UNDERSTANDING THE SELF
can you hope to improve your life.
MODULE 1: PHILOSOPHICAL
PERSPECTIVES
Philosophy – love of wisdom
ETYMOLOGY
Greek word “philo” – loving and “sophia” –
knowledge/wisdom
DEFINITION
● At its simplest, Philosophy means
“loving knowledge” or “loving
wisdom”. The term as originally used
by the Greeks meant “the pursuit of
knowledge for its own sake”
● It is a set of ideals, standards or beliefs
used to describe behavior and
thought. (Western Philosophy,
EasternPhilosophy…)
● Investigates the legitimacy of
concepts by rational argument
concerning their implications,
relationships as well as reality,
knowledge, moral judgment, etc
SOCRATES
● The Greeks were the ones who
seriously questioned myths and
moved away from them to
understand reality and respond to
perennial questions of curiosity,
including the question of the self.
● “The unexamined life is not
worth living"
● Self-knowledge, or the examination
of one-self, as well as the question
about how one ought to live one’s
life, are very important concerns
because only by knowing yourself
(Rappe,1995)
● Socrates believed that you, as a
person, should consciously
contemplate, turn your gaze inward,
and analyze the true nature and
values that are guiding your life.
PLATO
● Plato was the student of Socrates.
According to him, “soul” is the most
divine aspect of human beings.
However, his concept of the divine is
not a spiritual being but rather one
that has an intellectual connotation.
3 COMPONENTS OF THE SOUL
1. The Appetitive (sensual)
● The element that enjoys
sensual experiences, such as
food, drink and sex.
2. The Rational (reasoning)
● This is conscious awareness.
This is the part of us that
thinks and analyzes.
3. The Spirited (feeling)
● The one with lots of energy,
power, emotions.
- When these are attained, the
human person's soul becomes
just and virtuous.
ST. AUGUSTINE
● He was deeply influenced by Plato’s
ideas.
● Following view of Plato but adds
Christianity.
● Man is of a bifurcated nature
(meaning man is divided into two
 parts
1. Part of man dwells in the
world, and yearns to be with the
Divine
(body)
2. The other part is capable of
reaching immortality. (soul)
Body - dies on earth.
Soul - lives eternally in
spiritual bliss with God.
ST. TOMAS AQUINAS
● Man = matter + form
● Matter – common stuff that makes
up everything in the universe
● Form – essence of a substance or a
thing (what makes it what it is)
● The body of a human is similar to
animals/objects, but what makes a
human is his essence.
● The soul is what makes us humans.
RENE DESCARTES
● Father of Modern Philosophy ●
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.
● “Cogito ergo sum” – I think,
therefore I am.
● He asserted that everything
perceived by the senses could not be
used as proof of existence because
human senses could be fooled. He
added that there was only one thing
we could be sure of in this world,
and that was everything could be
doubted. (He was skeptical
about the truth to determine
which beliefs could be
ascertained as true)
● The only thing one can't doubt is the
existence of the self.
DAVID HUME
● Disagrees with all the other
aforementioned philosophers.
● All knowledge is derived from
human senses.
● “One can only know what comes from
the senses and experiences (he is an
empiricist- someone who
believes that knowledge comes from
experiences and senses)
● 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. (again, senses)
IMMANUEL KANT
● Agrees with Hume that everything
starts with perception/sensation of
impressions. There is a “mind” that
regulates these impressions.
● The human mind creates the
structure of human experience.
● Time, space, etc are ideas that one
cannot find in the world, but are
built in our minds.
GILBERT RYLE
● What truly matters is the behavior
that a person manifests in his
day-to-day life.
● Sense of self is derived from our
behaviors and actions.
 Ryle’s view, your actions define your own
For example you think of yourself as a kind concept of “Self”
person because of your acts of kindness. In
MAURICE MERLEAU-PONTY

● Mind-body bifurcation is an invalid

problem. Mind and body are
inseparable. Mind is part of the
body, and the body is part of the
mind. They need each other. 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.

Prepared by:

Mary Claudine N. Pineda, RPm