UNDERSTANDIN

G
THE
SELF

PART 1: THE SELF

FROM VARIOUS
PERSPECTIVE
PART 1: THE SELF
FROM VARIOUS
PERSPECTIVE
OBJECTIVES

• Compare and contrast the different philosophical

foundations and conceptualization of self
THE SELF
ACCORDING TO
PHILOSOPHY
Philosophy

• Defined as the study of knowledge or wisdom

• Came from the Latin roots philo (love) and Sophia
(wisdom)
• The Queen of All Science

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SOCRATES (470-399 BCE)
“An examined life is not worth living.”

• stonemason; not a writer; Mentor of Plato

• Wanted to discover the essential nature of knowledge,
justice, beauty and goodness

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Socratic Method or Dialectic
Method
• search for the correct and proper definition of a thing
• bring the person closer to the final understanding
• It aims make people think, seek and ask again and
again
• Socrates did not lecture, he instead would ask
questions and engage the person in a discussion.
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Sophist

• first teachers of the West; Athenians who were skilled in

discussions and debates

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Delphic Oracle (Know
Thyself)

• The foundation of Socrates Philosophy

• Socrates would like to emphasize that knowing or
understanding oneself should be more than the
physical self, or the body

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 SELF

PHYSICAL IDEAL
REALM REALM
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Physical Realm

• The best example of the physical realm is the physical

world.
• The physical world is consisting of anything we sense –
see, smell, feel, hear, and taste. It is always changing
and deteriorating.

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Ideal Realm

• This includes the intellectual essences of the universe like

the concept of beauty, truth, and goodness.

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 The SELF PHILOSOPHER’S CONCEPT
SOCRATES Socratic method; self is dichotomous (physical realm and ideal realm)
(soul)

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PLATO (428-348 BCE)

• Real name is Aristocles; philosophy is the way of life

• Plato’s metaphysics = Theory of Forms

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Theory of Forms

• forms refer to what are real; can only be grasped

intellectually

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Plato’s Three Components of
the Soul or Three Part of the
Self
• REASON – rational; motivation for goodness and truth
• SPIRITED – non-rational; will or drive toward action;
initially neutral but can be influenced or pulled in to
two directions
• APPETITES – irrational; lean towards desire for
pleasures of the body
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 The SELF PHILOSOPHER’S CONCEPT
SOCRATES Socratic method; self is dichotomous (physical realm and ideal realm)
(soul)
Plato Three Parts of the Self (Spirit, Reason and Appetite)
(soul)

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ST. AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO

• Christian philosopher
• Wanted to know about moral evil and why it existed in
people, his personal desire for sensual pleasures and
questions about all the sufferings in the world

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The Existence of TWO
REALMS

• God as the source of all reality and truth

• The sinfulness of man – man’s freewill is the cause of
sin/evil

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The Role of Love

• Love of physical objects lead to the sin of GREED

• Excessive love for other people lead to the sin of
JEALOUSY
• Love for the self leads to the sin of PRIDE
• Love for God is the supreme virtue and only loving
Him can man find real happiness 20
 The SELF PHILOSOPHER’S CONCEPT
Socrates Socratic method; self is dichotomous (physical realm and ideal realm)
(soul)
Plato Three Parts of the Self (Spirit, Reason and Appetite)
(soul)
St. Augustine Human nature is composed of two realm.
(Body is united 1. God as the source of reality and truth.
with the soul.) 2. The sinfulness of man.

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RENE DESCARTES
Cogito ergo sum (I think therefore I am)

• Father of Modern Philosophy;

• one of the rationalist philosophers of Europe;
• introduced the Cartesian method.

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Mind-body Problem

• He considered the mind/soul (the self) as a substance

is separate from the body. Descartes believed that all
bodily processes are mechanical. The body, according
to him, is like a machine that is controlled by the will
and aided by the mind.

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 The SELF PHILOSOPHER’S CONCEPT
Socrates Socratic method; self is dichotomous (physical realm and ideal realm)
(soul)

Plato Three Parts of the Self (Spirit, Reason and Appetite)

(soul)
St. Augustine Human nature is composed of two realm.
(Body is united 1. God as the source of reality and truth.
with the soul.) 2. The sinfulness of man.
Rene Descartes True knowledge – concept of the self.
(soul/mind) The self is a dynamic entity that engages in mental operations – thinking, reasoning and
perceiving process.

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JOHN LOCKE

• Born in Wrington, England and son of a Puritan

lawyer; interested in politics
• Believed that knowledge results from ideas produced
a posteriori or by objects that were experienced;
(process = sensation and reflection)
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Locke’s Key Points

• To discover the nature of personal identity, it is

important to find out what it means to be a person.
• A person is a thinking, intelligent being who has the
abilities to reason and to reflect.

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Locke’s Key Points

• A person is also someone who considers themself to be

the same thing in different times and different places.
• Consciousness as being aware that we are thinking—
always accompanies thinking and is an essential part of
the thinking process.
• Consciousness makes possible our belief that we are the
same identity in different times and different places.
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Tabula Rasa (blank slate)

• Ideas are not innate but rather the mind at birth is a

“Tabula rasa”

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 Locke’s Three Laws

Law of Opinion Civil Law Divine Law

(praiseworthy actions ( set by God on the
are “virtues” while (right actions are actions of man;
those otherwise are enforced by people eternally true law for
“vices) with authority) human behavior )

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 The SELF PHILOSOPHER’S CONCEPT
Socrates Socratic method; self is dichotomous (physical realm and ideal realm)
(soul)

Plato Three Parts of the Self (Spirit, Reason and Appetite)

(soul)

St. Augustine Human nature is composed of two realm.

(Body is united 1. God as the source of reality and truth.
with the soul.) 2. The sinfulness of man.
Rene Descartes True knowledge – concept of the self.
(soul/mind) The self is a dynamic entity that engages in mental operations – thinking, reasoning and
perceiving process.

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 The SELF PHILOSOPHER’S CONCEPT
John Locke Consciousness – being aware of what we are thinking.
self Tabula rasa – blank slate
(consciousness)

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DAVID HUME

• Born in Edinburgh, Scotland; “never entertained any

belief in religion”
• At the start of his philosophy, he relied on the
scientific method to explain human nature and
workings of the mind but he eventually discovered the
limitations of the mind and his optimism became
skepticism 32
Two Distinct Entities of our
Experience

1. Impressions are the basic sensations of our

experience, the elemental data of our minds: pain,
pleasure, heat, cold, happiness, grief, fear,
exhilaration, and so on.

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Two Distinct Entities of our
Experience

2. Ideas are copies of impressions that include thoughts

and images that are built up from our primary
impressions through a variety of relationships, but
because they are derivative copies of impressions, they
are once removed from reality.
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 The SELF PHILOSOPHER’S CONCEPT
Socrates Socratic method; self is dichotomous (physical realm and ideal realm)
(soul)

Plato Three Parts of the Self (Spirit, Reason and Appetite)

(soul)
St. Augustine Human nature is composed of two realm.
(Body is united 1. God as the source of reality and truth.
with the soul.) 2. The sinfulness of man.
Rene Descartes True knowledge – concept of the self.
(soul/mind) The self is a dynamic entity that engages in mental operations – thinking, reasoning and
perceiving process.

35
 The SELF PHILOSOPHER’S CONCEPT
John Locke Consciousness – being aware of what we are thinking.
self Tabula rasa – blank slate
(consciousness)

David Hume Instead we have two entities. (impression and ideas)

(no self)

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Let’s test your mastery!

Choose the letter of the correct answer in each

statements on the following slides.

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Question #1

According to Socrates, the aim of this technique is to help

the person solve the logical inconsistencies.
A. Deductive Method
B. Inductive Method
C. Socratic Method
D. Metaphysics Method
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Question #1
Answer: Letter C

According to Socrates, the aim of this technique is to help

the person solve the logical inconsistencies.
A. Deductive Method
B. Inductive Method
C. Socratic Method
D. Metaphysics Method
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Question #2

What are the three components of the soul according to

Plato?
A. Appetite, Reason, Spirit
B. Consciousness, Sophist, Soul
C. Ideas, Impressions, Imagination
D. Knowledge, Posteriori, Self
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Question #2
Answer: Letter A

What are the three components of the soul according to

Plato?
A. Appetite, Reason, Spirit
B. Consciousness, Sophist, Soul
C. Ideas, Impressions, Imagination
D. Knowledge, Posteriori, Self
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Question #3

According to him, doubting make the person aware that

he/she is thinking.
A. Dephi Oracle
B. John Locke
C. Rene Descartes
D. Sigmund Freud
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Question #3
Answer: Letter C

According to him, doubting make the person aware that

he/she is thinking.
A. Dephi Oracle
B. John Locke
C. Rene Descartes
D. Sigmund Freud
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Question #4

This is how John Locke described the human mind at

birth.
A. Posteriori
B. Priori
C. Tabula Rasa
D. Self
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Question #4
Answer: Letter C

This is how John Locke described the human mind at

birth.
A. Posteriori
B. Priori
C. Tabula Rasa
D. Self
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Question #5

When you see the frontliners' situation on the news, you

suddenly feel the urge to become one of them in helping the
community. What component of the self according to Plato this
statement falls to?
A. Appetite
B. Reason
C. Soul
D. Spirit 46
Question #5
Answer: Letter D
When you see the frontliners’ situation on the news, you
suddenly feel the urge to become one of them in helping the
community. What component of the self according to Plato this
statement falls to?
A. Appetite
B. Reason
C. Soul
D. Spirit 47
END OF PART 1
Thank you!

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