PDEV-1013-Module-1-Week-1-and-2
PDEV-1013-Module-1-Week-1-and-2
Introduction:
Know thyself
The Ancient Greek aphorism "know thyself" were inscribed above the entrance to the temple of
Apollo at Delphi, site of the sacred oracle. It was said to have been inscribed along with the words μηδὲν
ἄγαν (transliterated as mēden agan, meaning “nothing to excess”) in the forecourt of the Temple of
Apollo at Delph. The maxim may be interpreted in numerous ways.
You could think of it (know thyself) in terms of limitations, of understanding your various strengths
and weaknesses; what you are capable of and what you are not. You can look at it in terms of
mortality, in knowing and accepting that as a human you are not immortal and will die. You may
see it in terms of knowing your place, in your family, work, and social networks. You may interpret
“know thyself” as Socrates did, as a process of questioning and testing one’s most fundamental
beliefs.
“Know your own limitations as a fallible mortal and then exercise moderation because you are not
divine, you are mortal.”
This has been a subject of myriad of interpretation by philosophers since then. However the
interpretation is, the maxim is generally believed to invite people of self-reflection – to discern. Gregory of
Nissa suggests that “turning one’s gaze inward is the only way to bring to light one’s real essence, while
looking to the outside makes such task impossible” (Berolini, 2018). By taking the opportunity to gain
knowledge to take responsibility for our actions and how we live life.
To know thyself is first an imperative and then a requirement. It being imperative means that it is
necessary and must not be avoided. It is imperative to know the limits of the self so that one knows what
one is capable of doing and what one is not. One who does not know his limitations and strengths only
has least power to make change in his actions and his life in general. Thus, we can also say that it a
requirement.
To know one’s self is a requirement for self-moderation, prudence, good judgment, and
excellence of the soul (Ortiz de Landazuri,2014). “Anything excessive is not good. Thus, it is prudent to
strike the balance of things. Too much power might lead to abuse; too many friends might decrease the
quality of relationships; too many problems might bring about depression; too much knowledge might
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make one think, as in the ancient rulers, that there is nothing else to know about (Villafuerte, et.al, 2019)”,
too much generosity might make one financially stable, too much kindness might be taken advantage by
other people. The list goes on. To know one self makes one capable of understanding whether he is need
of moderation so that he is able to desire what is good and avoid those that will bring him harm. Through
moderation one is able to have better control and create sound judgment in his life.
Lesson Proper:
Many philosophers grappled to understand the meaning of human life. They have attempted to
answer the question “who am I?” and most of their views have influenced the way we look at our lives
today. They have different notions of the self from the points-of-view of the various philosophers across
time and place. Let’s begin with Socrates.
“Know thyself”
This is an ancient greeting of the highly civilized Greeks. It was believed that the temple gods greet
the people with this salutation as they enter the holy sanctuary. To know thyself is first an imperative and
then a requirement. It is imperative to know the limits of the self so that one knows what one is capable of
doing and what one is not. The real meaning of knowing thyself is a requirement for self-moderation,
prudence, good judgment, and excellence of the soul. (Ortiz de Landazuri,2014). Anything excessive is
not good is termed Self-moderation. Part of it is prudence, it strikes the balance of things, it is just wise
then to put oneself in moderation so that one is capable of self-control and sound judgment.
This means that prudence and judgement aspects of knowing thyself are already extensions from
self-knowledge to ethics. The expression is an ethical requirement to be wise in choosing moderation, and
to be able to make good judgements in desiring what is good and avoiding that which will only bring harm.
SOCRATES
“THE UNEXAMINED IS LIFE NOT WORTH LIVING”
This only means that when we become readily contented with the information we receive from the
social media, for example, and submit to how virtual reality defines life, develop needs and wants, classify
morality, delineate universal values, and mystify human reason, we are not better off than the dogs who
become contented with the crumbs provided by their “masters.”
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The individual person can have a meaningful and happy life only if he becomes virtuous and
knows the value of himself that can be achieved through incessant soul-searching. Socratic-Method or
“Introspection” – is a method of carefully examining one’s thoughts and emotions – to gain self-knowledge.
He believed that every man is dualistic. This means that human person is composed of two
important aspects of his personhood. Body which refers to imperfect, impermanent aspect that is
vulnerable to basic emotions and actions, whereas soul refers to the perfect and permanent aspect that
controls the body and prevents it from falling into fallacy and inadequate behavior. Therefore, the “soul” in
the context of ancient philosophers refers to the mind.
Physical Realm - changeable, transient, and imperfect. The physical world “like body” in which man lives
belongs to the physical realm.
Ideal Realm - unchanging, eternal, and immortal. Intellectual essences of the universe, concepts such as
truth, goodness and beauty.
He believed that evil is the result of ignorance wherein most men were really not fully aware of who
they were and the virtues that they were supposed to attain in order to preserve their souls for the afterlife.
Therefore, it means that humans always seek to do what is obviously perceived to be the good. For
example, even if the action of a person can be perceived to be evil to everyone else, the person who
commits the act is seeking to attain some good that they perceive in it. This does not excuse anyone of
the wrong committed. Rather it is a recognition that ignorance and confused perception can be the source
of great evil.
But what does the statement “unexamined life is not worth living” mean for us today? In order to
facilitate our reflection, I want you to read the following questions provided by Taibbi (2018) and reflect
on your answers:
2. When I look over the past 6 months, year, what have I learned from my mistakes?
Successfully running your life is a process of elimination where mistakes are opportunities to
learn a lesson so you don’t make the same mistakes again.
7. What do you need to change in the next 6 months, next year, to make your life better, be who
you want to be, have the future you envision?
Begin to think in terms of concrete behavioral change — bad habits you want to give up, new
ones to develop, parts of your personality that have been pushed to the sideline of your life that
you want to reclaim or expand. It's time to come up with a plan to begin this process.
A gadfly is a person who disrupts with the status quo of a society or community by posing novel, potentially upsetting
questions, usually directed at authorities. In this case, Socrates was a gadfly to the Athenian state because he
wanted to remind the people of Athens of their real duties and obligations and to focus on something greater than
respite and comfort.
PLATO
“SELF IS AN IMMORTAL SOUL”
He is a follower of Socrates who also believes that self is soul. His philosophy
focuses on a process of self-knowledge and purification of the soul. He 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. He believes that it is the
responsibility of Reason to sort things out and exert control, restoring harmonious
relationship among the three elements of our selves:
The appetitive soul also termed as “physical appetite” that is in charge of effortless
craving required to stay alive like eating, drinking, sleeping, and having sex that is
only intended for married couples and must be controlled as well. The spirited soul is
in charge of basic emotions such as love, anger, and empathy. It is also termed as “Spirit or passion” that
produces desires that love victory and honor. This means that it is a part of psyche or mind that is excited
when given challenges, or fights back when agitated, or fights for justice when unjust practices are
evident. In a way for example, this is the hot-blooded part of the psyche. The rational soul also known as
“reason” is forged by reason and intellect, has to govern the affairs of the human person. Plato
emphasizes that justice in the human person can only be attained if the three parts of the soul are
harmoniously with one another.
He conceptualized Psyche as core of the self that is composed of three elements mentioned
above. Nous which means the conscious awareness of the self. It is the super power that controls the
affairs of the self. One has to develop the nous and fill it with the understanding of the limits of the self,
and the correct ethical standards.
ST. AUGUSTINE
“You have made us for yourself., O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds rest in You.”
He believes that man’s goal is happiness. The body is bound to die on earth and the soul is to
anticipate living eternally in a realm of spiritual bliss in communion with God. He believes that the physical
body is radically different from and inferior to its inhabitant, the Immortal soul. Body “spouse” of the soul.
(Attached by one another by a “natural appetite”). He believes that the body is united with the Soul, so that
man may be entire and complete. “Knowledge can only come by seeing the truth that dwells within us”
(The truth of knowing God) - Human beings alone, without God, is bound to fail. Augustine argues that the
soul must be a reality because of its capacity to reason (freewill). He believed that we are eternal and the
body is not. The soul is immortal because God created them and intended them to be immortal. It bears
the very image of God.
This only means that for him, man’s end goal is happiness. Only in God can man attain true and
eternal happiness, made possible in his contemplation of the truth and divine wisdom that refers to God
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himself. For example, Christianity is the full and true philosophy. It is the full revelation of the true God.
Human beings alone, without God, are bound to fail.
Adapting some ideas from Aristotle, St. Aquinas contended man is composed of two
parts: matter comes from the greek word “hyle” which means the common stuff that
makes up everything in the universe that includes man's body while form come from
the greek word “morphe which means the essence of a substance or thing that makes it
what it is. In the case of the human person, the body is something that he shares even
with animals; what makes a human person a human person is his soul, his essence.
It only means that the cells in man’s bod for example are more or less akin to the cells of any other
living, organic being in the world. However, what makes a human person a human person and not a dog,
or tiger for example is his soul, his essence. For him, we don’t encounter ourselves as isolated minds or
selves, but always an agent interacting with our environment. Therefore, the soul is what animates the
body, it is what makes us humans.
RENE DESCARTES
“Cogito, Ergo Sum”
The Act of thinking about the self- of being conscious – is in itself proof
that there is a self. If man reflects thoughtfully, he will realize that there are two
dimensions of human self: The self as Thinking Entity and The self as a physical
body.
“Cogito,ergo Sum” translated as “ I think therefore I am” or “ I doubt therefore I exist.” The
discovery of the cogito revolutionizes the way we view ourselves and the world around us. Human
rationality which includes the need of reason in order to evaluate our thoughts and actions. One should
only believe that since which can pass the test of doubt; if something is so clear and lucid as not to be
even doubted, then that is the only time when one should actually buy a proposition. According to him,
everything must be subjected to doubts- our existence, our world. The only thing that one cannot doubt is
the existence of the self for even if one doubts oneself, that only proves that there is a doubting self, a
thing that thinks and therefore, that cannot be doubted.
He quoted: “But what then am I? A thinking thing. It has been said. But what is a thinking thing? It
is a thing that doubts, understands, affirms, denies, wills, refuses; that imagines also, and perceives.”
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The self, then, is also a combination of two distinct entities: the cogito refers to the thing that
thinks, which is the mind the extenza refers to the extension of the mind, which is the body. In Descartes
view, the body is nothing else but a machine that is attached to the mind; it is the mind that makes man a
man.
The concept of Descartes will best explain through human rationality. For example, human being
needs a reason in order to evaluate his thoughts and actions. In this he live fully the demands, challenges
and call of his religion for example.
JOHN LOCKE
“Tabula Rasa”
Arguing against both the Augustinian view of man as originally sinful and the Cartesian position,
which holds that man innately knows basic logical propositions, Locke posits an “empty” mind, a tabula
rasa, which is shaped by experience, and sensations and reflections being the two sources of all our
ideas. Self- is compared to an empty space where everyday experiences contribute to the pile of
knowledge that is put forth on that empty space
DAVID HUME
“The ego is a fictional idea”
IMMANUEL KANT
“It is beyond a doubt that all our knowledge that begins with experience.”
Kant therefore suggests that it is an actively engaged. intelligence in man that synthesizes all
knowledge and experience Thus, the self is not just what gives one his personality; in addition, it is also
the seat of knowledge acquisition for all human persons Our rationality makes sense the perceptions we
have in our experiences. He also believes that perception does not belong to the world, but to the self.
It only means that our rationality unifies and makes sense the perceptions we have in our
experiences and make sensible ideas about ourselves and the world. For example, we have the capacity
to solve the problem of the ability of the our self to perceive the world.
SIGMUND FREUD
“Early childhood experiences that create high levels of anxiety are repressed into unconscious, where
they may influence behavior, emotions, and attitudes for years.”
The psyche is structured into three parts (i.e., tripartite), the id, ego, and superego, all developing
at different stages in our lives (also known as three layers of the self). These are systems, not parts of the
brain, or in any way physical.
EGO (Reality Principle) refers to the part of the id which has been modified by the direct influence
of the external world. It develops to mediate between the unrealistic id and the external real world. It is the
decision-making component of personality, it operates according to the reality principle, working out
realistic ways of satisfying the id’s demands, often compromising or postponing satisfaction to avoid
negative consequences of society. The ego considers social realities and norms, etiquette and rules in
deciding how to behave. Like the id, the ego seeks pleasure (i.e., tension reduction) and avoids pain, but
unlike the id, the ego is concerned with devising a realistic strategy to obtain pleasure. The ego has no
concept of right or wrong; something is good simply if it achieves its end of satisfying without causing
harm to itself or the id. If the ego fails in its attempt to use the reality principle, and anxiety is experienced,
unconscious defense mechanisms are employed, to help ward off unpleasant feelings (i.e., anxiety) or
make good things feel better for the individual. The ego engages in secondary process thinking, which is
rational, realistic, and orientated towards problem-solving. If a plan of action does not work, then it is
thought through again until a solution is found. This is known as reality testing and enables the person to
control their impulses and demonstrate self-control, via mastery of the ego.
SUPEREGO (Moral and Idealistic Principle) refers to the incorporation of the values and morals
of society which are learned from one's parents and others. It develops around the age of 3 – 5 during the
phallic stage of psychosexual development. Its function is to control the id's impulses, especially those
which society forbids, such as sex and aggression; it also has the function of persuading the ego to turn to
moralistic goals rather than simply realistic ones and to strive for perfection. It consists of two systems:
conscience - can punish the ego through causing feelings of guilt, ego-ideal - is an imaginary picture of
how one ought to be, and represents career aspirations, how to treat other people, and how to behave as
a member of society. Behavior which falls short of the ideal self may be punished by the superego through
guilt. The super-ego can also reward through the ideal self when one behaves ‘properly’ by making him
feel proud.
We are certain about the many wrong things that may be bought about by our actions, but we
never understand why there is something somewhere inside us that makes many of us do what we know
is wrong.
GILBERT RYLE
“Man need not to be degraded to a machine by being denied to be a ghost in a machine. He might, after
all, be a sort of animal, namely, a higher mammal.”
This only means that all manifestation in physical activities or behavior for example are the
dispositions of the self, the basis of the statement; “I act therefore I am” or “You are what you do”.
According to Churchland, “Our behavior appears to have its basic cause in neural activity..."
NEUROBIOLOGY- as the Churchland’s wanted to predict, when people wanted to ask what is going on
with themselves, they might as well go for MRI scan or CT scan to understand the present condition of the
brain and how it currently works.
Let’s take the idea that why should we believe in a mind when science is proving that mental
health is connected to the physical brain? For example, depression is strongly linked to brain chemicals
gone wrong. Yes, some people still say things like, 'She's lost her mind.' However, neuroscience says, No,
it's a physical problem and we aim to fix it.
Adding to this, Churchland challenges the concept of the mind by using the misfortune of traumatic brain
injury. With this, for example, eliminative materialism asks 'if the mind is the seat of self, why does brain
injury alter a person's personality?' If the mind was a real separate entity, wouldn't it retain a person's
sense of self despite damage to a physical organ? Since brain damage alters a person's personality,
Churchland asserts that the concept of self originates in the physical brain, not an invented mind.
MERLEAU-PONTY
“The world and I are within one another”
Identify whose idea are being expressed below. Choose your answer from the given pool of answers. Only
write the letter of your answer in the space provided before the number. 12 points
An unexamined life is not worth living. Explain in not more than three (3) sentences. 3 points