Activity 2

Make a table presenting the philosophical concepts on the the SELF by different
philosophers.

Philosophers Philosophical Concepts on the Self

➢ For Socrates, “The soul is the essence

of the human person”, he meant that it
is the essence of humans to think and
Socrates will. In other words, the soul is the
person’s true self. In fact, Socrates said
that when we turn inward in search for
self-knowledge, we would eventually
discover our true self. The self is our
“inner being”.

➢ For Plato, The true self of the human

person is the “rational soul”, that is the
reason or the intellect that constitutes
the person's soul, and which is
separable from the body. Plato’s
Plato concept of the self is practically
constructed on the basis of his
reflections on the nature of the rational
soul as the highest form of cognition. In
other words, the human person is a
dichotomy of the body soul.

➢ For Augustine, Augustine inherited the

notion that philosophy is “love of
wisdom”. He is convinced that the true
philosopher is a lover of God because
of true wisdom. Augustine's sense of
Augustine self is his relation to God, both in his
recognition of God's love and his
response to it achieved through self-
presentation, then self-realization.
“Augustine believed one could not
achieve inner peace without finding
God's love”.
 ➢ For Descartes, the concept of the self
Descartes’ Notion of Self
revolves around the idea of mind-body
dualism. A human person is composed
of two parts, namely, a material body
and non-material mind. Descartes idea
of the “mind” is not different from the
idea of the “soul”, It is superior to the
body for it is in the mind that “mental
states” occur. In other words, It is the
mind that makes us humans. The “mind”
is the “real self”.