THE PHILOSOPHICAL
PERSPECTIVE
OF THE SELF
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Learning Outcomes:
At the end of the topic, you are expected to:
1. E x p l a i n t h e r o l e o f p h i l o s o p h y i n
understanding the self.
2. Discuss the different concepts of the self
from the philosophical perspective.
3. Differentiate the various concepts of the
self and identify their similarities.
4. Develop your own philosophy of the self.
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• The etymological definition of philosophy
is love of wisdom.
• Philosophy employs the inquisitive mind to
discover the ultimate causes, reasons,
and principles of everything.
• The nature of the self is a topic of interest
among philosophers.
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• The philosophical framework for
understanding the self was first
introduced by ancient Greek philosophers
Socrates and Plato.
• Socrates suggests to “know thyself.”
• What is self and the qualities that define it?
• Philosophers agree that self-knowledge
is a prerequisite to a happy and
meaningful life.
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Notable Philosophers:
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Socrates
Plato
Aristotle
St. Augustine
Descartes
Locke
Hume
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Kant
Freud
Ryle
Churchland
Merleau-Ponty
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SOCRATES: AN UNEXAMINED LIFE
IS NOT WORTH LIVING
• For ancient Greek philosopher Socrates,
the self is synonymous with the soul.
• The soul is immortal. Socrates believed that
every human possessed an immortal soul.
• Human life does not end at one’s death.
• Socrates explained that death is the
departure of the soul for the eternal world.
• One continues to live in the world after
death.
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• In Socrates' concept of Reality, it consists
of two dichotomous realms: physical realm
and ideal realm.
• The physical realm i s changeable,
t ransient, and imperfect. The body
belongs to the physical realm.
• The ideal realm is unchanging, eternal,
and immortal. The soul belongs to the
ideal realm.
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• 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 reason is the soul’s tool to achieve an
exalted state of life.
• Our preoccupation with bodily needs such
as food, drink, sex, pleasure, material
possessions, and wealth keep us from
atttaining wisdom.
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• Goodness or beauty is the most important
of all.
• 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.
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• Soul searching must begin at the source
of all knowledge and significance – the
self.
• The Socratic method, the so-called
introspection, is a method of carefully
examining our thoughts and emotions – to
gain self-knowledge.
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PLATO: THE SOUL IS IMMORTAL
• Plato believed that the self is synonymous
with the soul.
• Plato’s philosophy of the self can be
explained as a process of self-knowledge
and purification of the soul.
• The self consists of three-parts: reason,
spirit or passion, and physical appetite.
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• Reason is the divine essence that enables
us to think deeply, make wise choices, and
achieve a true understanding of eternal
truths.
• The spirit or passion includes basic
emotions such as love, anger, ambition,
aggressiveness, and empathy.
• The physical appetite includes our basic
biological needs such as hunger, thirst,
and sexual desire.
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Reason
Spirit or Passion
Physical Appetite
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• These three elements of our selves are in
a dynamic relationship with one another,
sometimes in conflict.
• When conflict occurs, Plato believes that it
is the responsibility of our 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. 14
ARISTOTLE: THE SOUL IS THE
ESSENCE OF THE SELF
• For Aristotle, 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.
• The soul is that which makes a person a
person. The soul is the essense of the self.
• Without the body the soul cannot exist.The
soul dies along with the body.
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• Aristotle suggested that anything with life
has soul.
• His discussion about the self centers on
the kinds of soul possessed by man.
• He introduced the three kinds of soul:
vegetative, sentient, and rational.
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• The vegetative includes the physical body
that can grow.
• Sentient includes the sensual desires,
feelings, and emotions.
• Rational is what makes man human. It
includes the intellect that makes man
know and understand things.
• Aristotle suggests that the rational nature
of the self is to lead a good, flourishing,
and fulfilling life.
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ST. AUGUSTINE: I AM DOUBTING,
THEREFORE I AM
• St. Augustine integrated the ideas of Plato
and Christianity.
• He developed a more unified perspective on
the body and soul.
• The soul is what governs and defines the
human person or the self.
• The soul is an important element of man.
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• The soul is united with the body so that
man may be entire and complete.
• The physical body is different from and
inferior to its inhabitant, the immortal soul.
• Augustine described that humankind is
created in the image and likeness of God.
• Augustine believed that God is
transcendent and everything created by
God who is all good is good.
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• Therefore, the human person being a
creation of God is always geared towards
the good.
• The self is known only through knowing God.
• Self-knowledge is a consequence of
knowledge of God.
• For Augustine, “knowledge can only come by
seeing the truth that dwells within us.”
• The truth of which Augustine spoke refers to
the truth of knowing God.
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• God is transcendent and that the self
seeks to be united with God through faith
and reason.
• In Augustine's mission to discover the
t ruth on the existence of God, he
developed the fundamental concept of the
human person and thus, provided the
philosophical principle, “I am doubting,
therefore I am.”
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RENE DESCARTES: I THINK
THEREFORE I AM
• The phrase “I think therefore I am” is 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 self.
• For Descartes, the essence of the self – a
thinking entity that doubts, understands,
analyzes, questions, and reasons.
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• There are two dimensions of the self: the
self as a thinking entity and the self as a
physical body.
• The thinking self (or soul) is the
nonmaterial, immortal, conscious being,
and independent of the physical laws of
the universe.
• The physical body is the material, mortal,
non-thinking entity, fully governed by the
physical laws of nature
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• The soul and body are independent of
one another and each can exist and
function without the other.
• The self as a thinking entity is distinct
from the self as a physical body. In
other words, the thinking self can
exist independently of the physical
body.
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JOHN LOCKE: THE SELF IS
CONSCIOUSNESS
• For Locke, the human mind at birth is tabula
rasa or blank slate.
• He felt that the self, or personal identity, is
constructed primarily from sense
experiences – or more specifically, what we
see, hear, smell, taste, and feel. These
experiences shape and mold the self
throughout a person’s life.
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• Self-consciousness is necessary to have a
coherent personal (self) identity or
knowledge of the self as a person.
• Consciousness is what makes possible our
belief that we are the same identity in
different situations.
• Using the power of reason and introspection
enables people to understand and achieve
accurate conclusions about the self.
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DAVID HUME: THERE IS NO SELF
• Hume suggests that if people carefully
examine their sense experience through
the process of introspection, they will
discover that there is no self.
• According to Hume, what people
experience is just a bundle or collection of
d i ff e r e n t p e r c e p t i o n s , i m p r e s s i o n s ,
sensations, ideas, thoughts, and images.
• The idea of personal identity is a result of
imagination.
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IMMANUEL KANT: WE CONSTRUCT
THE SELF
• According to Kant, 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.
• In other words, the self constructs its own
reality creating a world that is familiar and
predictable.
• Through our rationality, the self transcends
sense experience.
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SIGMUND FREUD: THE SELF IS
MULTILAYERED
• According to Freud, the self consists of three
layers: conscious, unconscious, and preconscious.
• The conscious self is governed by the reality
principle and is organized in ways that are rational,
practical, and appropriate.
• The unconscious contains the basic instinctual
drives that would be considered socially taboo and
is governed by the pleasure principle. Much of the
self is determined by the unconscious.
• The preconscious is located between the conscious
and unconscious part of the self that is not
threatening and is easily brought to mind.
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GILBERT RYLE: THE SELF IS THE
WAY PEOPLE BEHAVE
• The self is best understood as a pattern of
behavior, the tendency or disposition for a
person to behave in a certain way in
certain circumstances.
• Ryle’s concept of the human self thus
provided the philosophical principle, “I act
therefore I am.”
• In short, the self is the same as bodily
behavior.
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PAUL CHURCHLAND: THE SELF IS
THE BRAIN
• 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.
• For Churchland, the physical brain and not the
imaginary mind, gives us our sense of self.
• 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.
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MAURICE MERLEAU-PONTY: THE
SELF IS EMBODIED SUBJECTIVITY
• All knowledge of our selves and our world
is based on subjective experience.
• The self can never be truly objectified or
known in a completely objective sort of
way.
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Suggested Activity:
• Reflect on and make a narrative essay on
the different philosophical perspectives.
Which of the philosophy of the self relates
to your own belief and explain how each
view impact your self-understanding? What
is your own philosophy of self?
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