Philosophers Belief Example/Explanation

Rene Descartes  Cartesian  An individual’s mind is separate from the body and the outside world,
Dualism/Self thinking about itself and its existence.
 “Cogito, ergo sum” (“I think, therefore I am”)—the act of doubting one’s
 We truly exist existence proves that one truly exists; the self must exist for there to be
because we a thought.
think.
John Locke  Tabula Rasa  Humans are born with a blank mind, and the identity of the self is
(blank slate) shaped by experience, sensations, and reflections.
 It is founded on consciousness, and not on the substance of either soul
or body

 Personal Identity
David Hume  There is no mind  The self is presumed to be a definite and consistent identity, but the
or self. qualities and characteristics of people are ever-changing. Thus, there is
no self.
Immanuel Kant  There are two  There is an inner self (termed by Kant as empirical self-consciousness)
components of and outer self (termed as transcendental apperception). The former
the self. comprises the psychological state and rational intellect, and the latter
includes sense and the physical world.