Presentation #1

The Self from Various

Perspective

Nicole Anne Soria-

Sadcopen, RPm
Objectives
● Discuss the different representation and conceptualization of the self
from various disciplinal perspective.
● Compare and contrast how the self has been represented across
different disciplines and perspective.
● Examine the different influences, factors, and forces that shape the self.
● Demonstrate critical and reflective thought in analyzing the development
of one’s self and identity by developing a theory of the self.
 What is philosophy?

• From the Greek words

- Philos and Sophia meaning love for wisdom
• Philosophy
-study of fundamental nature of knowledge, reality
and existence, especially in an academic discipline
- a particular theory that someone has about how to
live or how to deal with a particular situation
 What is philosophy?

• Philosophy
-academic discipline concerned with investigating the
nature of significance of ordinary and scientific beliefs.
- investigates the legitimacy of concepts by rational
argument concerning their implications, relationships as
well as reality, knowledge, moral judgment, etc.
 It was the greeks who seriously
questioned myths and moved away from
Why is it essential them in attempting to understand reality
and respond to perennial questions of
to understand the curiosity, including the question of self.
ancient
The different perspectives and views on
philosophical the self can be best seen and understood
perspectives about then by revisiting its prime movers and
self? identity the most important conjectures
made by philosophers from the ancient
times to the contemporary period.
What philosophy says about self

rationalism
There is innate
knowledge; they differ in
Dualism that they choose different
objects of innate
empericism knowledge. Rationalism
It refers to mind-body explains self from from
Derives explantions of the dualism or the idea that
self from sensory and the standpoint of what is
the mind is separate from “ideal” and the “truth”, not
bodily responses. We the body.
know things because we rooted in what is felt by
have experience the senses nor our body.
Classical Antiquity
1. Socrates: “The unexamined life is not worth
living”
Socrates- “father of western philosophy”
- Self has 2 parts: Physical body and soul

a. Physical body:
-tangible aspect
- it dies / mortal
- constantly changing
- imperfect
- transforming
- disappearing
Socrates: The unexamined life is not worth living
b. Soul
- immortal
- eternal
- unchanging
- perfect
- ideal

➢ He believed that soul exist first before the man’s body

➢ The soul has all the knowledge that is stored in his mind
➢ Lack of knowledge or ignorance- Once he came to the material
world, he forgot most of what he knew. This causes problems for
men.
➢ Knowledge can be restored through the process of dialectic method
or Socratic Method.
2. Plato- “The first and the best victory is to
conquer self”
➢ Dualistic- immaterial mind (soul) and material body
➢ Soul represents the self
➢ Soul exists before birth and after death.
➢ One should take care more about his soul rather
than his body
➢ Soul is divided into 3 parts:
1. appetitive soul
2. spirited soul
3. rational soul
2. Plato- “The first and the best victory is to conquer
self”
➢ Soul is divided into 3 parts:
1. reason
- our divine essence that enables us to think deeply,
make wise choices and achieve a true understanding
of eternal
2. physical appetite
- our basic biological needs such as hunger, thirst, and
sexual desires.
3. will or spirit
- basic emotions or passion, such as empathy,
aggressiveness, love, anger and etc.
2. Plato- “The first and the best victory is to conquer
self”
➢ the parts of the soul are in dynamic relationship with one
another. Sometimes in concert, sometimes in conflict.
➢ Reason: the responsibility to sort things out and exert
control, re-establishing a harmonious relationship
between the 3 elements.
➢ Plato believed that true and genuine happiness could
only be achieve if we consistently make sure that our
reason is in control of our will or spirit and physical
appetitive
3. Aristotle- “ knowing yourself is the beginning
of all wisdom”
➢ The body and soul are not 2 separate elements
but are one thing.
➢ The soul is what which makes a person a person
➢ The soul is the essence of the self
➢ 3 kinds of soul :
1. The Vegetative
2. The Sentient
3. The Rational
➢ Main theme: human person is a “rational animal”.
In other words, human person is simply an animal
that thinks
Middle Ages
3. St. Augustine – “accepting God is the path to
know thyself”
➢ Man is believes that man is created in the image
and likeness of God.
➢ He is essentially a soul whose goal is to be with
God
➢ Sense of self is his relation to God. It is achieved
through self-presentation then self-realization.
➢ One could not achieve inner peace without finding
God’s love and through faith and reason, our self
seeks to be united with God.
➢ Body dies on earth; soul lives eternally in spiritual
bliss with God.
4. St. Thomas Aquinas
➢ Man = matter + form
➢ Matter or Hyle in greek
- common stuff that makes up everything in
the universe
- man’s body is part of this
➢ Form or Morphe in greek
- essence of a substance or thing
➢ The body of the human is similar to animals/
objects, but what makes a human is his essence
➢ The soul is what makes as human
The Renaissance
5. Rene Descartes “ Cogito ergo sum ( I think;
therefore I am”
➢ Rene is the founder of modern philosophy.
➢ Cogito ergo sum- keystone of his concept of self
- the essence of self
- you are a ‘thinking thing”
- I exist because I think; I think,
therefore I exist.
➢ The mind is what matters
➢ The body is a machine attached to the mind
➢ It echoes the dualism of Plato
6. John Locke “ the self is conscious”
➢ Tabula rasa (a blank slate)
➢ We are born without thoughts or our mind was
empty and that knowledge is instead determined
only by experience.
➢ We are the same person as we are in the past for
as long as we can remember memories from the
past
➢ It is our memory or our consciousness of our past
that makes us that the same person in the past
➢ Thus our conscious awareness and memory of
previous self are keys to understand our self.
7. David Hume “there is no self”

➢ Disagrees with all the aforementioned

philosophers
➢ Source of all knowledge is our direct sense
experience.
➢ “the self is not an entity beyond the physical body”
➢ The self is nothing but a bundle of impressions
and ideas.
7. David Hume “there is no self”
➢ Mind is divided into 2:
a. impression-basic objects of our
experience/ sensation. It forms the core of
our thoughts.
b. idea- copies of impression. Not as real as
impressions.
➢ The self keeps on changing. There is no
permanent and unchanging self. Thus, we can’t
observe any permanent self because we
continuously undergo change. In conclusion,
there is no self.
8. Immanuel Kant “We Construct the Self”
➢ He refutes Hume’s theory that there is no self and
argues that it is possible to find the essence of
the self.
➢ The self is s free agent, for he is gifted with
reason and free will to enable him to organize the
data gathered by the senses.
➢ from these data and the way we organize them,
we can build an idea of who we are. Hence, the
self is very present.
The Modern
Times
9. Gilbert Ryle “ The self is how you behave”
➢ Simply focused on observable behavior in
defining the self.
➢ The behavior we show, emotions, and actions are
the reflection of our mind and as such is the
manifestation of who we are.
➢ He does not believe that mind and body are two
separate entities
➢ “you are what you do”
10. Maurice Jean Jacques Merleau-Ponty “ the
self is an embodied subjectivity”

➢ Mind and body are inseparable

➢ There is unity in our mental, physical and
emotional disposition, and they all affect how we
experience ourselves.
➢ Man is all about how he sees himself through his
experiences (an embodied subjectivity)