BREAKDOWN FOR MID-TERMS his death and his relation to the Absolute.
(GE 1 – Understanding the Self) (i.e., Is man immortal?).
I. THE SELF FROM VARIOUS PHILOSOPHICAL
PERSPECTIVES
• Philosophy
- literally means “love of wisdom”, from the two
Greek words: philein means to love, and
sophia which means wisdom.
- Considered to be the progenitor of all forms
of science, it technically is defined as a
science which seeks for the ultimate meaning
of all things in aid of man’s natural reason.
• THE DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO PHILOSOPHY
A. The Historical Approach
1. Ancient Philosophy - surveys some great
philosophers during the ancient Greek
civilization. The three towering figures were
Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.
2. Medieval Philosophy - surveys the works of
the Fathers of the Church and the Scholastic
Fathers during the period of Christendom. St.
Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, among others
are the prominent figures.
3. Modern Philosophy - surveys the works of
Rene Descartes (known as the Father of
Modern Philosophy); Thomas Hobbes, John
Locke, David Hume (considered as
Empiricists) and Immanuel Kant, the colossal
figure of Modern Philosophy. Their works deal
mainly with theory of knowledge or
Epistemology.
4. Contemporary Philosophy – surveys the
different kinds of philosophies mostly
reactions to the modern philosophers’ over-
emphasis and reliance of man’s thinking
power.
B. THE SYSTEMATIC APPROACH
1. Philo of Man - deals with the problem of man,
his being-in-the-world, his being-with-others,
2. Metaphysics – deals with the question of
being or existence (i.e., What is the meaning
of our existence?)
3. Social Philo – tries to understand society in its
political and economic structures.
4. Philo of Religion – deals with the problem of
God, His Essence and Existence. (i.e., Does
God exist?)
C. THE PRACTICAL APPROACH
1. Ethics – asks whether the human action is
good or bad.
2. Logic – the study of methods and principles
used to distinguish good from bad reasoning.
• INSIGHT
- “Seeing with the Mind”
- Can be sharpened by means of a
“metaphor”
- Can also come in the form of an
“abstraction”.
- It’s something only you can do.
• Philosophy is rooted through “lived experience”
•
• EXPERIENCE - the life of the self – a dynamic
interrelation of the self and the other, be it
things, human beings, the environment, the
world, grasped not objectively but from
within.
Experience brings about TENSION (Imbalance
within the self) which brings about Inquiry.
• LEVELS OF INQUIRY
1. Common Sense – the generally accepted
set of regulative meanings and procedures
to particular circumstances. (i.e., I feel like
peeing, I’ll therefore go to the Comfort
Room)
2. Scientific inquiry - is concerned with a
particular need, treats the world as a means
in order to achieve a concrete end. For
 example, I have a stomachache, I go to the
doctor, and I take the prescribed medicine.
3. Philosophical inquiry - an inquiry into the
coherence, sense of human life as a totality,
as a whole, comprehensive reality and
ultimate / final value. For example, I have a
terminal case of stomach cancer and I am
given only 3 months to live, so I ask “What is
the meaning of my life?”
• “sens de la vie” - (meaning of life) in French:
“sens” can mean the direction of a river, the
texture of a cloth, the opening of a door,
the meaning of a word. Likewise, my life
can have a direction, a texture, openings
(possibilities), meaning.
HOW THEN DO WE PHILOSOPHIZE?
1. Wonder (i.e., Plato)
2. Doubt (i.e., Rene Descartes)
3. Limit Situations/Realities (Existentialists)
4. Metaphysical Uneasiness - is to be sure of
one’s center (could also be known as
conviction/claim) according to Gabriel
Marcel which is equivalent to Angst of
Soren Kierkegaard.
ANCIENT PHILOSOPHERS
i. SOCRATES
- “An Unexamined Life is not worth living!”
- His being indicted was brought about by
going to Athens engaging men - young and
old to question about their presuppositions
about themselves. (He was like a “gadfly”)
- Every man is composed of body (imperfect)
and soul (perfect)
- Proposed that if anyone didn’t attain full
awareness of who they are, they would not
preserve their souls in the afterlife. (THE
WORST WAY TO DIE!)
ii. PLATO
- Took in his former teacher’s teachings –
stating that the soul had three components
and there can only be justice if they worked
harmoniously with one another.
- Rational Soul (Intellect) - governs human
affairs/behavior.
- Spirited (Emotions) - this is the one that should
be kept at bay.
- Appetitive - in charge of the base desires.
iii. ARISTOTLE
- He states that the man is a blank slate.
- Tabula Rasa describes the idea that people
begin life as a blank slate onto which
experiences are mapped, forming a person.
- According to him, all human functions
contribute to eudaimonia - the highest good
humans could strive toward – or a life 'well
lived'.
- Happiness is an exclusively human good;
MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHERS
iv. SAINT AUGUSTINE
- Man is of BIFURCATED Nature!
- He believed that an aspect of man dwells in
the world and is imperfect and it continuously
seeks to united with the Divine!
- The body is bound to die on earth while the
soul anticipates to live in eternity in God’s
realm filled with eternal bliss!
- This can be achieved by living a life of virtue!
v. SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS
- Man is composed of two parts: MATTER &
FORM!
 - Matter, hyle in Greek, refers to the common
things that make up everything in this
Universe (Man’s body is a part of this!)
- Form or morphe, refers to the essence of a
thing!
- Therefore, just like Aristotle’s philosophy, it is
the soul (essence) that makes us human.
MODERN PHILOSOPHERS
• Anthropocentric Approach
- Known as the “human-centered” approach
wherein it is ethically believed that humans
alone possess intrinsic value.
vi. RENE DESCARTES
-
“I Think Therefore I Am!”
-
The “Father of Modern Philosophy”!
-
The central concept of his philosophy is
DOUBT (To prove something is true, it must
pass through The Test of Doubt)
- In the end, Descartes thought that the one
thing one cannot doubt is the existence of
the self.
- Man in composed of two distinct entities:
• Mind (Cogito)- the thing that thinks
• Body (Extenza) - the extension; known as a
machine.
- Man, therefore, is a THINKING THING.
vii. DAVID HUME
- “The Self Is nothing but a bundle of
expressions”
- An Empiricist who believed that one can
only know from senses and experiences.
- Can be categorized into two:
1. Impressions - basic objects of our
experience/situation.
2. Idea - a weaker version of the impression
since you haven’t experienced it
directly.
viii. IMMANUEL KANT
- “Apparatuses of the Mind”
- Adhered to Hume’s philosophy,
however Kant thinks that the things that
men perceive around them are not just
randomly Infused into the human person
without organizing principles.
- Man synthesizes therefore all
knowledge and experience which
would then give him his overall
personality and identity of who he is.
ix. THOMAS HOBBES
- People are all equal in terms of status
but then often leads to conflict
(ABSOLUTE FREEDOM).
- The natural condition of mankind,
according to Hobbes, is a state of war in
which life is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish,
and short” because individuals are in a
“war of all against all”.
- STATE OF NATURE - a hypothetical world
devoid of any law, order, and political
structure.
- In order to survive, a contract, therefore
must be made = MORALITY!
x. JOHN LOCKE
- Man is a POLITICAL ANIMAL
- He also believed in the concept of
TABULA RASA
- We humans are not inherently good nor
evil. (Thus, he is able to rationalize)
- He went against the idea of the State of
Nature thus he concludes that man
therefore is capable of bettering
himself.
 THE CONTEMPORARY PHILOSOPHERS
• Existentialism - A philosophical theory or
approach which emphasizes the existence of
the individual person as a free and responsible
agent determining their own development
through acts of the will.
“EXISTENCE” precedes “ESSENCE”
xi. SØREN KIERKEGAARD
- The Father of Existentialism
- Throughout his life, he saw many
inconsistencies that would lead him to this
constant “Either/Or” Situation.
- Here, because God is infinite and man is
finite, the individual is alone in angst - in fear
and trembling
- He asserted that human beings must make
choices based on free will despite their
anxiety
xii. JEAN-PAUL SARTRES
- If there is no designer (i.e., God), there is no
intrinsic essence of human life, therefore
there can be no human nature (what
humans are supposed to be).
- Instead, we must invent our purpose, our
own “essence”.
- Claimed that we are “radically free”
- Realizing we are free to choose means that
we are entirely responsible for our lives,
which creates angst. (To deny it means “Bad
Faith”)
- Thus, we must live authentically.
xiii. GILBERT RYLE
- Challenged Rene Descartes’ Idea of
Dualism (a.k.a. “The Ghost in the Machine).
- To him, what makes a person is his day-to-
day life and what he makes of it.
- Mental acts are not at all distinct from bodily
actions.
xiv. MERLEAU-PONTY
- He states that the mind and body are so
intertwined that they cannot be separated
from one another.
- All experience is embodied. One’s body is I
his opening toward his existence to the
world.
- The living body, his thoughts, emotions, and
experiences are all one.
II. THE SELF, SOCIETY & CULTURE
• What is the SELF?
- SEPARATE, SELF-CONTAINED, INDEPENDENT,
CONSISTENT, UNITARY, AND PRIVATE.
The self is always unique and has its own
identity.
The self is also self-contained and independent
because in itself it can exist.
It is consistent because it has a personality that
is enduring and therefore can be expected to
persist for quite some time.
The self ls unitary in that it is the center of all
experiences and thoughts that run through a
certain person.
Finally. the self Is private - each person sorts out
information, feelings and emotions, and
thought processes is never accessible to
anyone.
THE SELF & CULTURE
• According to Mauss, every self has two
faces: “personne” and “moi”.
• Moi refers to a person’s sense of who he is,
his body, and his basic identity, his
biological givenness.
• Personne, on the other hand, is composed
of the social concepts of what it means to
be who he is.
• This dynamics and capacity for different
personne can be illustrated better cross-
culturally. (ex. Filipinos in the Philippines VS.
Abroad)
• If a self is born into a particular society or
culture, the self will have to adjust according
to its exposure.
THE SELF AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SOCIAL
WORLD
• For Mead and Vygotsky. the way that
human persons develop is with the use of
language acquisition and interaction with
others.
• The way that we process information is
normally a form of an internal dialogue in
our head.
• Both Vygotsky (who focused on
development through inter-dialogue with
others) and Mead (focused on play as the
center of development) treat the human
mind as something that is made, constituted
through language as experienced in the
external world and' as encountered in
dialogs with others.
THE SELF IN FAMILIES
• Regardless if we have our own biological
dispositions (what we’re born with), the
kind of family and upbringing that we’re
born with along with these sources
available to us (human, spiritual,
economic, etc.) can surely affect us
through our lives.
• Human persons learn the ways of living
and therefore their selfhood being in a
family.
• Without a family, biologically and
sociologically, a person may not even
survive or became a human person.
GENDER AND THE SELF
• Gender is one of those loci of the self
that is subject to alteration, change, and
development.
• Our gender partly determines how we
see ourselves in the world.
• There is a distinction between masculinity
and femininity (how men and women
should behave as defined by social
constructs).
• Gender has to be personally discovered
and asserted and not dictated by
culture and the society.
III. THE SELF AS A COGNITIVE CONSTRUCT
➢ “I AM WHO I AM”
• William James (1890), one of the earliest
Psychologists defined the self as having
two aspects - the “I“, which is the
thinking, acting, and feeling self; and the
“Me“ which is the physical
characteristics as well as psychological
capabilities that makes who you are.
• Carl Rogers uses the same terms - with
the “I“ being the one who acts and
decides; and the “Me“ as what you think
or feel about yourself as an object.
➢ SELF-SCHEMA by Carl Rogers
• Self. identity. and self-concept are not
fixed in one time frame (thus they are
active/ever-changing).
• The concept of self-schema therefore
was coined by Carl Rogers which is
 define as organized system or collection
of knowledge about who we are.
• The schema is not limited to the
example above. it may also include
your Interests, work, course, age, name,
and physical characteristics, among
others.
• It has the tendency to change over time
as well.
➢ OTHER PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES OF THE
SELF
1. Id, Ego, & Superego - Theorized by
Sigmund Freud which states that the
interaction of the three develops the
behavior of the person.
2. Symbolic Interactionism - The self is
created and developed through
human interaction
3. The Private and Public Self - According
to Carver and Scheier (1981), there are
two types of self - the “PRIVATE“ which
contains your own standards, thoughts
and feelings; and the “PUBLIC“ Self
commonly geared toward having a
good presentation of yourself to others.
THREE MAJOR BASIS REGARDING SYMBOLIC
INTERACTIONISM
1. We do not create ourselves out of
nothing.
2. Whether we like to admit it or not. we
actually need others to affirm and
reinforce who we think we are.
3. What we think is important to us may
also have been influenced by what is
important in our social or historical
context.
Social Interaction and Group affiliation,
therefore, are vital factors in creating our self-
concept especially in the aspect of providing
us with 'our social identity '~ or our perception
of who we are based on our membership to
certain groups (Jhangiani and Terry 2014).
“SELF-AWARENESS”
• It presents us with other three self-
schemas:
1. The Actual Self - who you are at the moment
2. The Ideal Self - who you like to be
3. The Ought Self - who you think you should be
Example: An example Is that you are a student
who is interested in basketball but is
academically challenged in most of your
subjects (The Actual Self) Your Ideal Self may
want to be a part of the Varsity Team, but you
ought to pass your subjects as a responsible
student.
• This can be positive or negative.
• It can also have an impact to your self-
esteem especially when you are in different
groups (by means of using social
comparison).
• According to the' Social comparison theory,
we learn about ourselves, the
appropriateness of our behaviors, as well as
our social status by comparing aspects of
ourselves with other people.
• Social comparison also entails what is called
self-evaluation maintenance theory, which
states that we can feel threatened when
someone out-performs us, especially when
that person is close to us.
IT COULD LEAD TO THIS…
Narcissism is a “trait characterized by an overly
level of high self-esteem, self-admiration, and
self-centeredness”.
IV. THE SELF IN WESTERN AND EASTERN THOUGHTS - Collectivistic Culture
- Value Cooperation
➢ Here are some of the Eastern thoughts
- They would also be more compromising
and they tend to go round the bush in
• Confucianism - The cultivated self in
explaining things. hoping that the other
Confucianism is what some scholars call a person would “feel” what they really want
“subdued self” wherein personal needs
to say (Qingxue 2003).
are repressed (subdued) for the good of
- Hierarchical Culture
many.
• Taoism - The self is not just an extension of
the family or the community; it is part of
the universe, one of the forms and
manifestations of the Tao (Ho 1995).
• Buddhism - The self is seen as an illusion,
born out of ignorance, of trying to hold
and control things, or human-centered
needs; thus, the self is also the 'source of
all these sufferings (SOLUTION: Forget
about the self to get Nirvana). GOD BLESS AND I PRAY FOR YOUR SUCCESS!
For questions, please post them in Google
Classroom or message us in our Group Chats.
THE WEST VERSUS THE EAST IN DEFINING THE SELF

➢ THE WESTERN VIEWS/CULTURE

- One can also describe that the Western

thought looks at the world in dualities
(Creator and creation etc.)
- Individualistic Culture
- By valuing the individual, Westerners may
seem to have loose associations or even
loyalty to their groups (Competitive in
Nature).
- Straightforward when it comes to
communication
- Value Equality even when they see that the
individual can rise above everything else.

➢ THE EASTERN VIEWS/CULTURE

- On the other hand, the Eastern perspective

sees the other person as part of yourself as
well as the things you may create. a drama
in which everyone is interconnected with
their specific roles.