Socrates and Plato: Philosophical Perspective of Self

Philosophical Perspective of the Self

• Philosophers believe self-knowledge is needed for a happy and meaningful life.

Socrates

• Considered the self to be synonymous with the soul.
• Believed the soul is immortal.
• Death is only the departure of the soul for the eternal world, living on after death.
• Use introspection to carefully inspect your thoughts and emotions and gain self knowledge
• Many theories highlight the importance of self-analysis
• These ideas are applicable to all aspects of life

Plato

• Was a student of Socrates. such his philosophies aligned.
• Believed man is a dual nature of body and soul.
• Self has three parts: reason, spirit/passion, physical appetite.
• Reason enables thinking and achieving a true understanding of truths
• Spirit includes emotions such as love, anger and empathy
• Physical appetite includes basic biological needs such as sexual desires, hunger and thirst
• Our responsibility is to sort things harmoniously among those elements

St. Augustine

• Integrated ideas of Plato and Christianity.
• Believed the soul governs and defines a person as seat of human being.
• The soul surpasses our lifetime leading to eternal life.
• Knowledge can only come from truth of knowing God.

Rene Descartes

• Believed the mind is the true self, beyond doubt.
• "Cogito ergo sum," or "I think, therefore I am."
• Self is a combination of "cogito" (thinking) and "extenza" (extension of mind/body).
• Soul and body are independent, can exist/function without each other.
• The thinking self is distinct and can exist independently of the physical body.

David Hume

• The idea of having a "self" comes from perceptions.
• Impressions from experience.
• Ideas that are imagined perceptions.

Immanuel Kant

• People create their own reality.
• "Apparatus of the Mind" consists of ideas like time/space that exist only in minds.
• Self constructs a familiar and predictable world.

Gilbert Ryle

• Behaviors in day-to-day life define us.
• "I act, therefore I am", self equals bodily behavior.

Maurice Merleau-Ponty

• Mind and body are equally important.
• Experience is essential to existence.
• The mind and body are intertwined where they cannot be separated from one another.

Sociological Perspective of the Self

• Sociology studies human relationships and interconnectedness.
• Sociologists explain self as a product of social experience.

The Self in the External World

• Feral children challenge humans notion of being special.

The Self

• It is distinct from any other self, creating its own identity.
• It possesses consistency can be measured and studied.
• It is private.

Marcel Mauss

• Believes self has two faces referred to as Moi and Personne
• Moi is person's sense of self, basic identity
• Personne is a social concept of what it means to be

George Herbert Mead

• Believes a sense of self develops through social interaction.

"I" and "Me"

• The "Me" is the socialized aspect learned from interactions and environment.
• The "I" us an unique identity response to the "Me".
• The "Me" disciplines the "I" so it is not breaking laws

Theory of Self Development

• Development of self comes from language, gestures, and objects
• Preparatory Stage (0-3 years), children mimic others.
• Play Stage (3-6 years), learn through pretend play and understanding perspectives.
• Game Stage (6-9 years), concerned about generalized others and social expectations.

Social Development Theory (Lev Vygotsky)

• Social interaction precedes the development of consciousness.
• Social level l (Interpsychological) is where social learning happens.
• Individual level (Intrapsychological) develops cognitive functions.
• Infants possess elemental functions where senses are delievered to the brain
• Children commit things to memory natually
• Over time Language and Thought improve
• Child will begin to focus attention
• Memory can cultivated, leading to memorisation
• Perception increases as we grow
• the person with greater knowledge is labeled MKO
• ZPD is the zone where child is encouraged to enable them to develop skills

Anthropological Perspective of the Self

• Considers human experience as interplay of genetic inheritance ("nature") and sociocultural environment ("nurture").

Egocentric

• Sociocentric views ways in which self is viewed

Names

• Provide an important device to individualize a persona
• It is developed through life
• Also involves rites of passage: separation, liminality, incorporation.

Clifford Geertz

• Culture favors a symbolic interpretative model.
• Culture is a system where people communicate, develop knowledge.
• Culture governs behavior and man depends on it.
• Human nature and culture are considered to be interdependent; they work hand in hand