Understan

ding the
self
instructor: Mrs. Mae rachelle
Salcedo- Pingke
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Introduction
Different Perspecti
ves in
Explanation of Self
Philosophy Who am I? is rooted in the human
How well do you know need to understand the basis of the
yourself? Are you aware experiences of the “self”. When
of your talents? Skills? people are asked to explain their
Weaknesses? Strengths? understanding of the word, the usual
answers are: ‘Its who I am.” Its me,
my essence.” “It’s what makes me
unique and different from everyone
For a more meaningful understanding
else. of the self numerous studies
have been conducted and various approaches have been developed
from concepts about it.

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es “The unexamined life is not worth living.”
× Socrates was a Greek philosopher and one of the very
few individuals who shaped Western thought.
× He never wrote anything.
× Knowledge about Socrates is through second- hand
information from the writings of his student Plato and
historian Xenophon.
× Socrates was known for his method of inquiry in testing
an idea. This is called the Socratic Method whereby an
idea was tested by asking a series of questions to
determine underlying beliefs and extent of knowledge
to guide the person toward better understanding.
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He was accused of impiety or lack of reverence for the gods and for corrupting
the minds of the youth.

Socrates was sentenced to death by drinking a cup of poison hemlock.

According to Socrates, self- knowledge or the examination one’s self, as well
as the question about how one ought to live one’s life, are very important
concerns because only by knowing yourself can you hope to improve your life.

Virtue is defined as moral excellence and an individual is considered virtuous if

his/her character is made up of the moral qualities that are accepted as virtues
such courage, temperance, prudence and justice.

Even death is a trivial matter for the truly virtuous because he/she realized that
the most important thing in life is the state of his/her soul and the acts taken
from taking care of the soul through self-knowledge.
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× Plato was a student of Socrates.
× He is best known for his Theory of Forms that asserted the
physical world is not really real world because the ultimate
reality exists beyond the physical world.
× The soul is indeed the most divine aspect of the human being.
× Three parts of the soul according to Plato are:
× Appetitive or appetite (sensual) - the element that enjoys
sensual experience such as food, drink and sex.
× The rational or mind (reasoning) - the element that forbids
the person to enjoy the sensual experience; the part that
loves the truth, hence should rule over the other parts of the
soul through the use of reason.
× The spirited (feeling)- the element that is inclined toward
reason but understands the demands of passion; the part that
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loves honor and victory.
 St. Augustine
All knowledge leads to God.
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Also called Saint Augustine of Hippo, is one of the Latin
Fathers of the Church, one of the doctors of the church.
He adopted Plato’s view that the ‘self’ is an immaterial (but
rational) soul.
Theory of Forms a Christian perspective, Augustine asserted
that these Forms were concepts existing within the perfect and
eternal God where the soul belonged.
Held that the soul held the Truth and was capable of scientific
thinking.
Concept of the self was inner, immaterial “I” that had self- and
self- awareness. He believed that the human being was both a
soul and body, and the body possessed senses, such as
imagining, memory, reason, and mind through which the soul
experienced the world. 12
 Rene Descartes “I th
ink,
Therefore I am.”
× Rene Descartes was a French philosopher,
mathematician, and scientist.
× He is considered the father of modern Western
philosophy.
× Descartes proposed that doubt was a principal
tool of disciplined inquiry. His method was called
hyperbolical/ metaphysical doubt, also sometimes
referred to as methodological skepticism. It is
a systematic process of being skeptical about the
truth of one’s belief in order to determine which 13
John Locke
“Human mind at birth is tabula rasa, which means that
knowledge is derived from experience.”
× John Locke was a philosopher and physician and was one of
the influential Enlightenment thinkers.
× Locke believed that the self is identified with consciousness
and this self consists of sameness of consciousness.
× This is usually interpreted to mean that the self consists of
memory, that the person existing now is the same person
yesterday because he/she remembers the thoughts,
experiences, or actions of the earlier self.
× Personal identity- a person’s memories provide a
continuity of experience that allows him/her to identify
himself/herself as the same person over time. 14
David Hu“There
meis no self”.
× David Hume was a Scottish philosopher, economist
and historian during the age of Enlightenment.
× He was a fierce opponent of Descartes Rationalism.
× Rationalism- is the theory that reason, rather than
experience is the foundation of all knowledge.
× Empiricism- is the idea that the origin of all
knowledge is sense experience.
× Hume identified with the bundle theory wherein he
described self or person as a bundle or a collection
of different perceptions that are moving in a very
fast and successive manner; therefore, it is in a 15
David Hume
× Impressions- these are the perceptions that are the most
strong. They enter the senses with most force. These are
directly experience; they result from inward and outward
sentiments.
× Ideas- these are the less forcible and less lively
counterparts of impressions. These are mechanisms that
copy and reproduce sense data formulated based upon the
previously perceived impressions.
× Hume did not believe on the existence of self. He
stressed that your perceptions are only active for as long
as you are conscious. According to Hume, should your
perception be removed for any time such as sleeping and 16
 Immanuel K“Reason
antis the final authority of morality.”
× Immanuel Kant is a Prussian philosopher.
× Kant proposed was that human mind creates the structure of human
experience.
× Kant view of self is transcendental, which means self is related to a spiritual or
nonphysical realm. The self is not in the body. The self is outside the body and it
does not have the qualities of the body.
× He proposed that it is knowledge that bridges the self and the material things
together.
× Apperception- is the mental process by which a person makes sense of an
idea by assimilating it to the body of ideas he or she already possesses.
× Inner self- the self by which you are aware of alterations in your own state.
This includes your rational intellect and psychological state, such as moods,
feelings, and sensations, pleasure and pain. 17
Sigmund Fr“e udfulfillment is the road to the unconscious.”
Wish
× Wish fulfillment is × Three Levels of consciousness:
the road to the × Conscious- which deals with
unconscious. awareness of present perceptions,
× Psychoanalysis- a feelings, thoughts, memories, and
fantasies at any particular moment.
practice devised to
× Pre- conscious/ subconscious- which
treat those who are is related to data that can readily be
mentally ill through brought to consciousness
dialogue. × Unconscious- which refers to data
× Psyche- is the totality retained but not easily available to
the individual’s conscious awareness
of the human mind, or scrutiny.
both conscious and 18
 Sigmund Freud
× Theory- a personality theory based on the notion that an individual gets
Psychoanalytic
motivated by unseen forces, controlled by the conscious and the rational thought. To
explain his model, Freud used the analogy of an iceberg to describe the three levels of the
mind.
× Freud further structured the psyche/ mind into three parts:
× Id- it operates on the pleasure principle. Every wishful impulse should be satisfied
immediately, regardless of the consequences. When the id achieves its demands, you
experience pleasure; when it is denied, you experience “unpleasure” or tension.
× Ego- it operates according to the reality principle. It works out realistic ways of satisfying
the id’s demands. The ego considers social realities and norms, etiquette and rules in
deciding how to behave.
× Superego- it incorporates the values and morals of society. The superego’s function is to
control the id’s impulses. It persuades the ego to choose moralistic goals and to strive for
perfection rather than simply realistic ones.
× Conscience- if the ego gives in to the id’s demands. The superego may make the person
feel bad through guilt. 19
Gilbert RyIle
act, therefore I am

× According to Ryle, the rationalist view that

mental acts are distinct from physical acts
and that there is a mental world from the
physical world is a misconception.
× Ryle described this distinction between mind
and body as the dogma of the ghost in the
machine where he explained there is no
hidden entity or ghost called soul inside a
machine called body.

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Paul ChurchThe
laphysical
nd brain and NOT the imaginary mind gives
us our sense of self.

× Known for his studies in neurophilosophy and

the philosophy of mind.
× His philosophy stands on a materialistic view
or the belief that nothing but matter exists.
× Eliminative materialism- or the claim that
people’s common- sense understanding of the
mind is false, and that certain classes of
mental states which most people believe in do
not exist.
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Maurice Merleau×- P
ontaysubject acts upon
Object-
or affects some other entity.
× Embodied- The term × He asserted that human
embodied is a verb that beings are embodied
means to give a body subjectivities, and that the
to understanding of the self
× Subjectivity- is the should begin from this
state of being a fundamental fact. He added
subject- an entity that that the body is not a mere
possess conscious house where the mind
experiences, such as resides. Rather it is through
perspectives, feelings, the lived experience of the
beliefs, and desires. body that you perceive are
informed and interact with
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the world.
Posits that socially formed norms,
beliefs, and values come to exist
within the person to a degree where
these become natural and normal
thus developing the person’s self- 23
Key
characteristics
According to Giddens (1991), the most patent, major characteristics of modernity

of modernity
are:
× Industrialism- the social relations implied in the extensive use of material
power and machinery in all processes of production
× Capitalism- a production system involving both competitive product markets
and the commodification (putting a price tag) of labor power.
× Institution of surveillance- the massive increase of power and reach by
institutions especially in government
× Dynamism- characterized as having vigorous activity and progress.

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Social groups
and social
network

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Use charts to explain
your ideas Organic group- is
naturally occurring and it
is highly influenced by
Social group- your family. This is
described as having two usually formed in
or more people Social network- traditional societies
interacting with one refers to the ties because there is little
another, sharing similar or connections diversity in these
communities. Sociologist
characteristics and that link you to
George Simmel stated
whose members identify your social that you join these
themselves as part of group. groups because your
the group. family is also a part of it,
in the first place. He
called it organic
motivation.

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Rational groups- oc
cur in modern
societies. Modern soc
ieties are
made up of different p
eople coming
from different places.

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THAN
KS!
Any questions?

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