Introduction to Philosophy

• Philosophy studies the nature of knowledge, reality, and existence
• It investigates the nature of ordinary and scientific beliefs
• Philosophy explores the legitimacy of concepts through rational arguments
• It seeks answers to questions about ourselves and the world
• Philosophy teaches critical thinking
• Philosophy teaches how to formulate arguments
• Philosophy teaches communication
• Philosophy teaches reasoning
• Philosophy teaches analysis
• Philosophy teaches problem solving
• Pythagoras was the first to use the term "philosophy"
• "Philo" is the Greek word for love
• "Sophia" is the Greek word for wisdom
• Philosophy addresses morality, the definition of a good life, the existence of God, and the nature of the mind
• A core philosophic tenant is questioning existing knowledge to approach truth

Self from Various Philosophical Perspectives

• Socrates: Know Thyself
• Plato: The soul is immortal
• Aristotle: The soul is the essence of the self
• St. Augustine: I am doubting, therefore I am
• Rene Descartes: I think, therefore I am
• John Locke: The self is consciousness
• David Hume: There is no self
• Immanuel Kant: We construct the self
• Gilbert Ryle: The self is the way people behave
• Merleau-Ponty: The self is embodied subjectivity

Ancient Greek Philosophers

• The Greeks moved away from myths, questioned reality, and looked at the question of self

Socrates

• Socrates was the first philosopher to systematically question the self
• According to Socrates, self-knowledge is necessary for a happy and meaningful life
• Socrates believed that one should focus on the full power of reason on the human self
• Socrates asks: "Who are we, Who should we be and Who we will become?"
• Achieving wisdom can be hindered by bodily needs and material desires
• A meaningful life is achieved by being virtuous and knowing one's own value
• This is best done by separating the body from the soul
• Every person is dualistic
• The body is impermanent, the soul is perfect and permanent
• Body + soul = individual

Two Dichotomous Realms

• Physical realm: Changeable, transient, and imperfect; the body belongs to this realm
• Ideal realm: Unchanging, eternal, and immortal; the soul belongs to this realm

Plato

• Plato was a student of Socrates
• Plato says: "The soul is immortal"
• Plato supported the idea that man is a dual nature of body and soul
• Plato believed the philosophy of the self can be explained as self-knowledge and purification of the soul
• Mind and soul are given in perfection with God

Three Components of the Soul according to Plato

• Rational soul: Governs affairs through reason and intellect, enabling deep thinking, wise choices, and understanding of eternal truths

• Spirited soul: Involves emotions and passion; includes love, anger, ambition, and empathy

• Appetitive soul: Consists of basic desires and needs such as food, drink, sleep, and sex

• Conflicts can occur because the 3 elements of self act in a dynamic relationship with one another.

• The responsibility of the rational soul is to sort out things, exert control, and restore harmony among the elements.

• Genuine happiness is achieved by controlling spirits and appetites with the rational soul

• A just and virtuous soul is attained at this ideal state

Two Realms, according to Plato

• The Realm of Shadows: Composed of changing, sensible things which are lesser entities; imperfect and flawed
• The Realm of Forms: Composed of eternal things which are permanent and perfect

Aristotle

• Aristotle was a student of Plato
• Aristotle says: "The soul is the essence of self"
• The soul makes a person a person
• The soul is the essence of the self
• The body and soul are not two separate elements but are one thing
• The soul is the form of the body and cannot exist without it
• Anything with life has a soul
• The rational nature of the self is to lead a good, flourishing life
• Soul does not exist without the body
• The soul dies along the body

Three Kinds of Soul according to Aristotle

• Vegetative: Includes the physical body that can grow
• Sentient: Includes sensual desires, feelings, and emotions
• Rational: What makes man human; includes the intellect to know and understand

St. Augustine

• St. Augustine says: I am doubting therefore I am
• St. Augustine integrated the ideas of Plato and Christianity
• Augustine's view of the human person reflected the medieval world spirit
• The soul is united with the body
• Humankind is created in God's likeness
• Knowing God is equal to knowing the self
• The self is known only through knowing God
• Human beings are geared towards the good because they are a creation of God

Two Aspects of Man according to St. Augustine

• The part that exists in the world and is imperfect, yearning for the Divine

• The part is capable of reaching immortality

• The body dies on earth, while the soul lives eternally in spiritual bliss with God

• St. Augustine says, human nature is composed of:

• God as the source of reality and truth: Eternal truths come from the existence of God -The sinfulness of man: Sin is an act of free will, and moral goodness is achieved through God's grace

• According to St. Augustine, "Knowledge can only come by seeing the truth that dwells within us"

St. Thomas Aquinas

• Aquinas says man is composed of soul (form) and body (matter)
• Soul is the physical form of the body that gives life to physical matter
• Man is one thing because the body and soul are composite
• The soul gives shape to the person and coordinates the matter to be a human person
• The soul is the first act and organizing principle of a physical body
• The intellective soul is unique to humans and can exist apart from the body, allowing for the soul's immortality
• All self-knowledge is dependent on experience in the world

• Descartes: "I think therefore I am"
• Descartes is the Father of Modern Philosophy
• Thinking about the self is proof that there is a self
• Descartes believed in dualism between mind and body:
• Human/person=cogito(mind)+extenza(body). Mind is a seat of consciousness -The body is a machine/unreliable attached to the mind and should not be trusted
• A self is a thinking thing that doubts, understands, affirms, denies, wills, refuses, imagines, and perceives
• Mind houses understanding, intellect, and passion
• Mind does not have sizes or shape
• Body can not understand and is just a shape with sizes
• The primary condition of existence is human rationality
• A healthy mind provides good decisions.
• The misuse of the mind leads to negative outcomes

John Locke

• Locke says: "The self is consciousness"
• Locke opposed the idea that reason is the only source of knowledge of the self
• Ideas are not innate, but rather the mind is a 'tabula rasa' (blank slate) at birth
• Knowledge comes from posteriori ideas that originate from experience
• Self is constructed through sense experiences
• Babies are born knowing nothing
• Nothing exists in the mind that was not first in the senses
• Consciousness is necessary for a coherent personal identity or knowledge of self as a person

Locke's Ideas

• Sensation: Simple ideas received through the five senses (external)
• Reflection: Thinking, doubting, believing, reasoning (internal)
• Memory= Personal identity

David Hume

• Hume says: "There is no self"
• Self is a bundle or collection of different perceptions or temporary impressions
• Our sense of personal identity is a result of imagination or a concept of illusion
• Hume was influenced by empiricism and says all knowledge comes from sense experience
• Learning comes only from experience and observation
• People are recognized as humans because they are seen, heard, and felt

Hume's "Bundle Theory"

• Hume says the self is nothing but a bundle of impressions and ideas
• Impression/Reality are the basic objects of our experience/sensation; forms the core of thoughts
• Ideas are products of impressions; not as "real" as impressions
• The self is nothing over and above a constantly evolving bundle of experience
• An idea results from an impression only if we experience it correctly
• An abstract idea is meaningless
• The idea of self is an idea that has no guaranteed reality

Immanuel Kant

• Kant says: "We construct the self"
• Synthesizing knowledge and experience requires active intelligence
• The self is not only personality but also is the seat of knowledge acquisition
• The self constructs its own reality creating a world that is familiar and predictable.
• The self transcends sense experience through rationality

Kant and Transcendental Apperception

• Transcendental apperception happens when people do not experience self directly
• Instead impressions are organized in the mind resulting in a unified experience of self
• The self organizes and synthesizes thoughts and perceptions to make experience intelligible
• Internal World- thoughts and feelings
• External World- Events and situations outside of out control

Maurice Merleau-Ponty

• The self is embodied subjectivity
• Believed the physical body plays a key role in the subjective self
• Self and perception are encompassed in the physical body
• The physical body is part of the self
• The perception of the mind and the actions of the body are interconnected
• The mind and the body are so intertwined that they cannot be separated
• The living body, thoughts, emotions and experience are unified

Gilbert Ryle

• Ryle says: "I act therefore I am"
• Argues that the mind does not exist and can't be the seat of the self
• The self is not an entity one can locate and analyze; it is a name to describe people's behaviors
• The self is the way people behave
• Humans are a bundle of behaviors
• What truly matters is behavior demonstrated in day-to-day life

Paul Churchland

• The self is the brain
• Churchland disagrees with dualism
• A thing is not real if it cannot be recognized by the senses
• Since the mind cannot be experienced by our senses, it doesn't really exist
• Eliminative materialism: The mind can be experienced by our senses, it is in fact the physical brain that gives us our sense of self
• The physical brain is where we get our sense of self