Understandin
g
the Self
Who am I ?
NAME:
NICKNAME:
Favorite Song
BIRTHDAY:
Favorite Series / Mov ie
SKILLS/TALENTS:
Three words that describe
ADDRESS:
my personality
HOBBIES:
ACHIEVEMENTS:
My dreams and goals
The weirdest thing about
me
cfelcano
cfelcano
“Life is a journey, and
every person is a
traveler”
H O M O V I AT O R
and
THE
JOURNEY
MAN AS A TRAVELE
BEGINS AT
BIRTH
ENDS AT
DEATH
Prominent
British Social
Thinker of the
Victorian Era
Greek Word
Greek Word
William James
Philosophy
Their
approach is
mancentered
Focus:
-Nature of Man
-Virtue
-Human Personality
Greek Philosophy
underscores the intimate connection between
primarily consists of the
of the self
REMEMBER
Socrates
Socrates
•Epistemology and
Ethics
•Rationalistic Moral
Philosophy
2
4
1
3
5
Plato
Plato
•Body + Soul = Self
•Dualistic, idealistic
and abstract view of
reality
Plato
Medieval
Philosophy
St .
Augustine
St .
Augustine
•Blended Christianity
with philosophy
•“the city of God”
•The self is tripartite in
being
St .
Augustine
St .
Augustine
God created man, body
and soul of which the soul
is spiritual, perpetual and
superior to the body.
The soul is created by
God to administer the
body. The body is
St .
Augustine
Self is gifted with
freedom by God and the
abuse of this freedom
leads to misery in the life
of the self
Adam’s Sin is hereditary
The focus of
philosophical
quest was on
man again
Affirms the dignity
and worth of man
with regard to the
power of his reason
to know the truth
Rene
Descartes
Rene
Descartes
•Separation of mind
and body
•“Cartesian Dualism”:
body and mind
•“Substance” –
Rene
Descartes
2
4
1
3
5
Rene
Descartes
John Locke
John Locke
•Tabula Rasa
-mind as a blank
sheet of paper
John Locke
knowledge is not
innate
source of authentic
knowledge of reality
must pass the test of
sensory experience
John Locke
Essence of the Self
Conscious awareness of
itself as a thinking,
reasoning, reflecting
identity
(not tied up with any
particular body or
John Locke
“On Personal Identity”
(book)
The physical body may
undergo change, but
the personal self
remains the same
David Hume
David
Hume
•Sense impression
and Ideas
•Memory and
Experience of
sense such as
pain, pleasure,
heat, cold etc.
which are lively
Recalled copies of the
impressions.
We see, feel, smell,
taste. Then we
remember what we
have seen, felt, smelt
and tasted
David
Hume
David
Hume
The exactness of
the impressions
are retained in
our memory
Makes it possible for
us to formulate,
arrange and order
our ideas; association
of ideas when there is
resemblances in them.
Immanuel
Kant
Immanuel
Kant
•Human knowledge is
composed of sensory
component and
rational component
Immanuel
Kant
Aspect of the self
that makes the self
unique, such as
physical aspect,
memories,
personalities, history
and culture; known
Activity or
organizing principle
that actively
interprets,
constructs and gives
meaning to collection
Sigmund
Freud
Sigmund
Freud
cfelcano
Conscious
Level
Pre- Conscious Level
Unconscious Level
Gilbert
Ryle
Gilbert
Ryle
•“The concept of
mind”
•Critic of “Cartesian
Dualism”
•“Mind as Ghost
Behind the machine”
Gilbert
Ryle
Self is not a mind
and body aggregate.
Self is not a thinking
machine, and
“thinking” is just an
inner workings of the
Gilbert
Ryle
Self is the
way people
behave
Patricia
& Paul
Churchland
Patricia & Paul
Churchland
•Neuroscientists
•“The self is the
brain”
Patricia & Paul
Churchland
The self includes
thoughts and
emotions, and
personality traits
can be explained
through the
Maurice
Merlaeu Ponty
Maurice
Merlaeu Ponty
The body is an
object or possession
being possessed by
the self
Maurice
Merlaeu Ponty
“The self is the
body and the body
is the self itself”
Oneness between
the self and the
Maurice
Merlaeu Ponty
Body plays a vital
role in perception,
knowledge and
meaning. The body
is our general
medium for
Maurice
Merlaeu Ponty
We are our
body, and
without the
body, we would
Philosopher
Who is the Self?
Socrates, Plato and St.
The self is an immortal soul that exists over time.
Augustine
Rene Descartes
John Locke
David Hume
Immanuel Kant
The self is a thinking thing, distinct from the body.
Personal identity is made possible by selfconsciousness.
There is no “self”, only a bundle of constantly
changing perceptions passing through the theater
of our minds.
The self is a unifying subject, an organizing
consciousness that makes intangible experience
possible; the self is just a product of the mind
Sigmund Freud
The self is multi-layered.
Gilbert Ryle
The self is the way people behave.
End
of
Chapter 1