GEC 101: UNDERSTANDING THE SELF

LESSON 1: THE SELF FROM VARIOUS PERSPECTIVES

Prepared by: SUSANNA ROSE A. LABASTILLA, MA, LPT.

LESSON 1:
THE SELF
FROM
VARIOUS
PERSPECTIVE
S
LESSON 1:
THE SELF
FROM
1|Page CAS DEPARTMENT LSPU-SCC
GEC 101: UNDERSTANDING THE SELF
LESSON 1: THE SELF FROM VARIOUS PERSPECTIVES
Prepared by: SUSANNA ROSE A. LABASTILLA, MA, LPT.

VARIOUS
PERSPECTIVE
S
LESSON 1:
THE SELF
FROM
VARIOUS
PERSPECTIVE
S
2|Page CAS DEPARTMENT LSPU-SCC
GEC 101: UNDERSTANDING THE SELF
LESSON 1: THE SELF FROM VARIOUS PERSPECTIVES
Prepared by: SUSANNA ROSE A. LABASTILLA, MA, LPT.

LESSON 1:
THE SELF
FROM
VARIOUS
PERSPECTIVE
S
LESSON 1:
THE SELF
FROM
3|Page CAS DEPARTMENT LSPU-SCC
GEC 101: UNDERSTANDING THE SELF
LESSON 1: THE SELF FROM VARIOUS PERSPECTIVES
Prepared by: SUSANNA ROSE A. LABASTILLA, MA, LPT.

VARIOUS
PERSPECTIVE
S
DESCRIPTION OF THE LESSON
This lesson explores the various facets of the self, and it highlights the various theories and discoveries
about the nature of the individual. It also encourages students to
develop their identities.

INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES

Students should be able to identify the various concepts of self and
develop their philosophical understanding.

WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY?
Philosophy” comes from the Greek word meaning “love of wisdom.”
Philosophy uses the tools of logic and reason to analyze how humans experience the world.
Logic is a study of inference and demonstration, while Reason is a capacity for consciously making sense
of things.
It teaches critical thinking, close reading, clear writing, and logical
analysis; it uses these to understand the language we use to describe the
world and our place within it.

He states that the soul is immortal, and even if a human

died, it’s not its end.
In his concept, he introduced the physical and ideal realm.
The body belongs to the physical realm, while the soul belongs to the ideal realm.
To have a good life, one must live a good life.
•That’s what brought happiness even afterlife because we did the real purpose of life, to become good.

For Plato, there are three elements of the soul: Reason, Physical Appetite, Spirit, or Passion.
Reason is the ability of the self to think critically and make wise decisions.
Physical Appetite is the basic needs of a person, hunger, thirst and sexual desires. Lastly,
Spirit or Passion is composed of the basic emotions that the self encounters.
These three have a relation with each other. To live a happy life, humans must consistently make sure that
their reason is in control of their spirit and appetite.

4|Page CAS DEPARTMENT LSPU-SCC

GEC 101: UNDERSTANDING THE SELF
LESSON 1: THE SELF FROM VARIOUS PERSPECTIVES
Prepared by: SUSANNA ROSE A. LABASTILLA, MA, LPT.

For him, the body and soul are not two separate elements but are one thing. The soul is the essence of the
self, but it can’t exist without the body.
He stated that we are rational animals, or through reason, we
become human. So basically, we are defined base on our reason
that gives us distinct characteristics.
For Aristotle, the main goal of the self is to lead a good,
flourishing, and fulfilling life.

He integrated the idea of Plato and Christianity.

He stated that the physical body is different from and inferior to its inhabitant, the immortal soul.
The body is the “spouse” of the soul, both attached by a “natural appetite.” He believes the soul is what
governs and defines the man. He also explained that humans are
created through God's image and likeness, and we are created as a
good individuals.

As explained by him, the act of being self-conscious- is in itself

proof that there is self. In line with this, the essence of self is a
thinking entity that doubts, understands, analyzes, questions, and
reasons.
In accord there is a soul and a body which are not independent of one another and each can exist and
function without the other.

He explained that our minds are at a blank state at birth and

self-identity is being developed primarily from sense
experiences. Self-consciousness is important to have coherent
personal identity or have the same identity in different
situations.
Lastly, to understand and achieve accurate conclusions about self, we should use the power of reason and
introspection.

Hume suggested that if people carefully examine their sense

experience through the process of introspection, they will
discover that there is no self.
Thus, the idea of personal identity is a resulting imagination.

For Immanuel Kant, the people are the ones to create their own
self.
The self constructs its own reality, which actively produces a
predictable world.

5|Page CAS DEPARTMENT LSPU-SCC

GEC 101: UNDERSTANDING THE SELF
LESSON 1: THE SELF FROM VARIOUS PERSPECTIVES
Prepared by: SUSANNA ROSE A. LABASTILLA, MA, LPT.

Based on him, the self consists of conscious, unconscious, and preconscious.

The conscious self is governed by the reality principle.
The unconscious contains the basic instinctual drives and is
governed by the pleasure principle.
The preconscious is between conscious and unconscious part of
the self that is not threatening and is easily brought to mind.

The self is our behavior.

This concept provided the philosophical principle, “I act
therefore I am”.
In short, the self is the same as bodily behavior.

He stated that the self and brain is one. Basically, if there is no

brain, there would be no self.
The idea of the self is inseparable from the brain and the physiology of the body; the self is the brain.

For Maurice Merleau-Ponty, all the knowledge about the self is

based on the “phenomena” of experience.
It means that the self is a product of the past experiences that he
had, and he builds up his identity through all those experiences
in the past in which a person made decisions and such.

REFERENCES:
Go-Monilla, Ma. Joycelyn A. & Ramirez, Normaliza C. (2018) ,
Understanding the Self, C& E Publishing, Inc.
https://www.clevelandmetroschools.org/

6|Page CAS DEPARTMENT LSPU-SCC

GEC 101: UNDERSTANDING THE SELF
LESSON 1: THE SELF FROM VARIOUS PERSPECTIVES
Prepared by: SUSANNA ROSE A. LABASTILLA, MA, LPT.

7|Page CAS DEPARTMENT LSPU-SCC