BSCE

1A

The Self From Various

Philosophical Perspectives
Reporters:
John Phoenix V. Anadon
John Stephan N. Mindoro

It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.
 Learning Objectives
● To learn the different perspectives of different
philosophers
● To identify more about their personal values and
beliefs
● To be able understand their ideas and
individuality
DAVID HUME
BORN ON MAY 7, 1711

LIVES IN EDENBURG SCOTLAND

A SCOTTISH PHILOSOPHER

“DAVID HUME’S VIEW OF THE SELF

"The self, insofar as it is accessible
through inner experience, consists of
nothing but the perceptions"
DAVID HUME

According to David Humes; the self is a bundle of perceptions which succeed each
other to give us our identity. He argued that the the different perceptions enable
the self to exist and when the people stop perceiving, the self is lost.
DAVID HUME

• Hume did not have an impression of the self, and the term soul,
mind, or self is meaningless

• Hume argued against the selfish view of the self, arguing that
people are motivated by genuine concern for others, even when
such concern could not benefit them.

• Hume believed that the nature of the self is bound up with

one's reflections on one's states, meaning that the self is
nothing over and above a constantly varying bundle of
experiences. Hume also claimed that we never directly
apprehend the self, concluding that there is no substantial self.
IMMANUEL KANT

A German Philosopher and one of the

foremost thinkers of enlightment. He was
born on April 22, 1724, and passed away
on February 12, 1804.
IMMANUEL KANT

Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher and

one of the foremost thinkers of the Enlightenment.
His comprehensive and systematic work in
epistemology (the theory of knowledge), ethics,
and aesthetics greatly influenced all subsequent
philosophy, especially the various schools of
Kantianism and idealism.
IMMANUEL KANT

According to Immanuel Kant base on his understanding on

oneself, we human have both an inner and outer self which
unify to give consciousness.
The inner self is comprised of our psychological state and
rational intellect. The outer self includes our sense and
physical worth.
 SIGMUND FREUD
( May 6,1856- September 23,1939)

• Austrian neurologist
• Founder of psychoanalysis – a
method of training of mental illness
and also a theory which explains
human behavior.
“The ego is not master in its own house”
SIGMUND FREUD

Sigmund Freud believed that if you have a strong sense of

self (ego), you’re capable of understanding your own
needs and also Intuiting the limits that society puts on
you. If you have a strong sense of self, you can move
freely through life.
SIGMUND FREUD

Freud's view of the self was multitiered, divided among

the conscious, preconscious, and unconscious. He
explains his psychological model in the following
passage from his An Outline of Psychoanalysis .
 Freud’s Philosophical Ideas

01 02 03
Topographical model of Structure model of Psychological stages of
mind development
the mind
-conscious level -Id -Oral stage -Latency stage
-preconscious level -Ego -Anal stage -Genital stage
-unconscious level -Superego -Phallic stage
 Topographical model of the mind

 Conscious Level
Contains all thoughts and ideas that are the focus of our attention now
Active site of the mind
 Preconscious Level
Consists of all which can be retrieved from memory, accessible by the
conscious
 Unconscious Level
Contains things we are unaware inaccessible by the conscious
Here lies the processes which Freud believed to be the real causes of most
behavior
 Conclusion:
 Sigmund Freud believe that the self is multilayered,
divided among the conscious, preconscious,
unconscious.
 He mainly focused on unconscious which he believed
that have dominant influence in our personalities and
this marked a significant departure from previous
efforts in philosophy to understand the nature of the
self.
 Gilbert Ryle
His Philosophical View of the Self

 He was a British
philosopher known for
his contributions to the
field of philosophy of
mind and language.

“the self is the way people behave”

Gilbert Ryle
• He believed that Self is not an entity one can
locate and analyze but Simply the convenient
name that people use
prefer To all behaviors that people make

• for him what truly matters is the behavior that

a person manifest in his day to day life
Gilbert Ryle
• He denies the concept of internal and
non physical self.
• According to him the self is the way people
behave
• He believed that the self is the same as the
bodily behavior “ I act therefore, I am”.
 Paul Churchland
His Philosophical View of the Self

o Is a Canadian
philosopher and author.
He is currently the
Emeritus Professor of
Philosophy at the
University of California,
San Diego

“the self is the brain”

Paul Churchland
 He believed that self is inseparable from the
brain and the physiology of the body

 According to him, all we have is the brain and

so, if the brain is gone, there is no self

Paul Churchland

Paul believed that, the physical brain is

the one who give us the sense of self
not the imaginary mind.
 Maurice Merleau-Ponty
His Philosophical View of the Self

A French philosopher, was

born on March 14, 1908, in
Rochefort-sur-Mer and
died on May 3, 1961, in
Paris.

“The self is embodied subjectivity”

Maurice Merleau-Ponty
 He says that the mind and body are so
intertwined that they cannot be
separated from one another

 For him one cannot find any experience

that is not an embodied experience
Maurice Merleau-Ponty
 For him the living body, his thoughts,
emotion, and experience are all one
 The self can never truly objectified or
known in a completely objective sort of
way
 The self is embodied
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It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.