Understanding

the Self
Who am I ?
GETTING
TO KNOW
YOU & ME
 THE
CHAPTER 1
SELF
PHILOSOPHI
FROM
CAL
VARIOUS
PERSPECTIV
PERSPEC
E
TIVES
Philosophical
Anthropology
The
Study of
Martin
the Self Buber
Philoso SELF AS THE
SUBJECT
phical
Anthrop “WHO AM I?”
ology
MAN STUDIES
ABOUT
HIMSELF
cfelcano
“Life is a journey, and
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every person is a
traveler” 
H O M O V I ATO R
THE JOURNEY MAN AS A TRAVELER

ENDS AT DEATH

and
BEGINS AT
BIRTH
“Who am I?” Prominent
Where does British Social
Thinker of the
John man come Victorian Era
Ruskin from? How Does man’s
does man Come life have a
into existence? purpose?
 • Judeo – Christian /
Theological Approach
•It is impossible to come
up with a single definite • Philosophical Approach
concept of the self.
• Scientific Approach
•Human beings have (Sociology, Anthropology,
divergent concepts and Political and
views about the self Psychological)
 Greek Word Greek Word

“philo” – wisdom

i l os o “sophia” – love

h
P hy
William James
“Philosophy as an
unusually stubborn
p Philosophy
Human search for meaning in
life, inquiry in the nature and
attempt to think clearly. essence of man
PHILOSOPHE
RS The Self in
the Greek
AND Philosoph
THEIR y
Their approach Greek Philosophers
is
man-centered Forerunners in the study of man

Protagoras Focus:
(homo mensura) -Nature of Man
-Virtue
“Man is the measure of all things”
-Human Personality
 Greek Philosophy
underscores the intimate connection between

Self The Very core Virtue

of our being
 How these three are related?

Virtue Self
character
 We must
mind the moral
character of our
actions.
Self
Body – Soul Rational Soul
-immaterial
Compound -immutable
-far superior to the
body
-immortal
-distinct
 The formation of the self
primarily consists of the
nourishment of the rational soul
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of the self

REMEMBER
Socrates
469 – 369 BC
 Socrates
469 – 369 BC

Main philosophical
interest:
• Epistemology and Ethics
• Rationalistic Moral
Philosophy
• Focuses on the moral
Rational
istic Reason or
Moral Rationality is the
Philosop principal
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component in
hy shaping moral
comportment
Self Not just a
Mind-body
Aggregate But also a
Moral being
 Focuses on the
moral aspect of
How man should
1 man
live a morally
good life? 2
Happiness
without morality
3 is impossible
Man must live a
good moral life
to be happy
4
Rationality /
Reason is the
5 key
 How then the
self can be able
to live a morally
good life?
3ways to live a Life must be
ceaselessly
morally good examined to know
life
3
one’s true nature
Focus on improving
the quality of the soul or Improvement of
moral life instead of indulging the soul can be achieved
in the chase of material things, through the quest for

1 fame and prestige

2 wisdom and truth
Knowledge = virtue
 The self is the

“Kno
one that thinks,
reflects and acts
on what is right.
w Only in the
pursuit of
thyself goodness can the
self find
P lato
427 – 3447 BC
 Plato
427 – 3447 BC

Philosophical concept:
• Body + Soul = Self
• Dualistic, idealistic and
abstract view of reality
 Self as
rational
Soul
Consisting of
From the
body and Body
world of
soul From the
ideas
world of
matter
 Body
Soul
From the
From the
world of
world of ideas
matter
MAN IS A
SOUL
IMPRISONE
D IN A
 Plato
Plato’s Theory on Tripartite
of the soul stated that the
soul of the self consists of
three dissimilar elements
• Head
• Heart
• stomach
Theory on Tripartite of the Soul

Heart Stomach
(Spirited (bodily
element; Head appetite, desire
emotional (element of and needs)
drives) reason)
 Maintain the harmony
or balance between the
rational element
How to (head) and the

live a
irrational ones (heart
and stomach).

morally To attain happiness,

good the self must be

intellectually,
emotionally and
PHILOSOPH
ERS The Self
in the
AND Medieval
Philosophy
THEIR
 Medieval
Philosophy
•Self as a secondary concern
•God and faith is the primary
concern
•Man is made by God
•Human reason is meant to
strengthen the faith
St . Augustine
354-430 AD
 St .
Augustine
354-430 AD

Philosophical concept:
• Blended Christianity with
philosophy
• “the city of God”
• The self is tripartite in being
(st. thomas aquinas)
 St .
Augustine354-430 AD

• Influenced by Plato’s Philosophy

• Dualistic view of reality (just like
Plato’s)
• “The City of God” - classification
-those who love God and belonged
to the City of God
-City of the World who do not love
SELF AS A TRIPARTITE BEING
(St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas)

body spirit
(outer part of the
soul (innermost part;
self, in contact to
(inner part; mind, can commune
the world)
emotions and the with God)
will)
 St .
Augustine
354-430 AD

God created man, body and soul

of which the soul is spiritual,
perpetual and superior to the
body.
The soul is created by God to
administer the body. The body is
subjected to mortality.
 St .
Augustine
354-430 AD

Self is gifted with freedom by

God and the abuse of this
freedom leads to misery in the
life of the self

Adam’s Sin is hereditary and our

sinfulness is inherent
Salvation
PHILOSOPH
ERS The Self
in the
AND Modern
Philosophy
THEIR
The focus of
philosophical Renaissance
quest was on
man again
Affirms the dignity and
Rebirth of learning worth of man with regard
to the power of his reason
to know the truth of his
nature
 Rene
Descartes
1596 - 1650
 Rene
Descartes
1596-1650
Main philosophical interest:
• Separation of mind and body
• “Cartesian Dualism”: body
and mind
• “Substance” – anything that
exists in itself
-Substance - infinite and finite
 INFINITE AND FINITE
SUBSTANCE
(Rene Descartes)
Infinite Substance Finite Substance

(Innate idea of (Man)

god)
 Rene
Descartes
1596-1650

“Cartesian Dualism”
-two independent
substance of man (finite
substance)
-body and mind
 The body is
independent of the soul
The body – material,
mortal, non-thinking
1 since the mind is not the
provider of life
substance is governed by
completely mechanical 2 The mind is non-material,
laws
immortal, conscious being,
The mind is not the 3 independent of the physical
laws of the universe
principle of life
because its primary 4 Thinking is an activity which
function is to think. is primarily spiritual and does
5 not require the body as the
medium for activity of
thinking.
 Rene
Descartes
1596-1650

“I think therefore I
am”
Self is construed as
mental and thinking
substance
John Locke
1632 - 1704
 John Locke
1632 - 1704

Main philosophical
interest:
• Tabula Rasa
-mind as a blank sheet of
paper
 John Locke
1632 - 1704

knowledge is not innate

source of authentic
knowledge of reality must
pass the test of sensory
experience
 John Locke
1632 - 1704

Essence of the Self

Conscious awareness of itself
as a thinking, reasoning,
reflecting identity
(not tied up with any
particular body or substance)
 John Locke
1632 - 1704

“On Personal Identity”

(book)
The physical body may
undergo change, but the
personal self remains the same
David Hume
1711 - 1776
David Hume
1711 - 1776

Main philosophical
interest:
• Sense impression and
Ideas
• Memory and Imagination
 IMPRESSION AND IDEAS
(David Hume)

Impression Ideas
Experience of sense Recalled copies of the
impressions.
such as pain, We see, feel, smell, taste.
pleasure, heat, cold Then we remember what
etc. which are lively we have seen, felt, smelt
and vivid and tasted
 David Hume
1711 - 1776

Since all impressions are

separate and distinct and
transient, the self is nothing
but a collection of different
perceptions
David Hume
1711 - 1776

There is no such thing as

the self because our
impressions of the self are
in permanent flux
know that a
particular
collection of
different
impressions
belong to a
particular
MEMORY AND IMAGINATION
(David Hume)

Memory IMagination
The exactness of the Makes it possible for us to
formulate, arrange and
impressions are order our ideas; association
retained in our of ideas when there is
memory resemblances in them.
Immanuel
Kant
1724 - 1804
 Immanuel
Kant1724 - 1804

Main philosophical
interest:
• Human knowledge is
composed of sensory
component and rational
component
 Immanuel
Kant1724 - 1804

Since the mind is the

source of ideas, and
sensory impressions are
just elements in producing
the ideas,
the self is the product of
 TWO KINDS OF THE SELF
(Immanuel Kant)

Empirical Self
Transcendental Self
Aspect of the self that
Activity or organizing
makes the self unique,
principle that actively
such as physical aspect,
interprets, constructs and
memories, personalities,
gives meaning to
history and culture;
collection of sensory data;
known through experience
going beyond
 The self is not an object
but a subject, an organizing
principle that actively
interprets, constructs and
gives meaning to sensory
experience.
Sigmund
Freud
1856 - 1939
 Sigmund
Freud
1856 - 1939

• Uncover the hidden nature

of the self
• Concept of mind and
personality
• Reduction of tension and
anxiety
cfelcano
LEVELS OF MENTAL LIFE
(Sigmund Freud)
Conscious
Level

Thoughts
Perceptions
Memories
Pre- Conscious Level
Stored
Unconscious LevelFears Knowledge
Unacceptable Sexual
Violent Motives
Drives
Immoral Urges
Irrational Wishes
Selfish Needs
Shameful Experience
PROVINCES OF THE MIND
(Sigmund Freud)

Id SuperEGo
Pleasure Ego Moral Principle
Principle Reality Principle
Gilbert
Ryle
1900 - 1976
Gilbert Ryle
1900 - 1976

• “The concept of mind”

• Critic of “Cartesian
Dualism”
• “Mind as Ghost Behind
the machine” – Descartes’
concept
 Gilbert Ryle
1900 - 1976

Self is not a mind and body

aggregate. Self is not a
thinking machine, and
“thinking” is just an inner
workings of the body.
Gilbert Ryle
1900 - 1976

Self is the way

people behave
 Patricia
& Paul
Churchland
1943 - present
Patricia & Paul
Churchland
1943 - present

•Neuroscientists
•“The self is the
brain”
 Patricia & Paul
Churchland
1943 - present
The self includes
thoughts and emotions,
and personality traits can
be explained through the
function of the brain
 Maurice
Merlaeu Ponty
1908 - 1961
 Maurice
Merlaeu Ponty
1908 - 1961

The body is an object or

possession being
possessed by the self
 Maurice
Merlaeu Ponty
1908 - 1961

“The self is the body and

the body is the self
itself”

Oneness between the self

and the body
 Maurice
Merlaeu Ponty
1908 - 1961

Body plays a vital role

in perception,
knowledge and
meaning. The body is
our general medium for
knowing the world and
 Maurice
Merlaeu Ponty
1908 - 1961

We are our body,

and without the
body, we would be
impossible
 Philosopher Who is the Self?
Socrates, Plato and St.
The self is an immortal soul that exists over time.
Augustine
Rene Descartes The self is a thinking thing, distinct from the body.
Personal identity is made possible by self-
John Locke
consciousness.
There is no “self”, only a bundle of constantly changing
David Hume
perceptions passing through the theater of our minds.
The self is a unifying subject, an organizing
Immanuel Kant consciousness that makes intangible experience
possible; the self is just a product of the mind
Sigmund Freud The self is multi-layered.
Gilbert Ryle The self is the way people behave.
Paul and Patricia The self is the brain. Mental states will be superseded
 End
of
Chapter 1