UNDERSTANDING

THE SELF-LESSON
1
(PHILOSOPHICAL
PERSPECTIVE OF
THE SELF

INSTR. JESSA S. MORALES, MILE

Activity 1
Assessmen
t

Philosophy
and the
Self

What is
Philosophy
Learning
Objectives
01 Explain the role of
philosophy in
understanding the self

Discuss the different

02 concepts of the self from

the philosophical
perspective

03
Differentiate the various
concept of the self and
identity their similarities
Do you truly know yourself?
 Ask yourself
1.How would you characterize yourself?

2. What makes you standout from the rest? What makes

your self special?

3. How is yourself connected to your body?

4. How is your self related to other selves?

5. What will happen to yourself after you die?

 What is Philosophy?
PHILOSOPHY IS ALL ABOUT:

Finding answers to serious questions about ourselves and

about the world we live in:
• What is morally right and wrong? And why?
• What is a good life?
• Does God exist?
• What is the mind?
• ... and so much more
Questioning existing knowledge and intuitions to get closer
to the truth.
What will you get out of Philosophy?
THE SKILLS ARE:

• Critical thinking
• Argument skills
• Communication
• Reasoning
• Analysis
• Problem solving
 What will you get out of Philosophy?
WHICH WILL ALLOW YOU TO:

• Justify your opinions.

• Spot the bad argument, no matter what
the topic is.
• Explain to people why they are wrong and
you are right.
• Philosophy basically teaches you to think!
Phytagora
sto use
the first
the term
“philosophy”
 Love of Wisdom

PHILO SOPHIA

Greek word for Greek word for

“love” “wisdom”
 Origin of Philosophy and
Logic
• Search for truth
• Search is to look something
• Search for meaning
⚬ importance
⚬ significance
⚬ value
⚬ relevance
• Philosophy ask a lot of questions.
Philosophy and the self
“Know
-Socrates

Thyself”
Philosophers agree that self-knowledge is
prerequisite to a happy and meaningful life.
Socrat
• Every man is dualistic

es
• Composed of body and soul
• 2 important aspects of his
personhood:
⚬ Body- imperfect and
impermanent
⚬ Soul- perfect and
permanent
 Socrates’ two dichotomous realms

Physical realm Ideal realm

-changeable, -unchanging,
transient and eternal and
imperfect. immortal
-the body belongs -the soul belongs to
to this realm. this realm.
Socrat
es
Socrates was the first thinker to focus on the full power
of reason on the human self: who we are, who we
should be and who we will become.

The soul strives for wisdom and perfection, and the

reason is the soul’s tool to achieve an exalted state of
life.

Our preoccupation with bodily needs such as foods,

drinks, sex, pleasure, material possessions and
Socrat
es
A person can have a meaningful and happy life only if
he becomes virtuous and knows the value of himself
that can be achieved through constant soul-searching.

For him, this is best achieved when one tries to

separate the body from the soul as much as possible.
Plat
o a student of Socrates
•
• philosophy of the self can be explained as a process
of self-knowledge and purification of the soul.
• he believed in the existence of the mind and soul
• mind and soul are given in perfection with God
Plat
o
Soul has 3 parts

1. Rational Soul
• reason and intellect
• divine essence that enables us
to think deeply, make wise
choices and achieve a true
understanding of eternal
truths.
Plat
o
Soul has 3 parts

2. Spirited Soul
• emotion and passion
• basic emotions such as love,
anger, ambition, empathy and
aggressiveness
Plat
o
Soul has 3 parts

3. Appetitive Soul
• basic needs
• includes our biological needs
such as hunger, thirst and
sexual desire.
Plat
o believes that genuine happiness can be only
Plato
achieved by people who consistently make sure that
their Rational is in control of their Spirits and
Apetites.
Aristotl
e• a student of Plato
• the body and soul are not two separate elements
but are one thing

• the soul is simply the Form of the body, and is not

capable of existing without the body
Aristotl
e• The soul makes a person a person. The soul is the
essence of the self.

• Aristotle suggests that the rational nature of the

self is to lead a good, flourishing and fulfilling life.

• Without the body, the soul cannot exist. The soul

dies along with the body.
Aristotl
e and body, I suggest react sympathetically upon
"Soul
each other. A change in the state of the soul produces
a change in the shape of the body and conversely, a
change in the shape of the body produces a change in
the state of the soul."
Aristotl
e• Aristotle suggested that anything with life has a
soul.

• His discussion about the self centers on the kinds

of soul possessed by a man.

• He introduced the 3 kinds of soul.

Aristotl
e
Aristotle: Kinds of Soul
1.Vegetative
⚬ includes the physical body that can grow
2.Sentient
⚬ includes the sensual desires, feelings and
emotions
3.Rational
⚬ is what makes man human. It includes the
intellect that makes man know and understand
St.
Augustine
• integrated the ideas of Plato and Christianity
• Augustine's view of the human person reflects the
entire spirit of the medieval world
• the soul is united with the body so that man may
be entire and complete
• believed humankind is created in the image and
likeness of God
St.
Augustine
• Knowledge can only come by seeing the truth that
dwells within us." -St. Augustine

• The truth of which Augustine spoke refers to the

truth of knowing God.
Rene
Descartes
• The act of thinking about self - of being self-
conscious - is in itself proof that there is self.
 Rene Descartes’ 2 distinct entities

Cogito Extenza
-the thing that -the extension
thinks
John
Locke
• The human mind at birth is tabula rasa or blank
slate.
• He felt that the self is constructed primarily from
sense of experiences.
• Locke theorized that when they are born, all babies
know absolutely nothing
• He argued that the inside of a baby's brain was
empty - ready to learn everything through
experience
John
Locke
The self is consciousness
CONSCIOUSNESS
• necessary to have a coherent personal identity or
knowledge of the self as a person
• what makes possible our belief, is that we are the
same identity in different situations
David Hume
• self is simply a bundle or collection of different
perceptions, which succeed each other with an
inconceivable rapidly and are in a perpetual flex
and movement
• the idea of personal identity is a result of
imagination
• There is no self
Immanuel Kant
• self is not just what gives one his personality but
also the seat of knowledge acquisition for all
human persons
• the self constructs its own reality creating a world
that is familiar and predicatble
• through our rationality, the self transcends sense
experience
Gilbert Ryle
• self is not an entity one can locate and analyze but
simply the convenient name that people use to
refer to all the behaviors that people make
• The self is the way people behave
Paul
Churchland
• the self is inseparable from the brain and the
physiology of the body
• all we have is the brain and so, if the brain is gone,
there is no self
• the physical brain and not the imaginary mind,
gives us our sense of self
Paul
Churchland
• the mind does not really exist
• it is the brain and not the imaginary mind that
gives us our sense of self
• the self is the brain
Maurice Merleu
Ponty
• the mind-body bifurcation that has been going on
for a long time is a futile endeavor and an invalid
problem
• all knowledge of ourselves and our world is based
on subjective experience
• the self can never be truly objectified or known in a
completely objective sort of way
• the self is embodied subjectivity
 Assessment
1. Which philosopher is known for the famous dictum 'An unexamined life is not worth
living?

2. Who proposed the theory of the self as a 'tabula rasa' or blank slate, with identity being
formed entirely by sensory experience?

3. This philosopher famously argued that the self is not a permanent entity, but rather a
'bundle or collection of different perceptions' which succeed one another with inconceivable
rapidity.
4. Who is the proponent of the 'mind-body problem' and the dualistic idea that the self is
composed of a non-physical mind ('res cogitans') and a physical body ('res extensa')?

5. According to this philosopher, the self is a 'transcendental apperception' that synthesizes

and unifies our various sensory experiences to create a coherent sense of self.

6. Which philosopher's view of the self can be summarized by the phrase 'I think, therefore I
am'?

7. This philosopher viewed the self not as a substance, but as a 'soul' that is created by God
and is destined for either salvation or damnation.
8. Who famously critiqued Descartes' dualism, coining the phrase 'the dogma of the Ghost
in the Machine' to describe the separation of mind and body?

9. This modern philosopher argues for eliminative materialism, which claims that 'folk
psychology' concepts like 'belief' and 'desire' are fundamentally flawed and will eventually
be replaced by a neuroscientific account of the mind.

10. This philosopher, a key figure in phenomenology, argued that the self is not a mind
inhabiting a body, but rather a unified, embodied consciousness that experiences the world
through the physical body.
TEST II. ESSAY: Discuss the following statements comprehensively. (5 pts. each)

1. Socratic Philosophy: "The unexamined life is not worth living." Discuss the implications of
this statement for understanding the self. How does Socrates' method of inquiry,
particularly the use of irony and dialectic, lead to a deeper understanding of one's own
beliefs and values?

2. Augustine's Christian Perspective: Analyze St. Augustine's view of the self as a journey
toward God. How does the concept of 'sin' and the search for salvation shape the self?
Discuss the tension between the carnal self (body) and the spiritual self (soul) in his
philosophical and theological framework.
1. Socrates
2. John Locke
3. David Hume
4. René Descartes
5. Immanuel Kant
6. René Descartes
7. St. Augustine
8. Gilbert Ryle
9. Paul Churchland
10. Maurice Merleau-Ponty
Thanks for
Listening!
Any Questions?