GILBERT RYLE The things that we do, how we behave and react and all
other components like the way we talk, walk, and look
Analytic Philosopher. is generally who we are as a person. He mounted an attack against Cartesian mind-body dualism and supported a behaviorist theory of mind. He is a Behaviorist – advocates focusing on IMMANUEL KANT public events – the behaviors of people – while German philosopher during the enlightenment era of ignoring private events – the thoughts of people. the late 18th century. Behaviorism contends that public behaviors as Enlightenment era – a philosophical movement such can be described scientifically without of the 18th century that stressed the belief that recourse to either internal psychological events science and logic give people more knowledge or to hypothetical constructs like thoughts or and understanding than tradition and religion. It beliefs. rejects the traditional social, religious, and The self is exemplified in his “ghost in the machine” political ideas and an emphasis on rationalism view. (the belief that reason and experience and not The man is a complex machine with different emotions or religious beliefs should be the basis functioning parts (body) for your actions, opinions, etc). And the intelligence, and other characteristics or He responded to Hume’s ideas about the self behavior of man is represented by the ghost He said that impressions and behavior is only part of our (mind/soul) in the said machine. self and that there is a certain level of conscious self that uses our intuition which synthesizes all the experiences, impressions and perceptions of ourselves which will He believed that a person is born with knowing nothing pave the way to define and know who we really are. and that is susceptible to stimulation and accumulation He said through Transcendental Apperception which is of learning from the experiences, failures, references, an essence of our consciousness, provides basis for and observations of the person. understanding and establishing the notion of self by synthesizing one’s accumulation of experiences, MAURICE MERLEAU-PONTY intuition and imagination goes. This idea goes beyond what we experience but still able to become aware of. French philosopher whose thinking was influenced by Husserl. He is known for his work on existentialism and JOHN LOCKE phenomenology. British philosopher physician who laid the groundwork Existentialism – philosophical movement for an empiricist approach to philosophical questions embracing diverse doctrines but centering on He is an Empiricist – a person who practice of analysis of individual existence in unfathomable basing ideas and theories on testing and universe and the plight of the individual who experience. must assume ultimate responsibility for acts of He theorized that the mind is a Tabula Rasa, a blank free will without any certain knowledge of what slate on which experience writes. is wrong or good or bad. He regarded experiences and sense of a person in the Phenomenology – a philosophical approach that identification and establishment of who we are as a attempts to give a direct description of our person. experience as it is in itself, without taking into account its psychological origins or causal the world but also to be able to experience the explanations. cultural aspect and relate to others. Phenomenological of Perception – follows the gestalt ideation where the whole is greater than PAUL CHURCHLAND the sum of its parts in which the unity of the function of the mind and body. Canadian philosopher known for his studies in Gestalt – something that is made of neurophilosophy and the philosophy of mind. many parts and yet is somehow more Focused on the ideas that people should improve the than or different from the combination association and use of words in identifying the self. of its parts. He believed that by the movements of our brain, we can Phenomenological of Perception divided into three (3) have better understanding of man. divisions: his main philosophy built the “eliminative materialism” The Body – it both receives the experiences as well as integrates such experiences in the it opposes that people’s common sense different perception. understanding of the mind is false and that most The Perceived World – are the accumulation of of the mental states that people subscribe to, in the perception as integrated by the experiences turn, do not actually exist, this idea applies on of the body. the understanding of behavior and emotions. The People and the World – enables one to not This leads to his idea of _____________, he believed only be able to integrated the other objects in that to fully understand one’s different neurological movement of the brain that pertains to different emotions, feelings, actions and reactions and how such 3 Parts of the Soul/Self brain movements affect the body. Physical Appetite / Appetitive Soul – our basic Understanding the different neutral pathways, how biological needs such as hunger, thirst, and they work, and what implications are those movements sexual desire. are to people, will we not only have proof that there is Spirit or Passion/Spirited Soul – our basic a measurable classification on one’s behavior it can also emotions such as love, anger, ambition, be said that the constant movement of the brain can be aggressiveness, and empathy. the basis of who the person is. Reason/Rational Soul – our divine essence that This notion is his statement, “The Brain as the Self”. enables us to think deeply, make wise choices, and achieve a true understanding of eternal truths. PLATO He further defines the soul or self as having three Greek philosopher, student of Socrates and a teacher of components: Reason, Physical Appetite, and Spirit (or Aristotle. passion). These three components may work in concert, His writings explored justice, beauty and equality, and or in opposition. also contained discussions in aesthetics, political philosophy, theology, cosmology, epistemology and the philosophy of language. For Plato and Socrates, the self was synonymous with the soul. Every human being, they believed, possessed an immortal soul that survived the physical body. RENE DESCARTES He implies that being in a constant doubt regarding Father of modern philosophy. one’s existence is proof that a person actually exists. A mathematician and a scientist, A leader in the seventeenth-century scientific revolution. SIGMUND FREUD He is the proponent of the Methodical Doubt, which simply meant of a continuous process of questioning Austrian neurologist best known for developing the what we perceive and accepting the fact that doubting, theories and techniques of psychoanalysis asking questions are a part of one’s existence. Psychoanalysis - a method of explaining and He believed that starting point of existence, “Cognito treating mental and emotional problems by Ergo Sum” or “I think; therefore I am” which having the patient talk about dreams, feelings, summarizes that a person is comprised of mind and memories, etc. its intention is to look at the body, the body perceives from the different senses and unconscious of the person to reveal its the mind thinks and question or doubt what the body suppressed ideas and thoughts that may have has experienced. caused the emotional problem. He believed that man has different constructs or make He explained that we cannot always trust our sense and up of personality that interacts with each other and in turn what we perceive as who we are or the essence along with his concept of the different levels of of our existence, we as a rational being should focus on consciousness provides and idea how a person develops the mind. a sense of self. Levels of Consciousness: Structural model of the mind: Conscious Id – its attention is on satisfaction of one’s needs Is where minority of our memories are and self-gratification. It is driven by the pleasure being stored. principle. The memories stored in the conscious Superego- the conscience of one’s personality. It are easier to be tapped or accessed. has the inclination to uphold justice and do what Pre-conscious is morally right and socially accepted actions. The middle part of the entirely of our Ego – it is the mediator between id and consciousness. superego. It operates within the boundaries of The memories stored in pre-conscious reality; primary function is to maintain the can still be accessed but with a little impulse of the id to an acceptable degree. difficulty. Unconscious SOCRATES This area is where majority of our memories since childhood are deeply He is a Greek Philosopher and the main source of stored. Western thought. It is very difficult to tap the memories in He is often called the father of Western philosophy. the unconscious that it would need a His Socratic Method or Socratic Conversation laid the trained professional and several special groundwork of Western Systems of Logic and techniques in order to make some Philosophy. memories resurface. Dualism of Reality: material realm (changeable, ST. AUGUSTINE transient and imperfect) and the immaterial realm Christian philosopher and bishop of Hippo in Northern (unchanging, eternal and immortal). Africa. Self is an immortal soul. Augustine’s synthesis of Platonic and Christian concepts Happiness – goal of man. Direct our behavior to act was a major influence in the development of medieval towards or avoid things that could have negative Christian doctrine and Western philosophy. repercussions in our lives. He is Neoplatonist – were heavily influenced He said that for one to attain happiness he must know both by Plato and by the Platonic tradition, a himself his likes and dislikes and strengths and modern term used to designate a tradition of weaknesses which can only be done through Socratic philosophy that arose in the third century C.E. Method or Socratic Conversation. and persisted until shortly after the closing of In this process of conversation is happening inside the the Platonic Academy in Athens in C.E. 529. person where the person assumes the role of the He is Theologian – a term derived from the Greek word teacher who is asking his student, himself. “theos” meaning God and “logos” meaning study – the study of God. The focal point of his work is on how God and his teachings affects carious aspects in life. He believed that our notion of ourselves and our ideas of existence come from a higher form of sense in which bodily senses may not perceive or understand, and the more one doubts and question his life means that, that person is living. Dualistic view of Self: He viewed the physical body to die and the nonphysical body, the soul to live eternally in transcendent realm of spiritual bliss. the goal of every person is to attain this communion and bliss with the Divine by living his life on earth in virtue.