The Self from Various

Philosophical Perspective
Understanding the Self
 Lesson Objectives:
1. Explain why it is essential to understand the self
2. Describe and discuss the different notions of the self
from the points of view of the various philosophers across
time and place.
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3. Compare and contrast how the self has been

represented in different philosophical schools and,
4. Examine one’s self against the different views of self
that were discussed in class.
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THE PRE-SOCRATICS
The Pre-Socratics ( Thales, Pythagoras, Parmenides,
Hereclitus, Empedocles, etc. ) were concerned with answering
questions such as:

What is the Why is the What

world really world the explains the
made of? way it is? changes that
happen
around us?
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Do you agree that there is a
difference between the body
and the soul?

Do you think you have both?

What’s the difference between

the two?

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 Socrates
- Socrates was concerned with the problems of
the self.
- Dualistic – every man is composed of body
and soul.
- “An unexamined life is not worth living.”
- “One thing only I know, and that is that I
know nothing.”
- There is a soul before the body, existing in
the realm of ideas.
- Once the soul comes into the material world,
he forgot everything.

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 -This
knowledge is
brought out by
Socrates
Socractic
approach.
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 Plato
- Founded the Academy; considered
as the prototype of today’s
universities.
- Dichotomy between the ideal
(World of Forms) and material
world.
- Three components of the soul:
rational soul, spirited soul,
appetitive soul7
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 :

St. Augustine
• Man is of a bifurcated
nature.
• Two aspects:
1. Imperfect (earthly),
and
2. Capable of reaching
immortality
Goal of the person: To
attain communion with the
divine.
- The world of materials
is not our final home but
only a temporary one.
- - The real world is the
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one where God is.
• Do you believe in
the concept of the
soul coming to
heaven after
death:

• What makes us
people different
from animals?

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(St) Thomas Aquinas

Man is composed of Matter (hyle) Form (morphe) – The body of the “the soul is what
matter and form. –”common stuff that “essence of a human is similar to makes us humans”
makes up everything substance or thing “; animals/objects, but
in the universe” (what makes it what what makes a human
it is) is his essence

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Modern Philosophy

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Rene Descartes

Father of Modern Human person = “I think, Therefore I Doubts of the Hyperbolical doubt
Philosophy body + mind am.” existence of his own
physical body.

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• It’s the mind that
makes the man

• “I am a thinking
thing .. A thing
that doubts,
understand,
affirms, denies,
wills, refuses,
imagines,
perceives.”

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Do you agree with the statements
about the self (body and soul) so
far?
What seems to be questionable in their
conjectures?

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David Hume

“All Influenced by Bundle theory –

empiricism collection of
knowledge is impressions
derived from Impressions –
human vivid; products of
senses.” direct experience.
Ideas – copies of
impressions;
imagination.

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John Locke

Our identity is not Identity is Tabula rasa

locked in the explained in
mind, soul or terms of
body only. He psychological
included the connection
concept of between life
person’s memory. stages.

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Sigmund Freud

“The ego is not Man is governed Three provinces

master in its own by 2 drives: Eros of the mind: id,
house” and Thanatos ego, super-ego

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 Gilbert Ryle
- Denies the internal, non-
physical self
- “what truly matters is the
behavior that a person manifests
in his day-to-day life”
- Looking for the self is like
entering LU and looking for the
“university”
• 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 inserapable
• “one’s body is his opening
toward his existence to the
world”
• The living body, his thoughts,
emotions, and experiences are all
one
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