Philosopher Concept about the self

1. Socrates “Know thyself” is considered the forerunner of the introspective

method. He believed that we should know our character first to
know what is our limitations or to fully understand the self. For
him, to find a meaning full life we need to see our value or
significance through introspection.
2. Plato For him soul is the distinct to man and it is God-given. To him,
knowledge existed in the soul prior to any actual experience. The
knowledge existed in the soul prior to birth.
3. Aristotle He also believed with the soul and introduced three functions. The
first function is vegetative which deals with the basic maintenance
of life. The second one is the appetitive which focuses on the
desires and motives. Lastly, the rational governs reason that is
located in the heart. He also offered the concept of potency and act.
He believed that a person has a certain potential itself but this
requires to be actualized. It will be actualized when a child grows
up and achieved what he/she supposed to be.
4. St. Augustine “Knowledge can only become by seeing the truth that dwells
within us” For him, the self seeks to be united with God through
faith and reason.
5. Descartes “I think therefore I am” for him the solid basis that there is self
that exist is the act of thinking about self or being self- conscious.
He introduced the idea of dualism which the body and mind
interact.
6. Locke He introduced the idea that all experiences may be analyzed. He
argued that the ideas were innate and should be constant in all
minds. He believed that all the ideas come from experience. First, it
could receive experiences from outside world and second, the
mind could reflect upon itself or what we call it today
introspection.
7. Hume The mind is nothing but a heap or collection of different
perceptions. For him, what people experience is just a bundle or
collection of different perceptions.
8. Kant Human beings have the faculty called rational will, which is the
capacity to act according to principles that we determined
ourselves. According to him, it is capable of acquiring knowledge
through sensory experience. Humans can act according to reasons
while animals act according to their impulses.
9. Ryle “I act; therefore, I am” which is the self is the same as bodily
behaviors. Human mind is the totality of the human person, the
way we behave, our system of thoughts, and our emotions.
10. Merleau-Ponty Mind and the body are intertwined that they cannot be separated
from one another. One cannot find any experience that is not
 embodied experience. The living body, thoughts, emotions, and
experiences are all one.
11. Churchland “No brain, no self” for him, the physical brain and not imaginary
mind, gives people the sense of self. The mind does not really exist
because it cannot be experienced by the senses.

Saint Augustine, also called Saint Augustine of Hippo. His Latin name is Aurelius
Augustinus. Born on November 13, 354 at Tagaste Numidia [now Annaba, Algeria]; feast
day August 28. Became bishop of Hippo from 396 to 430, one of the Latin Fathers of the
Church and perhaps the most significant Christian thinker after St. Paul. Augustine’s
adaptation of classical thought to Christian teaching created a theological system of great
power and lasting influence.
His life experiences influenced his concept about self which is “I think, therefore, I am”
because in his Discourse on Method (1637) as a first step in demonstrating the attainability
of certain knowledge. It is the only statement to survive the test of his methodic doubt. The
statement is indubitable, as Descartes argued in the second of his six Meditations on First
Philosophy (1641), because even if an all-powerful demon were to try to deceive him into
thinking that he exists when he does not, he would have to exist in order for the demon to
deceive him. Therefore, whenever he thinks, he exists. Furthermore, as he argued in his
replies to critics in the second edition (1642) of the Meditations, the statement “I am”
(sum) expresses an immediate intuition, not the conclusion of a piece of reasoning
(regarding the steps of which he could be deceived), and is thus indubitable. However, in a
later work, the Principles of Philosophy (1644), Descartes suggested that the cogito is
indeed the conclusion of a syllogism whose premises include the propositions that he is
thinking and that whatever thinks must exist. (Duigan, 2009)

His life experiences influenced his concept about self which is “I think, therefore, I am”
because in his Discourse on Method as his first step in demonstrating the attainability of
certain knowledge. It is his only way to survive the methodic method. The statement is
questionable, at the second of his six Meditations on First Philosophy he argued because he
thinks that even if an all-powerful demon were trying to deceive him into thinking that he
exists when he does not, he would have to exist in order for the demon to deceive him.
Therefore, whenever he thinks, he exists. He argued in his replies to critics in the second
edition of the Meditations, the statement “I am” expresses an immediate intuition, not the
conclusion of a piece of reasoning, and this is questionable. Then, Descartes suggested that
the cogito is indeed the conclusion of a syllogism whose premises include the propositions
that he is thinking and that whatever thinks must exist.