Philosophy of Self: Key Concepts

• The presentation explores the self from philosophical and anthropological perspectives.
• It aims to discuss representations of the self, examine influences shaping the self, and compare perspectives across disciplines.
• Understanding the basis of the "self" meets a fundamental human need.
• A simple label assigned at birth does not fully define the self.
• The exploration of self has spurred numerous studies and diverse conceptual approaches.

Philosophy

• "Philo" means "love" and "sophia" means "wisdom" in Greek.
• Philosophy is the "love of wisdom."
• A philosopher engages in the search for wisdom or truth.
• Philosophers have always tried to describe the individual's uniqueness.

Socrates

• "The unexamined life is not worth living."
• Examining one's self and how to live is important for self-improvement.
• Realities exist in physical and ideal realms.
• The body is changeable, transient, and imperfect.
• The soul is unchangeable, eternal, and perfect.
• Humans are dualistic, incorporating both body and soul.
• Reason helps the soul achieve perfection.
• Continuous reflection is essential to free the soul from the body.

Plato

• Supported duality and the soul's three concepts.
• Reason leads to deep thinking, wise choices, and truth.
• Spirit drives love, anger, and empathy.
• Physical Appetite governs hunger and sexual desire.
• People were all-knowing before birth.
• Contemplation helps one regain perfection

Aristotle

• The soul is core to living beings
• He argued against the soul’s separate existence.
• The human is a composite of body and soul and cannot be separated.
• The soul allows performing thinking, willing, imagining, desiring, and perceiving.
• The soul activates the body and is not a ghostly occupant.
• Three classes of soul exist: vegetative, sentient (sensitive), and rational.
• Body is material for Soul.
• Humans act rationally through their bodies.

St. Augustine

• Believed humans are both soul and body.
• The immortal soul communes with God, existing in an imperfect, dualistic nature.
• The ability to choose between good and evil is emphasized.
• The religious duty is to love and serve God to choose good, but pleasure tempts people towards evil.
• The body is considered a snare, a cage, and a slave to the soul, creating conflict.

Thomas Aquinas

• Infused Christianity in Aristotelian philosophy.
• Unity is emphasized, even though the "self" is matter and form.
• Matter makes up everything.
• Form is the essence of a thing.
• The soul animates the body.
• Self-knowledge depends on experiences.

Rene Descartes

• Believed in body-mind dualism.
• The human consists of the body and non-material mind.
• Self is a physical and thinking entity.
• Man is a thinking entity distinct from its body
• The mind or soul is superior, where mental states occur.
• Existence stems from the ability to think.
• People must use the mind to develop themselves.

John Locke

• An "empty" mind, or tabula rasa, is shaped by sensations and reflections, which are the sources of all ideas.
• Consciousness is the self's core.
• Personal identity and continuous psychology define individuals.

David Hume

• There is no self.
• One lacks a clear idea of themselves
• Self is a collection of different thoughts.
• Perceptions occur as Impressions and Ideas
• The "self" constantly changes as we experience them

Immanuel Kant

• People construct the Self.
• Experience occurs through disconnected sensations.
• The two components of Self are inner (psychology/intellect), and outer (physical and sense).
• Humans govern and direct themselves.
• Show Respect of Self.
• People should be treated equally, not as tools

Gilbert Ryle

• "I act, therefore I am."
• Self mirrors behavior.
• Mind expresses thoughts, emotions, and behavior.
• Actions express who you are

Paul Churchland

• Understanding the brain helps you completely understand the mind.
• Develop a neuroscience vocabulary to clearly explain the mind, consciousness, and human experience.
• This is eliminative materialism.

Maurice Merleau-Ponty

• The mind and body are intertwined.
• Division comes from confused thinking
• He refers to self as embodied subjectivity.
• Body acts as a unified "Mind".

Anthropology

• It studies human behavior, biology, cultures, societies, and languages across time.
• From Greek, "Anthropos" means "human being.“
• Four Sub Fields: Archaeology, Biological Anthropology, Linguistic Anthropology, Cultural Anthropology
• Anthropologists study individual/human changes over time.
• Self is viewed as a culturally impacted idea which is autonomous and submerged in a community.

Katherine Ewing

• She is an Professor and Anthropologist.
• "Self" is a culturally and memory based series based upon which each concept emerges and changes.

Joseph Ledoux

• He is a Neuroscientist
• Aspects of self include explicit qualities consciously viewed.
• Aspects of the self include implicit qualities out of available consciousness.
• Self fluctuates depending on learning, ageing, stress and genetics.

Catherine Raeff

• Culture influences view of relationships, personality traits, achievement, or the expression of them.