Philosophy: Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle

• Study of knowledge is "thinking about thinking" involving rational inquiry into humans and the world
• Philosophers differ in their views about the self

Socrates (470-399 BC)

• He was a Greek philosopher, considered the first martyr of education, knowledge, and philosophy
• Advocated "knowing oneself" and believed knowledge is virtue and ignorance is a deprivation
• "The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing"
• Socratic method: Dialogue between the soul and itself

Plato (428-347 BC)

• Student of Socrates, founder of the Academy, and proponent of "knowing thyself"
• Believed in dualistic nature of body and soul and was the Father of Idealism
• "The highest goal of the self in education is knowledge of the good"
• "Ideas are the foundation and justification of scientific knowledge"
• "The beginning of all philosophical activity is the love and admiration of Beautiful"

Aristotle (384-322 BC)

• Ultimate reality in ideas is knowable only through reason
• In living creatures, form is identified with the soul; plants had lowest kinds of souls, animals had higher souls humans had rational souls
  • Plants - Vegetative Soul
  • Animals - Sensitive Soul
  • Humans - Rational Soul
• "The universe is eternal, but the self has an end"
• "The self is created for a purpose"
• 5 special senses of self: sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell
• Human aspirations and desires have some final pursuit: chief end is happiness
• The human soul has irrational elements: desire, vegetative faculty, appetitive faculty
• "A slave is a piece of live property having no existence of self"

St. Thomas Aquinas (1125-1274)

• "Self-knowledge is dependent on experience of the world" resulting in a Theory of Self Knowledge

• Distinguished between

  • Singular self-knowledge (awareness of one's mental state)
  • Universal self-knowledge (understanding human nature)

• Believed that a deeper sense of self comes from becoming more aware of oneself while engaging with reality

• "We are able to know about God through His creation"

• Man must observe four (4) cardinal virtues: prudence, temperance, justice and fortitude

• 3 theological virtues by self: faith, hope, charity

Saint Augustine (354-430 BC)

• Believed true understanding of the self comes from God
• Questioning one's existence is proof of living
• "The self is defined by an immortal soul that is distinct from the body"
• Believed humans are created in God's image and that true self-knowledge comes from knowing God
• Believed the soul is immortal and in need of divine grace for redemption
• Gods love helps people achieve true understanding and inner peace
• "The goal of self-existence is union and eternal fellowship with God"
• "A person's will must be ordered toward right things such as charity, peace, and holiness"

Francis Bacon (1561-1626)

• "Knowledge of self is the power of establishing the dominion of man over earth."
• "To arrive at knowledge, the self must study nature with the intention of grasping forces"
• Human mind must be free from prejudices (idols)
  • Idol of human mind
  • Idol of the tribe
  • Idol of the cave
  • Idol of the marketplace

Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)

• "All ourselves have the right or license t everything in the world."
• Man's life in the state of nature is solitary, poor, nasty, and short
• "Man as self has a self-interested and materialistic desire to end war"
• "As long as the self does no harm to any other, the sovereign should keep its hands off him

René Descartes (1596-1650)

• French philosopher known as the "Father of Modern Philosophy."
• Introduced "Cogito Ergo Sum" I think, therefore I am, emphasizing the distinction between the mind and the body.
• Believed mind is separate from body, resulting in mind body dualism
• "When a man doubts, he is thinking."
• Innate or pure ideas are attributes of the human mind (a priori)

John Locke (1632-1704)

• "Tabula Rasa" or "Blank Slate" theory; humans are born without innate knowledge and develop through experiences
• "The self is consciousness."
• "The self is not dependent on a soul or substance."
• "Personal identity is psychological continuity."
• Locke's day man and nightman theory suggests a person can have two separate consciousnesses

David Hume (1711-1774)

• Scottish philosopher argued that the self is just a collection of impressions, with no permanent, unchanging self
• "Self is a collection of perceptions that are always changing"
• "Self is an imaginary creature made up of a series of impermanent states or events"
• The speed at which our perceptions pass makes us think that thought is a single thing with different parts
• All ideas are ultimately derived from impressions

Immanuel Kant (1711-1774)

• German philosopher known for "Transcendental Apperception," where the self is shaped by experiences, intuition, and imagination.

• Inner and outer self

  • The inner self is the psychological state and rational intellect
  • The outer self is the physical world and senses

• "The self exists independently of experience."

• The self-awareness that "I am" is an empty representation that we can't have a concept of

• The logical predicates of "I" are the "categories of self-reference"

Gilbert Ryle (1900-1976)

• British philosopher rejected Cartesian dualism arguing self is defined by behavior, not a separate mind-body entity
• "Mind is not something that can be observed or measured, so it can't be the source of the self."
• Ryle believed physical brain is what gives people sense of self

Patricia Churchland (1943)

• When we are conscious and make decisions, these are just functions of the physical brain
• The wonderful thing in reality is that science allows us to know
• Neuroscience challenges the existence of soul and life after death
• Freewill

Maurice Merlau-Ponty (1908-1961)

• Proposed that the body and mind are not separate, but one entity shaping perception and experience
• "The self is a unity of the mind and body."
• The lived world is the foundation of consciousness and being
• Consciousness is a dynamic force that structures physical behavior and conscious ideas

Sociology

• Study of human society, its structure, how it works, the effects of people's interactions with each other
• The "Self" based on social structures could give us a understanding of who we are and reasons how our interactions can affect us.
• Socialization is a lifetime endeavor; as the people one interacts with changes throughout a person's life
• Considering the social environment with the changes on the person helps achieve identity and self

Mead's 3 Role Playing Stages of Self Development

• Preparatory Stage (Birth-2 years old) the infant imitates the actions and behaviors of the people that they interact with
• Play Stage (2 years old-6 years old) children begin to interact applying certain rules made by the children
• Game Stage (6 years old-9 years old) which demonstrates self-development of the children
• Self-development which recognizes the rules of the game able to identify their roles

Anthropological Perspective of The Self

• Culture is shared, symbolic, natural, learned, integrated, encompassing and maladaptive

  • Archeological anthropology: Reconstructs, describes and interprets human behavior andcultural patterns through material remains
  • Biological or physical anthropology Focuses on human evolution as revealed by human genetics, human biological plasticity, evolution, behavior and social life
  • Linguistic anthropology studies language in its social and cultural context across space and time

William James

• Psychologist introduced concepts of the "me-self" and the "I-self" in document, The Principles of Psychology

  • "Me-self" is the self that has experienced events
  • "I-self" the self-thought or the self-knower

• Divided self into 3 categories

  • Its constituents
  • The feeling and emotions aroused- Self-feelin
  • The actions prompted- Self-seeking and self-preservation

• Sub categories of Self

  • Material Self is constructed by bodies, clothes, immediate family and home
  • Social Self varies depending on how we present ourselves socially
  • Spiritual Self can discriminate one's moral sensibility, conscience and indomitable will

• Carl Rogers believed people must be fully honest with themselves to have personal discovery

  • The Perceived Self = Self-worth - how the person see self & others see them
    • The Real Self = self-image how the person really is
    • The Ideal Self = how the person would like to be

Concepts Of Unified And Multiple Self

• Unified Self: Freud believed that self has multiple parts, we are unified beings
• Multiple Self: Gergen argued that having a flexible sense of self allows for multiple "selves" It depends on ones self?
• One must define themself as warm or cold, dominant or submissive, sexy or plain

True Self And Fake Self

• True Self as rooted from infancy is called the simple being has "real self"
• False Self is defense overlaying or contradicting the original sense of self

Western Culture

• About focus on oneself and putting egoism first
• Result wealth on result and hard work
• More inclined towards long life over short lived things wealth being a result of enterprise and hard work
• Inclined in more acquisition of material things
• Obsessed with being successful

Eastern Culture

• Focused on the feelings of others with a focus on collertivism wealth result of fortune and luck
• More inclined towards long life over short lived things also less assets more value and wealth being tied to fate rather than hard work

Individualism Vs Collectivism

• People are autonomous and independent from in-groups.
• Give priority to their personal goals of their in-groups
• Interdependent within their in-groups
• Give priority to the goals of their in-groups.
• In-groups primarily shape their behavior

The "I" And "Me"

• Two components the person has

  • The "Me" characterizes behavior, and or actions done by a person that follows the "generalized others"
  • The "I" is the persons reaction to the attitude of others