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Transcript
## Who Are You? Outlined by: JGCL Most of us have been asked this question many times: when meeting a new person, introducing ourselves in class, or staring at the mirror and not quite recognizing who you see. Our answer to this question varies with multiple factors: proof that the self is as comp...
## Who Are You? Outlined by: JGCL Most of us have been asked this question many times: when meeting a new person, introducing ourselves in class, or staring at the mirror and not quite recognizing who you see. Our answer to this question varies with multiple factors: proof that the self is as complex as the number of perspectives which attempt to explain it. In this module, we will talk about how different fields try to shed light into the beautiful enigma that is 'the self'. ## Philosophical Perspectives Philosophers were perhaps the first to attempt to explain what makes the 'self'. While philosophers have different opinions and theories about the topic, most of them agree (at least, to some extent) with the age-old proposition of **the Mind-Body Duality**. ### The Mind - is a metaphysical object, consisting of spiritual essence - exists in the metaphysical world - a perfect soul contained in the body - there is a truth within our thoughts that constitute the self, and we must seek to discover it. ### The Body - is a physical object, consisting of physical material - exists and interacts with the physical world - an imperfect body - senses the world around it, but these senses are deceptive and must not be thought of as truth. ## Socrates Believed that the true self is 'the soul' or the rational part of ourselves. - Believed that the self consists of body and soul, the soul being the 'true self': unchanging and immortal. - To care for the self, we must know the self. - The true self is knowable through questioning, now known as the 'Socratic method'. - The body, although a part of the self, is only a receptacle of the soul. ## Plato A student of Socrates; expanded the concept of 'the soul' as having three parts. - Humans are rational (i.e., we think and are conscious), and this must be the 'self' which sets us apart from animals. - Our intellect constitutes our true self.
