The Greeks were the ones who seriously questioned myths and moved away

from the understand reality and respond to perennial questions of curiosity,

including the question of the self.

The following are the discussions, comparison and contrasts of different

perspectives and understandings of self-according to its prime movers. From
philosophers of the ancient times of contemporary period.
- THE PRE-SOCRATICS
The Pre-Socratics (Thales, Pythagoras, Parmenides, Heraclitus, Empedocles, etc.)
were concerned with answering questions such as
• what is the world really made up of?
• why is the world the way it is?
• what explains the changes that happen around us?
• arché- origin or source/the “soul”/the primal matter
• the soul’s movement is the ultimate arché of all other movement
• arché has no origin outside itself and cannot be destroyed
• explains the multiplicity of things in the world
- SOCRATES
• concerned with the problem of the self
• “the true task of the philosopher is to know oneself”
• “the unexamined life is not worth living” • underwent a trial for ‘corrupting
the minds of the youth’
• succeeded made people think about who they are
• ‘the worst thing that can happen to anyone is to live but die inside’
• “every person is dualistic”
• man = body + soul
• individual = imperfect/permanent (body) + perfect & permanent (soul)
- PLATO
• 3 components to the soul rational soul – reason & intellect to govern affairs
spirited soul – emotions should be kept at bay appetitive soul – base desires
(food, drink, sleep, sexual needs, etc.)
• when these are attained, the human person’s soul becomes just & virtuous
- (ST.) AUGUSTINE
• ‘spirit of man’ in medieval philosophy
• following view of Plato but adds Christianity
• man is of a bifurcated nature
• part of man dwells in the world (imperfect) and yearns to be with the Divine
• other part is capable of reaching immortality
• body – dies on earth; soul – lives eternally in spiritual bliss with “God”
MODERN PHILOSOPHY
- Rene DESCARTES
• Father of Modern Philosophy
• human person = body + mind
• “there is so much that we should doubt”
• “if something is so clear and lucid as not to be doubted, that’s the only time
one should believe.”
• the only thing one can’t doubt is existence of the self
• “I think, therefore I am”
• the self = cogito (the thing that thinks) + extenza (extension of mind/body)
• the body is a machine attached to the mind
• it’s the mind that makes the man
• “I am a thinking thing. . . A thing that doubts, understands, affirms, denies,
wills, refuses, imagines, perceives.”
DO YOU AGREE WITH THE STATEMENTS ABOUT THE SELF (body & soul) SO FAR?
WHAT SEEMS TO BE QUESTIONNABLE IN THEIR CONJECTURES?
- David HUME
• disagrees with the all the other aforementioned philosophers
• “one can only know what comes from the senses & experiences” (he is an
empiricist) • “the self is not an entity beyond the physical body”
• you know that other people are humans not because you have seen their soul,
but because you see them, hear them, feel them etc
• “the self is nothing but a bundle of impressions and ideas”
• impression – - basic objects of our experience/sensation - forms the core of
our thoughts
• idea – - copies of impressions - not as “real” as impressions - feeling mo lang
yun!
• self = a collection of different perceptions which rapidly succeed each other
• self = in a perpetual flux and movement
- David HUME
• disagrees with the all the other aforementioned philosophers
• “one can only know what comes from the senses & experiences” (he is an
empiricist) • “the self is not an entity beyond the physical body”
• you know that other people are humans not because you have seen their soul,
but because you see them, hear them, feel them etc
• “the self is nothing but a bundle of impressions and ideas”
• impression – - basic objects of our experience/sensation - forms the core of
our thoughts
• idea – - copies of impressions - not as “real” as impressions - feeling mo lang
yun!
• self = a collection of different perceptions which rapidly succeed each other
• self = in a perpetual flux and movement
• we want to believe that there is a unified , coherent self, soul, mind, etc. but
~~actually~~ it is all just a combination of experiences.
Immanuel KANT
• agrees with HUME that everything starts with perception/sensation of
impressions
• there is a MIND that regulates these impressions
• “time, space, etc. are ideas that one cannot find in the world, but is built in
our minds
• “apparatus of the mind”
- Immanuel KANT
• the self organizes different impressions that one gets in relation to his own
existence
• we need active intelligence to synthesize all knowledge and experience
• the self is not only personality but also the seat of knowledge
- Gilbert RYLE
• denies the internal, non-physical self
• “what truly matters is the behavior that a person manifests in his day-to-day
life.”
• looking for the self is like entering LU and looking for the “university”
(explain!)
• the self is not an entity one can locate and analyze but simply the convenient
name that we use to refer to the behaviors that we make
• a phenomenologist who says the mind- body bifurcation is an invalid problem
• mind and body are inseparable
• “one’s body is his opening toward his existence to the world”
• the living body, his thoughts, emotions, and experiences are all one.
• if you hate this subject, Merleau-Ponty understands you.
Above all, this is my reflection about the topic.
We use the term “self –concept” to describe how we perceive ourselves within
our social environment; “to be aware of oneself is to have a concept of oneself”
(McLeod, 2008). Our sense of self is composed of a series of attributes,
personality traits, self — concepts, & self –schemas that determine how we
currently perceive ourselves and how we will possibly perceive ourselves in the
future. Self –concepts (who we are), self-knowledge, self — esteem, & social
identity (social self) determine “the self” of each and every individual.
Why is this important? Because an unhealthy perspective of your persona
determines who you are today and will most likely be tomorrow. And, this my
friend, influences every single aspect of your life.
Now we´ve only got one life to live, so why not live it the best way possible?