Review

• The meaning of perspective

• The different perspectives about self

• The meaning of the “philosophy”

• The branches of philosophy

• The meaning of “self” from philosophical

perspective
Review
CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY PHILOSOPHERS
Review Questions:
1. Who said “Know thyself”? What does
this mean?

2. What does Plato about self?

3. How does Aristotle differ from Plato?

From Philosophical Standpoint
UNDER EPISTEMOLOGY:

• The self has been defined as “a unified being,

essentially connected to consciousness,
awareness and agency.

• Different philosophers introduced specific

characteristics and meanings of the self, which
over time, transformed from pure abstractions to
explanations that hold scientific proofs.
From Philosophical Standpoint
• Rationalism – favors reason as the
source of understanding

• Empiricism – points to the senses as

the foundation of knowledge
Review Summary
• Socrates, Plato and Aristotle are all dualists. They
believe that the self is composed of two parts.

• Both Socrates and Plato were rationalist and

therefore held on to the superiority of the intellect
over the physical body.

• Meanwhile, Aristotle was an empiricist, and

therefore derived his view of the self from the
physical observations, which can be processed with
one’s reason.
LESSON 1: PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVES OF SELF
(CONTINUATION)

MOVING TOWARDS LATER

PHILOSOPHICAL VIEWS OF SELF
TIMELINE FROM CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY (BCE)
TO 17TH CENTURY (CE)
THE MIDDLE AGES
EUROPE IN THE MIDDLE AGES
Medieval Philosophers

St. Augustine of Hippo St. Thomas Aquinas

St. Augustine
• Full name:
Aurelius Augustinus

• Birth: 354 AD, City of Tagaste

• Death: 430, City of Hippo

• Both Tagaste and Hippo were in the

Roman North African province of
Numidia (present-day Algeria)

• He lived at the time when the

Roman Empire fell to the
barbarians.
St. Augustine
• Famous for being a doctor of the
Catholic Church, author of
Confessions and City of God

• Philosophical Orientation:
PLATONISM

• Philosophical Orientation:
NEOPLATONISM

• Integration of Plato’s philosophy

and Christian theology
St. Augustine
NEOPLATONISM

- from the work of Plotinus

- brand of Platonism that is
‘mystical’ or religious in
nature

- “There is a presence in the

soul of higher realities and
these realities act upon it.”
St. Augustine
• Man has a dual nature. Part
of man dwells in the world
which is imperfect and
yearns to be with the Divine.
Another part is capable of
learning about the good, or
God by way of reason and of
reaching immortality.

• The physical body dies, but

the soul lives eternally in the
spiritual world.
St. Thomas Aquinas
• Name:
Tommaso d’Aquino

• Birth: 1224/25, Roccasecca, near Aquino,

Terra di Lavoro, Kingdom of Sicily

• Death: March 7, 1274, Fossanova, near

Terracina, Latium, Papal States

• Sicily and the Papal States are now part

of Italy

• He lived during the time of the Crusades

St. Thomas Aquinas
• Famous for being a doctor of the
Catholic Church, author of  Summa
Theologiae

• Philosophical Orientation:
ARISTOTELIAN EMPIRICISM

• Philosophical Orientation:
SCHOLASTICISM

• Integration of Aristotelian
philosophy and Catholic theology
St. Thomas Aquinas
SCHOLASTICISM

- Philosophical systems and

speculative tendencies

- Sought to solve anew general

philosophical problems under the
influence of the mystical and
intuitional tradition of patristic
philosophy, especially
Augustinianism, and later under
that of Aristotle
St. Thomas Aquinas
• Man is comprised of matter and
form. Matter is a common stuff that
makes up everything in the universe.
Form is the essence of a substance or
thing that makes it what it is.

• The body of humans is similar to

animals and objects. He can use his
senses to gain an idea of matter. But
what makes a human is his essence,
his form or his soul that makes sense
of his sensory experiences.
TIMELINE FROM CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY (BCE)
TO 17TH CENTURY (CE)
RENAISSANCE AND
ENLIGHTENMENT PERIOD
Renaissance Philosophers

Rene Descartes John Locke

David Hume Immanuel Kant

Rene Descartes (1596–1650) 
• French philosopher,
mathematician and
scientist

• Philosophical Orientation:
RATIONALISM

• Philosophical Orientation:
MIND-BODY DUALISM
Rene Descartes
• “Cogito ergo sum”, or in English
translation “I think therefore I
am”.

• Human’s concept of self and

existence are established by our
capacity to think about it. This
consciousness that allows us to
know that we exist composes
our soul, which is a substance.

• Self-identity depends on
consciousness.
John Locke (1632-1704)
• British philosopher,
Oxford academic and
medical researcher

• Philosophical Orientation:
EMPIRICISM

• Philosophical Orientation:
THEORY OF PERSONAL
IDENTITY
John Locke
• Personal identity is founded
on consciousness and not on
either the soul or the body.

• There is a distinction
between man and person.
The soul may change, but
consciousness remains intact.

• A person the kind of entity

that can think self reflectively,
and think of itself as
persisting over time.
David Hume (1711-1776)
• Scottish Enlightenment
philosopher, historian,
economist, and essayist

• Philosophical Orientation:
EMPIRICISM

• Philosophical Orientation:
SKEPTICAL PHILOSOPHY
David Hume
• The self is the physical body.
The mind is just a fiction.

• All knowledge passes

through the senses. We
know we are humans not
because we have a soul, but
because we see, hear and
feel.

• There is no self, only a

bundle of perceptions..
Immanuel Kant (1724–1804)
•  German philosopher

• Philosophical Orientation:
RATIONALIST/ EMPIRICIST

• Philosophical Orientation:
METAPHYSICS OF THE SELF
Immanuel Kant
• The self is not just a personality but a
seat of knowledge that results from
synthesizing perceptions and
experiences.

• There is an outer self that includes

the body and the physical mind and
an inner self, the enduring self that
includes rational thinking and
psychological state.

• It is not an object of experience, but

transcendental. The transcendental
ego is basic and necessary for all
MODERN PERIOD
Renaissance Philosophers

Sigmund Freud Gilbert Ryle

Paul Churchland Maurice Merleau-Ponty

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)
•  Austrian neurologist,
founder of psychoanalysis

• Philosophical Orientation:
EMPIRICIST

• Philosophical Orientation:
THEORY OF
PSYCHOANALYSIS
Sigmund Freud
• Man is controlled by his
unconscious mind which is
principally driven by sexual
energy or libido, which resides in
the id.

• Every individual is composed of

the superego, ego and the id.

• It is the main function of the

superego and the ego to regulate
and control the id.
Gilbert Ryle (1900–1976)
• British philosopher,
principally known for his
critique of Cartesian
dualism

• Philosophical Orientation:
EMPIRICIST

• Philosophical Orientation:
THE CONCEPT OF MIND
Gilbert Ryle
• “I act therefore I am”

• The mind is not the seat of self. It

is not a separate, parallel thing to
our physical body.

• The mind is a category mistake, a

misconception resulting from
habitual use. The self is not an
entity one can locate and analyze
but simply the convenient name
we use to refer to the behaviors
that we make.
Paul Churchland (1942-present)
•  Canadian philosopher and
author

• Philosophical Orientation:
EMPIRICIST

• Philosophical Orientation:
ELIMINATIVE MATERIALISM
Paul Churchland
• It is the physical brain, not
the imaginary mind that
gives us our sense of self.

• The self is contained entirely

within the physical brain.

• There is no dualism of mind

and body. Our identity all
boils down to brain function.
Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908-1961)
• French philosopher and
public intellectual

• Philosophical Orientation:
EXISTENTIALIST EMPIRICIST

• Philosophical Orientation:
PHENOMENOLOGY OF
PERCEPTION
Maurice Merleau-Ponty
• “We are our bodies.”

• Mind and body are inseparable.

• Perception of things through

our body influences our
understanding.

• The body comes with thought,

emotions and experiences.