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Philosophical Perspectives of The Self

The document discusses different philosophical perspectives on the concept of the self. It begins by outlining four learning outcomes related to explaining the role of philosophy in understanding the self, discussing philosophical concepts of the self, differentiating various concepts of the self, and developing one's own philosophy of the self. It then examines perspectives from Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, St. Augustine, Descartes, Locke, Hume, Kant, and Ryle on topics like the mind-body distinction, the soul, consciousness, and behavior.

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Melanie Soliman
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
303 views51 pages

Philosophical Perspectives of The Self

The document discusses different philosophical perspectives on the concept of the self. It begins by outlining four learning outcomes related to explaining the role of philosophy in understanding the self, discussing philosophical concepts of the self, differentiating various concepts of the self, and developing one's own philosophy of the self. It then examines perspectives from Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, St. Augustine, Descartes, Locke, Hume, Kant, and Ryle on topics like the mind-body distinction, the soul, consciousness, and behavior.

Uploaded by

Melanie Soliman
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Philosophical

Perspectives
of the self

Alyza Joyce P. Alarkon


Instructor
Activity What is Philosophy and Application and
Philosophy the Self Assessment
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Explain Explain the role of the philosophy in understanding the self

Discuss Discuss the different concepts of the self from the philosophical perspective

Differentiate Differentiate the various concepts of the self and identify their similarities

Develop Develop your own philosophy of the self


DO YOU
TRULY KNOW
YOURSELF?
ASK YOURSELF
1. How would you characterize yourself?
2. What makes you stand out from the rest? What makes yourself special?
3. How has yourself transformed itself?
4. How is yourself connected to your body?
5. How is yourself related to other selves?
6. What will happen to yourself after you die?
What is
Philosophy?
Finding answers to serious questions about
ourselves and about the world we live in:
PHILOSOPH ▪ What is morally right and wrong? And
Y is about: why?
▪ What is a good life?
▪ Does God exist?
▪ What is the mind?
▪ ….and much, much more
Questioning existing knowledge and
intuitions to get closer to the truth
What will we get out of Philosophy?

The •

Critical Thinking
Argument Skills

skills •

Communication
Reasoning

are: •

Analysis
Problem Solving
What will we get out
of Philosophy?
Which will allow you to:
▪ Justify your opinions
▪ Spot a bad argument, no matter what the topic
▪ Explain to the people why they are wrong and
you are right
▪ Philosophy basically teaches how to think!
Pythagoras
The first person to use the term
Philosophy
Love of Wisdom

PHILO SOPHIA

Greek word for love Greek word for Wisdom


ORIGIN OF
PHILOSOPHY + LOGIC
▪ Search for truth
▪ Search is to look for something
▪ Search for a meaning
✔ Importance
✔ Significance
✔ Value
✔ Relevance
PHILOSOPHY ask a lot of question
Philosophy
and the Self
ANCIENT GREEK OF
PHILOSOPHERS

PLATO SOCRATE
ARISTOTLE S
“KNOW THYSELF”
-Socrates

Philosophers agree that self-


knowledge is a pre-requisite to a
happy and meaningful life
SOCRATES:
“An
unexamined
life is NOT
worth living”
SOCRATES
Every human
person is
dualistic
Imperfect
Composed of
Body
body and soul
Impermanent
Two important
aspects of his
personhood
perfect

Soul

permanent 
SOCRATES’ TWO DICHOTOMOUS
REALMS

PHYSICAL IDEAL
REALMS REALMS

Changeable, The body Unchanging, The soul


transient and belongs to eternal and belongs to
imperfect the realm immortal this realms
SOCRATES
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 attaining wisdom.
SOCRATES

A person can have a


meaningful and happy life
For him, this is best
only if he becomes virtuous
achieved when one tries to
and knows the value of
separate the body from the
himself that can be achieved
soul as much possible
through constant soul-
searching.
PLATO: “The
soul is immortal”
Plato
▪ 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 is given in perfection with God
RATIONAL SOUL
• Reason and intellect
• Divine essence that enables us to think deeply,
make wise choices and achieve a true
understanding of eternal truths

SPIRITED SOUL
PLATO: Soul • Emotion and passion

has 3 parts • Basic emotions such as love, anger, ambition,


empathy, and aggressiveness

APPETITIVE SOUL
• Basic needs
• Includes our basic biological needs such as
hunger, thirst and sexual desire
PLATO
These 3 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 achieve by the people who consistently
make sure that their Reason is in control of their Spirits and Appetites
ARISTOTLE:
“The soul is the
essence of the
self”
ARISTOTLE

The soul is simply


The body and soul
the Form of the
are not two separate
A student of Plato body, and is not
elements but are one
capable of existing
thing.
without the body
ARISTOTLE
The soul is that which 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
ARISTOTLE: “Soul and body, I suggest react
sympathetically upon 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.”
ARISTOTLE
Aristotle suggested that anything with life
has soul

His discussion about the self centers on


the kids of the soul possessed by a man

He introduced the three kinds of soul.


VEGETATIVE

• Includes the physical body that can


grow

SENTIENT
ARISTOTLE • Includes the sensual desires, feelings
: KINDS OF and emotions

SOULS RATIONAL

• Is what makes man human. It includes


the intellect that makes man know and
understand
ST. AUGUSTINE: I
AM DOUBTING,
THEREFORE I AM
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

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
“Knowledge can only come by seeing
the truth that dwells within us”
-St. Augustine

The truth of which St.


Augustine spoke refers to
the truth of knowing God.
Cogito ergo sum
“I think therefore I am”
–Rene Descartes
RENE
DESCARTES:
The act of thinking about self – of
being conscious – is in itself proof
that there is self.
Cogito
The thing that thinks
Descartes’ mind

two (2)
distinct Extenza
The extension
entities The body
“The self is
consciousness”

-John Locke
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 theorize that when they
are born, all babies absolutely
know nothing

▪ In essence, he argued that the


inside of a baby’s brain was
empty – ready to learn
everything through experience.
THE SELF IS
CONCIOUSNESS
o CONCIOUSNESS
✔Necessary to have a coherent personal
identity or knowledge of the self as a
person
✔What makes possible our belief that we
are the same identity in different situations
“There is no self”
-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 flux and movement

DAVID HUME The idea of personal identity is a result of


imagination

There is no self
“We Construct the self”

-Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant

Self is not just what


The self constructs its
gives one his personality Through our rationality,
own reality a world that
but also the seat of the self transcends
is familiar and
knowledge acquisition sense experience
predictable
for all human person
“The self is the way
people behave” –
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
▪ “I act therefore I am”, in short, the self is the same as bodily
behavior
▪ The self is the way people behave

Ryle Gilbert
“The self is the
Brain”-Paul
Churchland
“The self is the
Brain”-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
“The self is Embodied
Subjectivity”
-Maurice Merleau-
Ponty
MAURICE MERLEAU-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 the 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


Socrates Hume
APPLICATION:
Plato Kant
In your own words, state what
“self” is for each of the following Aristotle Ryle
philosophers. After doing so,
explain how your concept of “self” Augustine Churcland
in compatible with how they
conceived of the “self”.
Descarte Merleau-Ponty
Locke

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