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Philosophical Perspectives

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55 views50 pages

Philosophical Perspectives

Uploaded by

warisover116
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

PERSPECTIVE
OF THE SELF
Learning Outcomes
 Explain the role of philosophy in understanding the self.

 Discuss the different concepts of the self from the


philosophical perspective.

 Differentiate the various concepts of the self and identify


their similarities.

 Develop your own philosophy of the self.


Activity 1

Do you Truly Know


Yourself?
Ask Yourself
1. How would you characterize your self?
2. What makes you stand out from the rest? What makes
your self special?
3. How has your self transformed itself?
4. How is your self connected to your body?
5. How is your self related to other selves?
6. What will happen to your self after you die?
Analysis
QUESTIONS EASY OR DIFFICULT TO WHY?
ANSWER?

6
WHAT
IS
PHILOSOPHY?
Philosophy is about:
Finding answers to serious questions about ourselves and about the
world we live in:

 What is morally right and wrong? And 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 you get out of
Philosophy?
The skills are:
 Critical Thinking
 Argument skills
 Communication
 Reasoning
 Analysis
 Problem solving
What will you get out of
Philosophy?
Which allow you to:
 Justify your opinion
 Spot a bad argument, no matter what the
topic
 Explain to people why they are wrong ad you
are right
 Philosophy basically teaches you to think!
PYTHAGORAS

 The first to use the term


“Philosophy”
Love of Wisdom

PHILO WISDOM
Greek word for Love Greek word for Wisdom
Origin of Philosophy & Logic
 Search for truth
 Search is to look for something
 Search for meaning
Importance
Significance
Value
Relevance
 Philosophy ask a lot of questions
PHILOSOPHY
AND THE
SELF
Ancient Greek Philosophers

SOCRATES PLATO ARISTOTLE


“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 man is dualistic
 Composed of body and soul
 Two important aspects of his personhood:
-Body
Imperfect and Impermanent
-Soul
Perfect and Permanent
Socrates’ two(2) dichotomous
realms:
Physical Realm Ideal Realm
 Changeable,  Unchanging,eternal,
transient and and immortal
imperfect  The soul belongs to
 The body belongs to this realm
this realm
Socrates
 Socrateswas the first thinker to focus on the full
power of reason on the human self: who we are, who
we should be, and who will become.

 The soul strives for wisdom and perfection, and reason


is the soul’s tool to achieve an exalted state of life.

 Ourpreoccupation 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
only if he becomes virtuous and knows the
value of himself that can be achieved through
constant soul-searching.

 Forhim, this is best achieved when one tries


to separate the body from the soul as much as
possible.
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.

 Hebelieved that in the existence of the mind and


soul.

 Mind and soul is given in perfection with God.


Plato: Soul has three parts

1. Rational Soul

 reason and intellect


 Divineessence that enable us to think
deeply, make wise choices, and achieve a
true understanding of eternal truths.
Plato: Soul has three parts

2. Spirited Soul

 Emotion and passion


 Basic
emotions such as love, anger,
ambition, empathy, and aggressiveness.
Plato: Soul has three parts

3. Appetitive Soul

 Basic needs
 Includes our basic biological needs such as
hunger, thirst, and sexual desire.
Plato
 These three elements of our selves are in a dynamic
relationship with one another, sometime 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.

 Platobelieves that genuine happiness can only be


achieved by 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 that which makes a person a person. The
soul is the essence of the self.
 Aristotlesuggests 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 suggested that anything with life has soul.
 Hisdiscussion about the self centers on the kinds of
soul possessed by a man.
 He introduced the three kinds of soul.
Aristotle: Kinds of Soul
1. Vegetative
 Includes the physical body that can grow

2. Sentient
 Includes the sensual desires, feelings, and emotions

3. Rational
 Is what makes a man a human.it includes the intellect that makes a man know
and understand things.
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.
St. Augustine
 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 consequence of knowledge of God.


“ Knowledge can only come
by seeing the truth that
dwells within us”

- St.
Augustine

The truth of which Augustine spoke refers to the truth of knowing


God.
RENE
DESCARTES:

“ I THINK,
THEREFORE I
AM”
Rene Descartes

The act if thinking about self – of


being self – conscious – is in itself
proof that there is self.
Descartes’ two(2) distinct
entities
Cogito Extenza
 The thing that thinks  The extension
 Mind  Body
Cogito ergo sum
“ I think therefore, I am”

- Rene Descartes
JOHN LOCKE:

“ THE SELF IS
CONSCIOUSNESS
”
John Locke
 The human mind at birth is tabula rasa or blank slate
 He felt that the self is constructed primarily from
sense experiences
 Locketheorized that when they are born, all babies
knew absolutely nothing
 Inessence, he argued that the inside of a baby’s brain
was empty – ready to learn everything through
experience.
The Self is Consciousness
CONSCIOUSNESS

 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.
DAVID
HUME:

“ THERE IS
NO SELF “
David Hume
 Selfis simply a bundle or collection of different
perceptions, which succeed each other with an
inconceivable rapidly and are in perpetual flux and
movement.

 The idea of personal identity is a result of imagination

 There is no self
IMMANUEL
KANT:

“ WE
CONSTRUCT
THE SELF “
Immanuel Kant
 Selfis not just what gives one his personality but also
the seat of knowledge acquisition for all human persons.

 The self constructs its own reality creating a world that


is familiar and predictable.

 Through our rationality, the self transcends sense


experience.
GILBERT
RYLE:

“ 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.


PAUL
CHURCHLAND

“ THE SELF IS
THE BRAIN “
Paul Churchland
 The self is inseparable from the brain and the
physiology of the body
 Allwe 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 mind does not really exist
 The self is the brain
MAURICE MERLEAU-
PONTY:

“ THE SELF IS
EMBODIED
SUBJECTIVITY
”
Maurice Merleau - Ponty
 The mind-body bifurcation that has been going on for a
long time is a futile endeavor and an invalid problem.
 Allknowledge of our selves and our world is based on
subjective experience.
 Theself can never be truly objectified or known in a
completely objective sort of way
 The self is embodied subjectivity

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