubt
- Doubts the existence of his own physical
body
PHILOSOPHY
• the body is a machine attached to the mind
• “I am a thinking thing. . . A thing that doubts,
understands, affirms, denies, wills, refuses, imagines,
perceives.”
PHILOSOPHY
JOHN LOCKE
• Locke contended that ideas are not innate but
rather mind at birth is a ‘tabula rasa’ (blank slate)
• Knowledge results from ideas produced a
posteriori or by objects that were experienced.
• Nothing exists in the mind that was not first in
the senses.
PHILOSOPHY
Three laws according to Locke:
1. Law of Opinion – where actions that are
praiseworthy are called virtues and those that are not
are called vice.
2. Civil Law – where right actions are enforced by
people in authority.
3. Divine Law – set by God on the actions of man.
PHILOSOPHY
D AV I D H U M E
PHILOSOPHY
“Bundle Theory - The self is nothing but a bundle of
impressions and ideas”
1. impression
•basic objects of our experience/sensation
• forms the core of our thoughts
2. idea
• copies of impressions
• not as “real” as impressions
PHILOSOPHY
IMMANUEL KANT
• we need active intelligence to
synthesize all knowledge and
experience
• the self is not only personality
but also the seat of
knowledge
PHILOSOPHY
SIGMUND FREUD
• Father of Psychoanalysis
• The dualistic view of self by Freud involves the
conscious self and unconscious self.
• Three levels of the mind:
1. Id – primarily based on the pleasure principle
2. Ego – based on the reality principle
3. Superego - primarily dependent on learning
the difference between right and wrong, thus it
is called moral principle.
PHILOSOPHY
MAURICE MERLEAU-PONTY
• 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.
PHILOSOPHY