Understanding the Philosophical Self

Understanding the Self

• Essential for personal identity and moral responsibility.
• Different philosophical perspectives provide varied insights into self-awareness and existence.

Notions of the Self Across Philosophers

• Socrates: Emphasized the dualistic nature of existence with body and soul as separate entities, focusing on personal knowledge.
• Plato: Supported duality; identified three components of the soul: rational (reason), spirited (emotion), and appetitive (desires).
• St. Augustine: Presented a bifurcated nature of humans; the body is mortal while the soul seeks eternal life, aiming for divine communion and bliss.
• Thomas Aquinas: Defined humans as a combination of matter (hyle) and form (morpe), with the soul providing essence and animation to the body.
• Rene Descartes: Established modern philosophy through the statement “I think therefore, I am,” distinguishing between mind (cogito) and body (extenza).
• David Hume: Introduced Empiricism and Bundle Theory, where knowledge comes from senses; proposed that the self is a collection of impressions and ideas.
• Sigmund Freud: Developed Psychoanalysis, asserting that human behavior is driven by Eros (life instinct) and Thanatos (death instinct), and outlined the mind's structure with id, ego, and superego.
• Gilbert Ryle: Argued against an internal, non-physical self, suggesting that behavior is the true measure of identity.
• Merleau-Ponty: Critiqued dualism, arguing that the mind and body are inseparable and that they interact as a unified experience.

Self Reflection Questions

• Encourage introspection on personal identity and transformation.
• Explore connections between self, body, and community of selves.
• Contemplate the concept of self after death, raising questions of continuity and existence beyond physical life.

Understanding the Self

• Essential for personal identity and moral responsibility.
• Different philosophical perspectives provide varied insights into self-awareness and existence.

Notions of the Self Across Philosophers

• Socrates: Emphasized the dualistic nature of existence with body and soul as separate entities, focusing on personal knowledge.
• Plato: Supported duality; identified three components of the soul: rational (reason), spirited (emotion), and appetitive (desires).
• St. Augustine: Presented a bifurcated nature of humans; the body is mortal while the soul seeks eternal life, aiming for divine communion and bliss.
• Thomas Aquinas: Defined humans as a combination of matter (hyle) and form (morpe), with the soul providing essence and animation to the body.
• Rene Descartes: Established modern philosophy through the statement “I think therefore, I am,” distinguishing between mind (cogito) and body (extenza).
• David Hume: Introduced Empiricism and Bundle Theory, where knowledge comes from senses; proposed that the self is a collection of impressions and ideas.
• Sigmund Freud: Developed Psychoanalysis, asserting that human behavior is driven by Eros (life instinct) and Thanatos (death instinct), and outlined the mind's structure with id, ego, and superego.
• Gilbert Ryle: Argued against an internal, non-physical self, suggesting that behavior is the true measure of identity.
• Merleau-Ponty: Critiqued dualism, arguing that the mind and body are inseparable and that they interact as a unified experience.

Self Reflection Questions

• Encourage introspection on personal identity and transformation.
• Explore connections between self, body, and community of selves.
• Contemplate the concept of self after death, raising questions of continuity and existence beyond physical life.