Philosophers Way Thinking

Critically About Profound Ideas

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Chapter 3
Who Are You?
Consciousness, Identity, and the Self
CHAPTER SUMMARY
Traditional philosophical views on the immortality of the soul arose from Socrates and Plato, and were
later appropriated by Augustine in influential ways, which Aquinas built on in an attempt to synthesize
philosophy and religion. Descartes held important views on the nature of mind as a nonphysical thing,
which he argued must be immaterial, because unlike physical things, its existence cannot be doubted.
Locke, on the other hand, thought of personal identity as something whose existence can be inferred
from the existence of a continuing subject of experience. Hume and Kant held opposing views on how
the self arises from conscious experience. Many modern views on the nature of the mind traceable to
Ryle, who thought opposing the mind and the physical was due to a “category error.” Contemporary
physicalists think the mind can either be eliminated in favor of brain states, or that the mind is realized
in the physical without mental states being identical to physical states. Phenomenologists like Husserl
and Merleau-Ponty are convinced that direct experience should be considered without psychological
origins or causal explanations. These are all Western concepts of self, which contrast with concepts of
self found in other cultures, such as the Buddhist concept of anatta or “no-self.”
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

At the completion of this chapter the student will be able to:

3.1 Explain why it is important to understand the nature of the self.

3.2 Discuss Socrates’s and Plato’s theories of the immortal soul.

© 2016, 2013, 2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
3.3 Describe St. Augustine’s synthesis of Plato and Christianity.

3.4 Discuss Descartes’ modern perspective on the self.

3.5 Elucidate Locke’s theory that all knowledge originates in direct sense experience.

3.6 Explain why Hume believed there is no self.

3.7 Discuss Kant’s theory that all knowledge originates in direct sense experience.

3.8 Describe Freud’s idea of the multilayered self.

3.9 Explain Ryle’s theory that the self is defined in terms of the behavior presented to the world.

3.10 Define the perspectives of functionalism and eliminative materialism.

3.11 Explain Husserl’s and Merleau-Ponty’s theories of phenomenology.

3.12 Describe Buddhist concepts of the self.

DISCUSSION PROMPTS
1. Why have influential thinkers, past and present, considered the soul as immortal? What do you
think of their reasons for thinking so?
2. Why did Descartes seek to doubt everything that could be doubted? Do you think that is a
valuable enterprise?
3. How were Locke’s and Hume’s approaches to the self as consciousness similar? Why did they
come to different conclusions?
4. Where do phenomenologists stand on the duality of mind and body? Do you think of the mind
and body as being one or as two distinct entities?

5. What are the differences between Hume’s concept of the self and the Buddhist concept of no-
self? Do you agree with the philosophers who say the self is an illusion or with those who see
the self as real?
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13
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Multiple Choice Questions
Difficulty: 1 = Easy; 2 = Medium; 3 = Challenging
Choose the best possible answer for each of the following.

TB_03_01_Know Thyself,Remember, LO 3.1

According to Socrates, in order to live a life of purpose and value, we must begin to
examine _.
A. our self
B. various cultures
C. scientific discoveries
D. natural wonders
Answer: A
Learning Objective: LO 3.1 Explain why it is important to understand the nature of the self.

Topic: Know Thyself

Skill Level: Remember the Facts

Difficulty Level: Easy

TB_03_02_The Soul is Immortal: Socrates and Plato, Understand, LO 3.2

Socrates thought that the soul is immortal because it _______.

A. is unchangeable
B. can affect things
C. cannot be seen
D. is the source of the will
Answer: A
Learning Objective: LO 3.2 Discuss Socrates’s and Plato’s theories of the immortal soul.

Topic: The Soul is Immortal: Socrates and Plato

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

Difficulty Level: Easy

TB_03_03_The Soul is Immortal: Socrates and Plato, Understand, LO 3.2

Plato had a concept of a three-part self constituted by the elements of _______.

A. mind, matter, and soul

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B. the physical, mental, and emotional
C. soul, body, and mind
D. reason, appetite, and spirit
Answer: D
Learning Objective: LO 3.2 Discuss Socrates’s and Plato’s theories of the immortal soul.

Topic: The Soul is Immortal: Socrates and Plato

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

Difficulty Level: Easy

TB_03_04_Philosophical Perspectives During the Middle Age, Understand, LO 3.3

St. Augustine’s views on the self _______.
A. were totally original
B. were very different from the Platonists
C. presaged more contemporary views about the mental and the physical
D. incorporated the Platonist view of the self as a separate immaterial thing
Answer: D
Learning Objective: LO 3.3 Describe St. Augustine’s synthesis of Plato and Christianity.

Topic: Philosophical Perspectives During the Middle Age

Skill Level: Understand the Topics

Difficulty Level: Easy

TB_03_05_Descarte’s Modern Perspective on the Self, Understand, LO 3.4

5. What was René Descartes’ overall philosophical project?

A. to determine the true nature of the self

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B. to determine mathematical models of thinking
C. to build knowledge on a foundation he could be absolutely certain of
D. to prove the existence of God
Answer: C
Learning Objective: LO 3.4 Discuss Descartes’ modern perspective on the self.

Topic: Descarte’s Modern Perspective on the Self

Difficulty Level: Easy

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

TB_03_06_Descarte’s Modern Perspective on the Self, Understand, LO 3.4

6. Descartes’ famous first principle, cogito, ergo sum, means _______.

A. ”I think, therefore I am”
B. human identity is defined by scientific proof
C. the self must be an immaterial thing
D. the mind is not a physical thing
Answer: A
Learning Objective: LO 3.4 Discuss Descartes’ modern perspective on the self.

Topic: Descarte’s Modern Perspective on the Self

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

TB_03_07_ The Self is Consciousness: Locke, Understand, LO 3.5

7. Locke was an empiricist in that he thought that _______.

A. the self is a physical thing
B. consciousness defines personal identity
C. the mind is capable of learning about the world
D. all knowledge originates in sense experience
Answer: D
Learning Objective: LO 3.5 Elucidate Locke’s theory that all knowledge originates in direct

sense experience.

Topic: The Self is Consciousness: Locke

© 2016, 2013, 2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
Difficulty Level: Easy

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

TB_03_08_ The Self is Consciousness: Locke, Understand, LO 3.5

8. Locke thought that identity of a self through time could be established on the basis
of _______.
A. matter
B. memory
C. the will
D. experience
Answer: B
Learning Objective: LO 3.5 Elucidate Locke’s theory that all knowledge originates in direct

sense experience.

Topic: The Self is Consciousness: Locke

Difficulty Level: Easy

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

TB_03_09_There is No Self: Hume, Understand, LO 3.6

9. Hume’s ideas about the self were based on _______.

A. the nature of the mind
B. the nature of conscious experience
C. the relation between the physical and mental
D. the relation between the intellect and emotions
Answer: B
Learning Objective LO 3.6 Explain why Hume believed there is no self.

Topic: There is No Self: Hume

Difficulty Level: Easy

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

© 2016, 2013, 2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
TB_03_10_We Construct the Self: Kant, Understand, LO 3.7

10. Kant thought that Hume was wrong to say that _______.
A. all knowledge arises out of experience
B. the self delineates the possible forms of knowledge
C. the self is an immaterial thing
D. the self is just conscious experience
Answer: D
Learning Objective: LO 3.7 Discuss Kant’s theory that all knowledge originates in direct sense

experience.

Topic: We Construct the Self: Kant

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

TB_03_11 The Self is Multilayered: Freud, Understand, LO 3.8

Which of the following correctly characterizes Freud’s beliefs about the self?
A. There are two selves, one conscious and one unconscious.
B. Our true self is unconscious and we have to make special efforts to know it.
C. Our true self is conscious and has to be carefully separated from the
unconscious.
D. There is no self because the parts of the mind are knowable only separately.
Answer: A
Learning Objective: LO 3.8 Describe Freud’s idea of the multilayered self.

Topic: The Self is Multilayered: Freud

Difficulty Level: Easy

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

TB_03_12 The Self is How You Behave: Ryle, Understand, LO 3.9

Gilbert Ryle’s concept of the mind was based on his idea that it is a mistake to
_______.
A. think of the self as a thinking thing
B. think of the self as a physical thing
C. separate the physical and the mental
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D. theorize about things we cannot experience
Answer: C
Learning Objective: LO 3.9 Explain Ryle’s theory that the self is defined in terms of the

behavior presented to the world.

Topic: The Self is How You Behave: Ryle

Difficulty Level: Easy

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

TB_03_13_The Self is the Brain: Physicalism, Understand, LO 3.10

Functionalism is the view that _______.
A. the function of the brain is to generate the mind
B. the mind works in essentially the same way as the brain
C. the brain has functions that can be experienced as the mind
D. mental states have physically-definable functions
Answer: D
Learning Objective: LO 3.10 Define the perspectives of functionalism and eliminative

materialism.

Topic: The Self is the Brain: Physicalism

Difficulty Level: Easy

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

TB_03_14_ The Self is Embodied Subjectivity: Husserl and Merleau-Ponty, Understand, LO

3.11
Which of the following best explains the approach of phenomenology?
A. All knowledge of ourselves and our world is based on exploring the phenomena of lived
experience, the lebenswelt
B. The self and the body are separate entities
C. Memory is less important than existence
D. The soul is the embodiment of self
Answer: A
Learning Objective: LO 3.11 Explain Husserl’s and Merleau-Ponty’s theories of

phenomenology.

Topic: The Self is Embodied Subjectivity: Husserl and Merleau-Ponty

© 2016, 2013, 2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
Difficulty Level: Easy

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

TB_03_15_Buddhist Concepts of the Self, Understand, LO 3.12

According to Buddhist philosophy, each self is composed of _______.
A. multiple static entities that remain fixed throughout life
B. physical form, sensation, conceptualization, dispositions to act, and consciousness
C. a soul that exists only through positive experiences
D. consciousness and heart
Answer: B
Learning Objective: LO 3.12 Describe Buddhist concepts of the self.

Topic: Buddhist Concepts of the Self

Difficulty Level: Easy

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

Essay Questions

TB_03_16_The Soul is Immortal: Socrates and Plato, Analyze, LO 3.2

What was Socrates’ views on the soul, and why did he hold that view?

• Socrates was convinced that, in addition to our physical bodies, each person possesses an
immortal soul that survives beyond the death of the body.
• The soul is unchanging and immortal, surviving the death of the body.
• Our souls and bodies are radically different.
• Souls strive for wisdom.

Learning Objective: LO 3.2 Discuss Socrates’s and Plato’s theories of the immortal soul.

Topic: The Soul is Immortal: Socrates and Plato

Skill Level: Analyze It

Difficulty Level: Moderate

© 2016, 2013, 2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
 TB_03_17_The Soul is Immortal: Socrates and Plato, Analyze, LO 3.2

Explain Plato’s view of the soul. Why did he liken it to a chariot?

• Plato introduced the idea of a three-part soul (psyche) or self including reason,
physical appetite, and spirit/passion.
• Plato said the soul is like a chariot drawn by Spirit, a noble horse, and Appetite, a
wild horse. Reason is the charioteer who guides the chariot to the eternal realm by
controlling the two independent-minded horses.

Learning Objective: LO 3.2 Discuss Socrates’s and Plato’s theories of the immortal soul.

Topic: The Soul is Immortal: Socrates and Plato

Skill Level: Analyze It

Difficulty Level: Moderate

TB_03_18_ Philosophical Perspectives During the Middle Ages, Analyze, 3.3

Explain Augustine’s view of the soul. In what ways did he borrow from Plato?
• Augustine’s synthesis of Platonic and Christian concepts was a major influence in the
development of medieval Christian doctrine and western philosophy.
• Plato’s vision of a bifurcated universe with one realm of perfect Forms and another
that can be perceived by sight and touch was adapted by Augustine to the Christian
idea of transcendent God.
• Plato’s vision of immortal souls striving to achieve union with this eternal realm
through intellectual enlightenment was transformed by Augustine into immortal souls
striving to achieve union with God through faith and reason.

Learning Objective: LO 3.3 Describe St. Augustine’s synthesis of Plato and Christianity.

Topic: Philosophical Perspectives During the Middle Ages

Skill Level: Analyze It

Difficulty Level: Moderate

TB_03_19_Descarte’s Modern Perspective on the Self, Understand, LO 3.4

What was Descartes’ theory of knowledge, and how did that guide his philosophical
investigations?
• The first principle of Decartes' theory of knowledge is cogito, ergo sum (I think,
therefore, I am).

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 • No rational person will doubt his or her own existence as a conscious, thinking entity
while we are aware of thinking about our self.
• It would be impossible to be self-conscious if we didn’t have a personal identity of
which to be conscious, so self-identity and being self-conscious are mutually
dependent on one another.

Learning Objective: LO 3.4 Discuss Descartes’ modern perspective on the self.

Topic: Descartes’ Modern Perspective on the Self

Skill Level: Analyze It

Difficulty Level: Difficult

TB_03_20_Descarte’s Modern Perspective on the Self, Analyze, LO 3.4

What was Descartes’ conclusion about the nature of the self, and how did he arrive
at that conclusion?
• Descartes declared that the essential self (the thinking entity) is radically different
from the physical body.
• Like Plato, Descartes believed in a dualistic view of reality divided into a spiritual,
non-material realm and physical, material realm.
• By advocating a dualistic metaphysic, Descartes was able to maintain both his
scientific integrity and his religious convictions.
• Descartes believed that the thinking self and the physical self were connected via the
pineal gland.

Learning Objective: LO 3.4 Discuss Descartes’ modern perspective on the self.

Topic: Descartes’ Modern Perspective on the Self

Skill Level: Analyze It

Difficulty Level: Difficult

TB_03_21_ The Self Is Consciousness: Locke, Analyze, 3.5

How did John Locke’s views differ from those of Descartes? How did that determine
Locke’s views of the self?
• Locke's revolutionary theory was that the mind is a tabula rasa (blank slate) which is
written on by experience.
• Like Descarte, Locke believed in developing knowledge based on clear thinking,
rigorous analysis, and real-world observation and experimentation.
• For Descartes, reasoning provides the origin of knowledge. For Locke, all knowledge
originates in our direct sense experience.

© 2016, 2013, 2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
Learning Objective: LO 3.5 Elucidate Locke’s theory that all knowledge originates in direct
sense experience.

Topic: The Self Is Consciousness: Locke

Skill Level: Analyze It

Difficulty Level: Difficult

TB_03_22_ There Is No Self: Hume, Analyze, 3.6

What was Hume’s argument for the position that there is no such thing as the self?
• According to Hume, human experience consists of impressions (basic sensations) and
ideas (thoughts and images that are copies of impressions).
• Because the self is not found among these continually changing sensations, we can
only conclude that there is no good reason for believing that the self exists.
• What is the self we experience according to Hume? A “bundle or collection of
different perceptions, which succeed each other with an inconceivable rapidity, and
are in a perpetual flux and movement.”

Learning Objective: LO 3.6 Explain why Hume believed there is no self.

Topic: There Is No Self: Hume

Skill Level: Analyze It

Difficulty Level: Difficult

TB_03_23_ We Construct the Self: Kant, Analyze, 3.7

What was distinctive about Kant’s view of the nature of self as related to experience?
• Kant attempted to synthesize rationalism and empiricism by showing the important
role of both experience and reason.
• Disturbed by Hume’s conclusions, Kant observed what Hume had overlooked: our
primary experience of the world is not a disconnected stream of sensations. In
general, we live in a fairly stable and orderly world in which sensations are woven
together into a fabric that is familiar to us.
• For Kant, the order and organization of our world comes from our own minds, that
sort, organize, relate, and synthesize fragmented input.

Learning Objective: LO 3.7 Discuss Kant’s theory that all knowledge originates in direct
sense experience.

Topic: We Construct the Self: Kant

Skill Level: Analyze It

© 2016, 2013, 2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
Difficulty Level: Moderate

TB_03_24 The Self Is How You Behave: Ryle, Analyze, 3.9

What was Ryle’s view of the mental as it relates to the physical? How did Ryle’s view
differ from those before him?
• Ryle's philosophy aligns with behaviorism in psychology, where the self is defined in
terms of the individual's behavior.
• Ryle characterized "Descartes' myth" of the dualism of mind and body as "the ghost
in the machine," where the immaterial self is rattling around inside the physical
body.
• For Ryle, 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.
• Inherent problems: Ryle’s denial of inner selves causes a difficulty analogous to
Hume’s denial of a similar entity—namely, that Ryle writes, speaks, and acts as if the
existence of the inner self is not in doubt

Learning Objective: LO 3.9 Explain Ryle’s theory that the self is defined in terms of the
behavior presented to the world.

Topic: The Self Is How You Behave: Ryle

Skill Level: Analyze It

Difficulty Level: Difficult

TB_03_25_The Self Is the Brain: Physicalism, Analyze, 3.10

What are the two forms of physicalism? How do they differ from each other?
• Physicalism: all mental states are explainable in terms of physical brain states; there
is no separate, immaterial "self."
• Functionalism: Mental states (beliefs, desires, being in pain, etc.) are constituted
solely by their functional role—that is, they cause other mental states, sensory
inputs, and behavioral outputs. Jerry Fodor takes behaviorism farther, pointing out
that mental events, activities, or processes form connections between sensory
stimulus and behavioral response.
• Eliminative Materialism: Our ordinary, commonsense understanding of the mind is
deeply wrong and that some or all of the mental states posited by common sense do
not actually exist. Paul Churchland says that the usual terms that describe mental
states are "folk psychology"; we need a new vocabulary and conceptual framework
grounded in neuroscience.

© 2016, 2013, 2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
Learning Objective: 3.10 LO Define the perspectives of functionalism and eliminative
materialism.

Topic: The Self Is the Brain: Physicalism

Skill Level: Analyze It

Difficulty Level: Moderate

© 2016, 2013, 2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. or its affiliates. All rights reserved.