Introduction to Socrates and Philosophy

• Philosophy stems from the Latin 'philo' and 'sophia', meaning love of wisdom.
• It seeks to uncover the fundamental causes, reasons, and principles.

Socrates

• Born in Alopece, 469–399 B.C.E.
• The self and soul are synonymous.
• Soul Searching is the basis of all knowledge and importance.
• Taking care of the soul is philosophy's primary goal.
• Socrates emphasized the power of human reason in defining who we are, should be, and will be.
• Over-focusing on body needs like food, drink, sex, and wealth hinders wisdom.
• The soul aims for perfection and wisdom, using reason to achieve enlightenment.

Socratic Method

• Also known as introspection.
• It involves continuous questioning.
• It requires careful thought and emotion examination to gain self-awareness.

Two Dichotomous Realms

• Physical realm is changeable, temporary, and imperfect, including the physical body.
• Ideal realm is unchanging, eternal, and immortal, including the soul.

Two Types of Existence

• Visible (Physical)
• Invisible (Soul)

Plato

• Born in Athens in 428/427 B.C.E.
• Died in Athens in 348/347 B.C.E.
• Was a Student of Socrates and Teacher of Aristotle
• Employs method of "collection and division" to categorize generic ideas.
• Best known for the "Theory of Forms."
• The soul is the most divine aspect of a human.
• Reason should control Spirits and Appetites.

Two Types of World

• Material World is not truly real, as true reality lies beyond.
• Ideal World is eternal, unchanging, and based on ideas, not senses.

Three Parts of the Self

• Reason (The Rational) is our logical thinking.
• The divine which allows deep thought, wise choices, and understanding of eternal truths.
• Spirit or Passion (The spirited) constitutes basic emotions.
• Includes love, anger, ambition, aggressiveness, and empathy.
• Physical Appetite (The appetitive) meets basic biological needs.
• Includes hunger, thirst, and sexual desire.

St. Augustine

• Born November 13, 354, in Tagaste, Numidia (Souk Ahras, Algeria).
• Died August 28, 430, in Hippo Regius (Annaba, Algeria).
• Latin Name: Aurelius Augustinus
• Also called Saint Augustine of Hippo.
• Bishop of Hippo from 396–430.
• Integrated Plato's ideas into Christianity.
• Contributed the "Theory of Forms" offering a Christian view.
• Ideal realm is both Heaven and hell.
• Material represents the world we live in.

René Descartes

• Born March 31, 1596, in La Haye, Touraine, France.
• Died February 11, 1650, in Stockholm, Sweden.
• French mathematician, scientist, and philosopher.
• Father of Modern Philosophy.
• "Cogito ergo sum," meaning "I think, therefore I am."
• Formulated the modern concept of mind-body dualism.

John Locke

• Born August 29, 1632, in Wrington, Somerset, England.
• Died October 28, 1704, in High Laver, Essex.
• Was an English Philosopher.
• His work underlies modern empiricism and political liberalism.
• Inspired by the European Enlightenment and the U.S. Constitution.
• Known for the "Theory of Tabula Rasa," where the mind is a blank slate at birth, gaining knowledge through experience.
• Personal identity is built from senses: seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and feeling.

David Hume

• Born May 7, 1711, in Edinburgh, Scotland.
• Died August 25, 1776, in Edinburgh, Scotland.
• Was a famed Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist recognized for empiricism and skepticism.
• The self and personal identity come from imagination.

The Division of Mind's Perception

• Impression is actual or real experiences.
• Ideas come from knowledge without direct experience.

Sigmund Freud

• Born May 6, 1856, in Freiberg, Moravia, Austrian Empire (now Pribor, Czech Republic).
• Died September 23, 1939, in London, England.
• Austrian neurologist, founder of psychoanalysis.
• Psychoanalysis studies abnormal behavior.
• The self is multilayered
• The data from Pre/Sub Conscious can readily brought to consciousness.
• It is our stock knowledge.
• Information in Unconscious is retained but not easily accessible.
• Includes intentionally forgotten trauma, bad experiences, or overwhelming information.

Three Parts of the Psyche/Mind

• Id operates unconsciously and is driven by desire/pleasure.
• Aims to fulfill desires, experiencing pleasure and avoiding tension.
• Ego is conscious, reality-driven, and balances the id and superego.
• Superego operates unconsciously, driven by moral choices.
• Known as perfectionist and represents our conscience.

Gilbert Ryle

• Born August 19, 1900, in Brighton, Sussex, England.
• Died October 6, 1976, in Whitby, North Yorkshire.
• British Philosopher from the Oxford Philosophy, or Ordinary Language movement.
• Known for "The Concept of the Mind (1949)".
• Argued the self is bodily behavior.

Paul Churchland

• Born October 21, 1942, in Vancouver, B.C., Canada.
• Interested in Neurophilosophy, Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of Mind, Artificial Intelligence, and Epistemology.
• Argues self is just the brain.

Sociological Perspective of the Self

• The self is not present at birth.
• Human behavior is shaped by group life.

Charles Horton Cooley

• Introduced the looking-glass self.
• A person views themselves as others perceive them.
• Perceptions can be subjective and possibly misinterpreted.
• "I am not what I think I am, and I am not what you think I am, but rather I am what I think you think I am."

George Herbert Mead

• His theory of the social self.
• Involves "I" and "Me" self and the "I" and "Me" must unite.
• "I" is the subjective, active self, showing the unique traits.
• It responds to the "Me".
• "Me" is the objective self, which represents society's internalized attitudes, expectations, and demands..

Garry Lanuza

• Modern self-identity is freely chosen, not limited by traditions.
• Postmodern self continuously evolves due to social context, information technology, and globalization.
• These provide opportunities for but self-cultivation may cause alienation or dehumanization.

Jean Baudrillard

• Self-identity is achieved by prestige symbols acquired through consumption in postmodern societies.
• Cultural practices like advertising influence people to buy goods for status, not usefulness, leading to a constant search for prestige.

Culture

• The way of life a society follows.
• Culture is learned through education, training, and experience.
• It involves sanctions/controls that can be formal or informal.

Two Types of Culture

• Material Culture: tangible items like buildings and skills.
• Non-Material Culture: Intangible concepts like beliefs, customs, languages, and traditions.

Components of Culture

• Norms are societal guidelines for public behavior.
• They determine what is correct or incorrect, appropriate or inappropriate.
• Folkways are customs or conventions followed casually.
• Mores are customs with strong moral and ethical importance.

Ideas, Beliefs, and Values

• Ideas are non-material cultural aspects reflecting man's understanding.
• Beliefs are individual convictions about an idea.
• Values are shared abstract concepts of what is important and worthwhile.

Perspectives on Culture

• Cultural Relativism sees cultural traits meaningful within their specific context.
• Culture Shock is a feeling of disorientation when encountering different cultural practices.
• Ethnocentrism is the belief in one's cultural superiority.
• Xenocentrism is preferring foreign cultures over one's own.
• Noble Savage Mentality views primitive cultures as better and simpler.

Causes of Cultural Change

• Discovery is finding something previously existing but unknown.
• Invention is creating something new or original.
• Diffusion is the spread of cultural traits between groups/societies.
• Colonization is establishing a colony under the rule of another state.
• Rebellion/Revolution aims to radically change the social order.

Chapter 3: Psychological Perspective of the Self

• Psychology is the study of human behavior.

William James

• Introduces concept of the Self with parts: The Me-Self and The I-Self
• Believed introspection can pave the path to understanding the spiritual self.
• "I-Self" is the self that knows itself which reflects a person's soul, it is known as the pure ego.
• "Me-Self" is the empirical self of an individual, an experience subcategorized as: material, social, spiritual.
• Material Self comprises personal possessions.
• Social Self includes behaviors in social situations.
• Spiritual Self encompasses the person's most intimate/important parts such as: purpose, motives, emotions, values etc.

Carl Rogers

• Developed Self Theory: Real and Ideal Self.
• Defined self as adjusting perception of identity.
• Self Concept refers to self-image.
• Believed humans pursue self-fulfillment/actualization.
• Denied needs can result in severe anxiety for an individual
• Efficacy is based on beliefs of human agency
• Self-Efficacy is the trust one has in ability to complete action
• Self-understanding has Self-Concept, with two components: real self and ideal self.
• The "real self" includes all the ideas and awareness of 'what I am' or 'can do'.
• The "ideal self" it's how individual wants/should become alongside ambitions/goals.
• Closeness between "ideal" and "real" self leads to greater fulfillment; distance creates unhappiness.
• Adolescents self-understanding involves their single multiple views of Self
• Multiple Selves fluctuate across relations/Roles
• Both are also true or false.
• A false self protects the original one.
• It is not rigid, and may change to impress others or depending on situation.
• Albert Bandura saw humans capable in their agency as active shapers in their own experiences.
• Embodies systems: self-regulatory, belief, and abilities rather than a separate unit
• Human agency's features are: intentionality and forethought.
• Intentionality does acts intending.
• Forethought enables anticipation and considerations of consequences of acts.
• Self- Reactiveness is the path to making appropriate decisions.
• Self- Reflectivenss is a form of inspecting one's adequacy.

Carl Jung

• Jung sees continuous Self development during life, coming to form at adolescence
• The psyche's structure creates interaction seeking harmony through subsystems:
• Ego, Personal/Collective Unconscious
• The Ego includes all thoughts that enter consciousness while providing perception/stability.
• The Personal Unconscious stores repressed/forgotten things. The Collective Unconscious contains base elements of the psyche shared together with other humans. Components included such as Persona, Shadow, Animius/Anima

Ego Defense Mechanism

Important ones includes repression forgetting to unconsciousness.

• Reaction Formation includes some form of gaslighting
• Projection denies idea and impulsively projects toward others
• Sublimation converts unpleasant experiences with pleasant
• Displacement releases tension by using non threatening targets
• Rationalization justifies situations that are unacceptable.

Erik Erikson

Founder of Psychosocial His theory says identity is made in adolescent age. These are usually formed distancing themselves from others. (Trust vs. Mistrust Hope), (Autonomy vs. Shame Will), (Initiation vs. Inferiority)

Abraham Maslow

• Maslow's Hierarchy states that humans try for self-actualization.

Chapter 4: Self In Eastern vs. Western Thought

• Eastern are from Asian religion, directed towards outwards
• Western are mostly European believing in non-religion.
• Individualists emphasize satisfaction
• Collectivists are less with family

Theorizing the Filipino Self

• Sikolohiyang Pilipino by Virgilio Enriquez
• Uses "Pantayong Pananaw" to see how everyone thinks with using their made instruments.
• Kapwa Theory
• Ibang Tao are to the strangers.
• Hindi Ibang Tao is for relatives and those important to us.