PHILOSOPHI

CAL SELF
 What do you hope to learn? These monolithic figures from
Easter Island suggest the contemplative nature of philosophy,
which can help you grapple with the big questions of life.
• Studying philosophy will help you develop the
understanding and insight you will need to
make intelligent choices and fulfill your
potential as an individual. To use a metaphor,
you are an artist, creating your life portrait, and
your paints and brush- strokes are the choices
you make each day.
• How do you feel about the portrait you have
created so far? Have you defined yourself as the
person you always wanted to be, or are you a
“work in progress”? Are you achieving your full
potential as a human being, “actively exercising
your soul’s powers”—
• Wonder
what is philosophy ?
• “All philosophy has its origins in wonder” —Plato

• A Dynamic Process

• “The beginning of philosophy is

. . . the conflict between opinions” —Epictitus
• Wisdom

• “Philosophy is simply the love of wisdom” —Cicero

• Truth

• “Philosophy is the science that considers the truth” —

Aristotle
Socrates
• Socrates probably came closest to capturing
the essence of philosophy when he issued a
startling challenge that has reverberated
through the centuries:
• “The unexamined life is not worth living.”

• The ability to reflect on one’s life and one’s

self is a distinctly human ability.
•
• The unexamined life is not worth living. Socrates was
convinced that we have a moral obligation to achieve
our full human potential, “actively exercising our soul’s
powers. When we live our lives unreflectively, not
actively exploring deeper questions such as “Who am I?”
and “What is the meaning of my life?” then our lives
have diminished value.
• Philosophy provides us with the intellectual tools to
reflect with clarity and discipline, to critically evaluate
the choices we have made, and to use this knowledge to
make more enlightened choices in the future. The stakes
are high: If we fail to make use of this unique ability to
think philo- sophically about ourselves, then, according
to Socrates, our lives have diminished potential.
• Socrates believed that his special wisdom consisted in his
ability to stimulate and guide others in the philosophical
exploration of profound questions, enabling them to “give
birth” to their own understanding.
• For Socrates, the central concern of philosophy is the
psyche, the “true self” or “soul.” What is the soul? It is
your core identity, your unique spirit that makes you
distinctively you. This is your authentic personality, your
distinctive character. Your soul is the source of your
deepest thoughts and highest aspirations, the unique life
force that shapes and defines itself through choices made
on a daily basis. According to Socrates, your soul is
“immortal and imperishable, and after death should
continue to exist in another world.”
• Every soul seeks happiness, Socrates believes,
and there is a clearly defined path to achieving
happiness, though many don’t choose to take
it. The only people who are truly happy are
those who are virtuous and wise, who live
reflective, “examined” lives and strive to
behave rightly and justly in every area of their
lives. These people create souls that are good,
wise, and courageous and as a result they
achieve genuine and lasting happiness.
• For Socrates, goodness and wisdom were
partners, inextricably connected at their roots.
He believed that virtue and excellence of the
soul is the consequence of knowledge and
wisdom . It is by determined and clearheaded
thinking that we develop an understanding of
the rigorous standards of conduct that
humans should follow, individually and socially.
By training our minds to explore the central
questions in life regarding justice, morality,
and goodness, we cannot help but become
good persons ourselves
PLATO
• world of idea/form

• world of sense/phenomena

• Objects are essentially or really the Form and

that the phenomena are only mere shadows
mimicking the form, momentary portrayals of
the form under different circumstances.
 PLATO

• In discussing essence, he spoke of a world of

Forms and a world of Phenomena. The first is
permanent and eternal; the second is
constantly changing, and it dies and withers.
• For example, the chair as perceived may
come in different shapes and sizes, but the
form or the idea of a chair is constant and its
existence independent, real, and eternal. The
form of the chair is its essence.
• A person’s soul (life’s essence or form), as
Plato thought of it to be, is the instrument
upon which individuals comprehend forms.
• For him, education is reminiscing; that is,
learning is a matter of extracting from our
mind that which is already there.
• Put simply, knowledge is already within the
self, and we could understand the world
around us through reason and thoughtful
introspection. The idea that the self contains
knowledge connects well with the Socratic
dictum “Know thyself”
• It reinforces the examination of one’s own life.
According to Plato, self-examination leads to a
better understanding not only of the self but
also of the world.
• Plato provides different depictions of the
structure of the soul. Adhering to the vitalistic
perspective, he describes the soul as unitary to
emphasize its vital principle. Also, he holds a
dual view of the soul; that is, it has rational and
irrational aspects. He points out that humans
have both reason and a “wild beast” deep
inside of them that needs to be controlled.
• Lastly, the soul has a tripartite structure that
consists of reason, spirit, and appetite.
• Plato distinguishes between the highly
manageable self (spirited) and the unruly self
(appetite) of the human’s irrational side.
• The tripartite structure is like a chariot drawn by
two energetic horses, one of which wants to go
on its own way, and the other is manageable.
Holding the reins of the chariot is reason, the
charioteer that does its best to direct the
chariot to its goal.
• Consider a person whose goal is to excel
academically. From the tripartite perspective,
there seems to be a part of the self that is
motivated to do work (spirited); the person
studies hard and does homework diligently.
Another aspect of the self wants to relax and
do something fun (appetite). It is reason (the
reasonable self) that puts the person back on
track and makes one manage time efficiently
ARISTOTLE
 ARISTOTLE
• Aristotle adheres to a vitalistic principle of
the soul or psyche that makes matter alive.
• Therefore, having a soul means being alive,
and only living things have a soul.
• The soul distinguishes the living and
nonliving but does not exactly define the
difference between the thinking and the
non-thinking beings.
• In contrast to Plato’s idea that Form exists
separately and eternally,
• Aristotle argues that a particular object has
a form that is inseparable from it (matter).
Thus, there is no form without matter and
vice versa.
• This is known as hylomorphism, the
philosophical theory that states that things
are composed of both matter and form.
Following this line of thinking, the body and
the psyche cannot exist without the other.
• Through Aristotelian lens, the self is inseparable from
the body. It can be said that the body is the conditio
sine qua non (condition without which) of the
experiencing self, meaning without the body, the self
cannot experience; without the body, there is no self to
experience in the first place.
• Aristotle expounds further that the functions of the
psyche can be divided in several ways. A commonly
used division includes three functions, namely,
• nutritive psyche;
• sensitive psyche;
• rational psyche; and it behaves in a hierarchical
fashion.
• At the base of the hierarchy is the nutritive psyche. This
is what is observed in plants involving basic nourishment
and reproduction.
• Next, the sensitive psyche is for all animals. It includes
locomotion and perception.
• The rational psyche, the highest of the three, is for
human beings. It refers to the capacity for reason as well
as all other functions.
• In this sense, the functions of the soul are said to be
nested: the higher functions presuppose the presence of
the lower functions.
• Emphasized that there is the unity of the soul and
body. Form and Matter.
• Doctrine of the mean/Golden mean. The need to
balance everything. Finding the moderate position
of the two extremes.
• Living a moral life is the ultimate goal, doing so
means approaching every ethical dilemma by finding
a mean between living in excess and deficiently,
taking into account one’s need and circumstance.
 Trivia
• Aristotle believed that the center of the soul
was the heart because it reacted when one
experienced joy or sorrow. Plato, however,
believed that the seat of reason, the organ of
the soul, was the brain because it was nearer
to the heavens. In a sense, Plato was correct
based on a “wrong” argument.
•
• Roman philosopher Plotinus (204–270
CE) and St. Augustine (354 – 430 CE) are
aligned with Neoplatonism.
• This school of thought is often linked to
religious thinking. Many major religions, such
as Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, are said to
be influenced by Neoplatonism, or they have
at least studied and discussed it through the
centuries up to the present.
 Roman
philosopher
Plotinus
• Plato’s ideas had strong influence on
Neoplatonism: foremost of which is the
assertion that the soul is but a prisoner
of the body.
• Founder of Neoplatonism

• Plotinus pushed for the freeing of the person

from this bondage and to move towards
perfection.
• the self has to endeavor for higher undertakings,
meaning pursuing a life guided by values and virtues.
• In other words, between nourishment for the soul and
demands of the flesh, the soul “. . . shall overcome.”
• This is possible for him because of his ardent belief in the
superiority of the soul over the body.
• Plotinus posits three activities of the soul:
• Perception-- in perceiving we direct consciousness to an
object.
• Reflection--implies that the consciousness is split into
subject and object or occasions wherein we are conscious
of ourselves, sensing and perceiving
• Contemplation--the soul is believed to
transcend the ever changing and impermanent
and to enter into the unchanging and eternal.
St. Augustine
of Hippo
• St. Augustine is one of the greatest Christian
philosophers of all time.
• He was highly influenced by Neoplatonist thought,
especially the ideas of Plotinus and Plato.
• The soul is given primacy over the body.

• St. Augustine shares the view that the soul is not

only different from the body, but it is also superior
to it. As a Christian philosopher, he asserts the
need for the soul to achieve unity with God
through faith as well as reason.
• One interesting assertion by St. Augustine about the
soul’s quest for heaven is the need to have ‘contempt
of the self.’
• The self in this context represents the mundane and
worldly demands and not what is represented by the
soul that is capable of higher aspirations and unity
with God.
• The soul needs to go through several steps with the
end goal of freeing itself from the demands of self.
Augustine describes two cities made of love:
• the earthly city by the love of self and
contempt of God--dwells on satisfying
personal gains. The self is viewed as the
bastion of personal interest and gain, pride,
and vanity from which the person must
transcend if he or she desires to find union
with the Lord. Related to the selfish self.

the heavenly city is made out of the love of

God and contempt of self---selfless; directed for
the benefit of others or a larger cause.
St. Thomas of
Aquinas
The Synthesis of Faith and Reason: Aquinas,

• St. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274 CE) rose to

prominence in his contributions to philosophy
and religion.
• Aquinas employs Aristotelian thought.
• Both Plato and Aristotle talked about form in
their philosophies.
• In other words, the person is both body and
soul.
• Aquinas’s position follows that of Aristotle
where he argues that all living things possess a
soul.
• He believed that human soul continues to exist
even in death. His reason is by operation of the
soul whose object of thought can be the eternal
or abstract entities, including perhaps God, etc
• A human soul that is separated from its body is
said to be incomplete and finds its completion
again only when it animates a body once more,
such as its resurrection during the second
coming of Christ.
• Aquinas does not adhere to the idea that
the soul is imprisoned in an imperfect
body or that it is inside the body as a kind
of punishment.
• Its presence in the body is in fact what can
only be described as good, as well as
natural. The soul is enriched and
nourished when it is joined with the body.
The union of body and soul completes
human nature.
 Activity
• Which among the different perspectives of the
self you find more aligned with your own
beliefs? Explain your answer
• What is “the self” for you? What
circumstances, events and situations in your
life do you think are responsible for your
perspective?
•
• MODERN PHILOSOPHY
Rene Descartes
• Rationalist

• Influential in ushering the new age, modern

age which began from transition period to
Renaissance.
• Methodic Doubt or Universal Doubt

• He was considered the Father of Modern

Philosophy
 Methodic Doubt
• 1st Principle:

• That in order to examine into the truth , it is

necessary once in ones’ life to doubt of all
things.
• While he was doubting, he came to a certitude.

• One thing he was certain, that he was doubting;

doubting is thinking.
• COGITO ERGO SUM

• “ I THINK, THEREFORE I AM”

Knowledge is possible only through man’s faculty
of reason.

2ND Principle
• “That we ought to consider as false all these
things of which we doubt”

3rd Principle

“ That we ought not to make use of this doubt

for the conduct of our life in the meantime.

4th Principle

The reason why we doubt the sensible thing.

John Locke
• -empiricist

• All knowledge is derived from experience.

• TABULA RASA– human mind at birth is a clean slate.

It is a scraped tablet, a tabula rasa, upon which
experience imprints knowledge.
• We acquire knowledge from the information about
the objects in the world that our senses bring.
• Self is dynamic. What is consciousness, is
derived from your experiences. Awareness of
oneself is derived from experience.
David Hume
 David Hume
• empiricist

• IMPRESSIONS vs IDEAS

• Impressions- originate from the senses.

(knife)-senses: touch/sight– knife is sharp
idea—dangerous to touch.
• Idea—not innate; gained from the senses.
He concluded that there was no self because if
there is self, from what impression did we
derive it? Since the self is not concrete, then
there is no impression of the self, there cant be
idea of it, hence there is no self at all.
Immanuel Kant
 Immanuel Kant
• He was considered an influential thinker in history
of philosophy.
• He lived a very regulated life.

• He reconciled the debate between rationalism and

empiricism.
• Even though all our cognition starts with
experience, that doesn’t mean, all of it arises from
experience. It seems that though we may know
from experience, it doesn’t follow that all
knowledge comes from experience.
• Both play important role in learning. Priori
(derived from logic) ; and a posteriori (derived
from experience).
• PRIORI vs POSTERIORI

• PRIORI knowledge is always universal; what is

essential; categories of the mind like time,
shape…(analytic knowledge—like a square,
has a 4 equal sides.)
• POSTERIORI knowledge is based on
experience. (this table is brown– through the
sense of sight)
• SELF can be known through experience and
before experience.
• Thoughts without contents are empty.
Intuitions without concepts are blind.
• He poses three questions which embody the
ultimate query.
• WHAT CAN I KNOW?
WHAT I OUGHT TO KNOW?
WHAT MAY I HOPE FOR?