UNDERSTANDING THE

SELF:
PERSPECTIVE OF GREAT
PHILOSOPHERS
ANA CARMELA LARA
SPECIAL LECTURER
 “KNOW
THYSELF”
Imperative Requirement
 “The unexamined life is not worth living. ”
—Socrates
Dualism of Self

BODY SOUL
Imperfect and temporary Perfect and eternal
Belongs to physical Belongs to ideal
realm realm
• Understanding the self can only be achieved
in the acknowledgement of one’s ignoranc
PLATO’S
PSYCHE
Three elements of Psyche
1. Appetitive
2. Spirited
3. Mind
ST. AUGUSTINE
Development of the self is
achieved through self-
presentation and self-realization.

“Man’s end goal is happiness.”

MODERN
PHILOSOPHERS’
VIEW OF SELF
RENE DECARTES
METHODIC
Doubts the sense perceptions as
DOUBT
these often deceive people.
“I THINK
THEREFORE I
AM”
“Cogito, ergo Sum”
HUMAN
RATIONALITY
JOHN LOCKE
TABULARASA
Self is comparable to an empty
space.
EXPERIENCE is an important
requirement in order to have sense
data which, rough the process of
reflection and analysis becomes
sense perception.
subjective
DAVID HUME
There cannot be persisting idea
of the self.
All ideas are derived from impressions.

“All that we know about

ourselves are just bundles of
temporary impressions.”
IMMANUEL KANT
Transcendental Unity of the
Apperception argues that self is
always transcendental.
SIGMUND FREUD
The “I” ordinarily constitutes
both the mental and physical
actions.
TOPOGRAPHICAL
• MODEL
the individual person may both know or do
not know certain things at the same time.
CONSCI
PRECONSCI
OUS
OUS
UNCONS
SIGMUND FREUD
STRUCTURAL
MODEL
THREE DIFFERENT AGENCIES OF THE
SELF:
ABOVE
SUPEREGO
“I”
CONSCI EGO
OUS
UNCONS ID
CIOUS
GILBERT RYLE
Opposed the idea of Decartes
on the Dualism.
Self is the same as bodily
behavior
PAUL CHURCHLAND
The self is the brain.
It is the brain and not the
imaginary mind that gives us
a sense of self
MAURICE MERLEAU-
PONTY
The self is all embodied
subjectivity.
 A picture
always reinforces the
concept
Images reveal large amounts of data,
so remember: use an image instead of
long texts