The

Philosophical
View of Self
Self in Philosophical Perspective
 SOCRATES

Socrates argued that self is

dualistic, as it is composed of
body and soul, where body is
characterized as imperfect and
impermanent and soul as
perfect and permanent.
 SOCRATES (cont.)

To know yourself; to bring his inner self to

life
“The man who does not follow good fails to
do so because he does not recognize it.”

 Virtue – deepest and most basic

propensity of man
 Self-knowledge – source of all wisdom
 PLATO
Plato, who was a student of Socrates, supported his
teacher’s idea about the dualistic nature of man.

He also expounded on Socrates’ idea of soul,

suggesting that soul has three components which have
to work harmoniously to be able to live a virtuous and
just life:

 Rational soul – governs human thought processes

 Spirited soul – responsible for emotions
 Appetitive soul – controls human’s basic drives and
desires
 RENE DESCARTES

Descartes also conceived of the human

person as a having a body and mind.

He claimed that there is so much that we

should doubt and if something is so clear
and lucid as not to be doubted, then that’s
the only time that one should believe. Thus,
he is famous for quoting the line, “Cogito
Ergo Sum” which means “I think, therefore I
am.”
RENE DESCARTES (cont.)
For him, self is a combination of two distinct
entities:

 Cogito – the part of the self that thinks,

which is the mind
 Extenza – the extension of the mind,
which is the body

For him too, while a human person has the

body, what makes man a man is his mind.
 DAVID HUME
Hume disagreed with all the other
aforementioned philosophers and contented
that one can only know what comes from
the senses and experiences.

He fosters the idea that man can only attain

knowledge by actually experiencing it. To
him, self is nothing else but a bundle of
impressions and self can also be
categorized into two – impressions and
ideas.
 DAVID HUME (cont.)

Whereas impressions come about through

sensation or what one directly experiences,
ideas come about through imagination.

In actuality, what one thinks of as a self is

simply a combination of a person’s overall
experiences.
 IMMANUEL KANT

Recognized and supported Hume’s

contention of self. He agreed that everything
starts with experiences including perceptions
and sensation of impressions. However he
believes that self is intelligent and is rational.

We humans are not merely a product of our

experiences, but of our selected and
organized experiences.
IMMANUEL KANT (cont.)

There is a mind that regulates and organizes

our experiences. We have human reason that
gives us the capacity to make judgment on
all our experiences. He went further by
saying that self is not only personality but
also the seat of knowledge.
 GILBERT RYLE

Ryle argued that what truly matters is the

behavior that a person manifests in his
day-to-day life.

He focuses his attention primarily on

human behavior. From his perspective, the
self is best understood as a pattern of
behavior, the tendency or disposition for a
person to behave in a certain way in
certain circumstances.
MAURICE MERLEAU-PONTY
He declared that the mind-body bifurcation is
an invalid problem.

To him, body and mind are so intertwined

that they cannot be separated from one
another. Both give humans a sense of self.

A person’s body, thoughts and emotions are

all one.
 Now, with all these seven
(7) Philosophical View of
Self, which is compatible
with your own
understanding and concept
of self? Explain.
 ASSIGNMENT 