THE SELF FROM VARIOUS

PERSPECTIVES
Philosophical
Sociological
Anthropological
Psychological
Western & Eastern Orientation
PHILOSOPHY

Modern
 ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL

SELF = perfection of the soul via

self-examination and self-control
 Ancient Greeks: “the soul is the essence of
man”

“KNOW THYSELF”
*imperative – one must know the limits of
the self
*requirement – self-moderation; prudence;
good judgment
 Socrates
“THE uNExamiNEd LiFE iS NOT WOrTH
LiviNg.”

An examined life:
= self-knowledge
= values and integrity
= wisdom
recognize ignorance
Plato

Examination of the self

better understanding of
the psyche
appetitive
PSYCHE spirited
mind
APPETITIVE – pleasures, desires,
physical satisfactions, comforts
P
SPIRITED – motivated, fights back
S
Y
MIND – most superior, controls affairs
of the self C
“nous” – conscious awareness H
E
 St. Augustine

The development of the self = self-presentation

and self-realization
- religious convictions and beliefs

Man’s end goal = Happiness

attained in and through GOD
 modern
SELF = dialectic synthesis between
Rationalism and Empiricism
 Rene Descartes
“I think therefore I am”
Rational Method
“Methodic Doubt” = everything must be
subjected to doubt
= a way of searching for certainty
Who is doubting? Me! = SELF
HUMAN RATIONALITY
= primary condition of the existence of
the self

We need to reason to:

evaluate our thoughts
evaluate our actions
establish firm foundations
exist
protect ourselves
build
John Locke
‘tabula rasa’
- learning from experience
SELF = empty space
- process different
perceptions to form a
more complex idea everyday experience

sense data

sense perception
David Hume
“There is no self”
The idea of the self is derived
from impressions
- subjective, temporary, prejudicial,
cannot be persisting
Immanuel Kant

RATIONALITY
- unifies and makes sense the
perceptions we have in our experiences

The self is always transcendental.

The self or being is outside the body.

Ideas are perceived by the self and connect the self

and the world.
 CONTEMPORARY
SELF = explained by a wide variety
of theories
Sigmund Freud
“I” = mental and physical
actions
= a product of multiple
interacting processes

Topographical Model
= we know and do not know certain things at
the same time
Structural Model

SELF =
Gilbert Ryle

The mind is never separate from the body;

physical actions or behaviors = dispositions of self

external manifestations (behaviors, language,

expressions) → understand the self

“Soul” – refers to the way one behaves

 Paul & Patricia Churchland

“Eliminative Materialism”
- mental concepts should be abandoned and
brain processes be focused on instead.

Neuroscience

Understanding the Self

 Maurice Merleau-Ponty
Perception of the SELF
= through Phenomenological
Rhythm
*perception
Perception = causal process

perceptions are caused by the

experiences and processed
intellectually

truth vs. illusion

SELF = phenomenon of the whole