PHILOSOPHERS AND THEIR VIEWS ON THE

SELF 8. ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

“The soul is what makes us humans”

1. SOCRATES
“We don’t encounter ourselves as isolated minds or selves, but rather
always as agents interacting with our surroundings .”
Concerned with the problem of the self
Aquinas begins his theory of self-knowledge from the claim that each
“The true task of a philosopher is to know oneself”
one of our self-knowledge depends on our experience of the world
For Socrates, life isn't worth living if it not examined. For him, the
around us. He rejects a view that was popular at the time, i.e., that the
Soul is synonymous with the Self. He believes that citizenry have
mind is “always on,” never sleeping, subconsciously self-aware
immortal soul that lives within the human body .
within the background. Instead, Aquinas argues, our awareness of
ourselves is triggered and shaped by our experiences of objects in our
2. PLATO
surroundings .
* 3 components of the soul
9. SIGMUND FREUD
- Rational
- Spirited
The shape and content of Sigmund Freud's* views are quite different
- Appetitive
from Kant's, his concept of the self leads to a similar dualistic view of
For Plato, there are three elements of the soul: Reason, Physical
the self. Freud isn't a philosopher in the traditional sense, but his
Appetite, Spirit or Passion. Reason is that the ability of the self to
ideas on the nature of the self have influenced philosophical thought
think critically, and make wise decisions. Physical Appetite is that the
as well as almost every other subject in the humanities and social
basic needs of an individual , hunger, thirst and sexual desires. Lastly,
sciences. Naturally, he has had the biggest impact in the disciplines of
Spirit or Passion consists of the essential emotions that the self
psychology and psychoanalysis. The ego, according to Freud, was
encounters.
split into three levels: conscious, preconscious, and unconscious.
3. IMMANUEL KANT
10. MAURICE MERLEAU-PONTY
* The self organizes different impressions that one gets in reference
For Merleau-Ponty, everything that we are aware of—and can
to his own existence
possibly know—is contained within our own consciousness. It’s
* The self isn't only personality but also the seat of knowledge
impossible for us to get “outside” of our consciousness because it
For Kant , the people are those who make their own self. The self
defines the boundaries of our personal universe. The so-called real
constructs its own reality which actively produces a world that's
world of objects existing in space and time initially exists only as
predictable to him/her.
objects of my consciousness. Yet in a cognitive sleight-of-hand, we
act as if the space-time world is primary and our immediate
4. RENE DESCARTES
consciousness is secondary. This is an inversion of the way things
actually are: it's our consciousness that's primary and therefore the
“If something is so clear and lucid as to not be doubted, that’s the
space-time world that's secondary, existing fundamentally because of
sole time one should believe”
the object of our consciousness
The only thing one can’t doubt is the existence of self
For Descartes suggests that there are two dimensions of the self: the
self as a thinking entity and therefore the self as a human body . He
also emphasized on the saying: I think therefore I am” which means
that a rational thinking person and being self-conscious is the proof
that there is a self.

5. DAVID HUME

“self = a set of various perceptions which rapidly succeed each other”

“self = during a perpetual flux and movement”
For Hume , there's no self if an individual carefully examines himself
through the tactic of introspection. The self is just a result of the
humanistic imagination and thoughts, which build up a person’s
characteristics.

6. JOHN LOCKE

“if one soul migrated to a different body and lost the memories that it
formally had, we might not say the person whose soul it had been
continued to exist”
* Locke concludes that what makes an individual endure over time is
memory.
For Locke , “conscious awareness and memory of precious
experiences are the keys to understanding his self”. He said that the
very fact that the person may be a thinking entity, reasonable and
reflecting on its identity, then there's a self.

7. ST. AUGUSTINE

* Following views of Plato but adds Christianity

* body – dies on Earth; soul – lives eternally in spiritual bliss with
“God”
Saint Augustine noted that the body is united with the soul as a
whole, and not separated. He is the one who said “I am doubting,
therefore I am”