The Self From Various Perspectives - Philosophy PDF

CHAPTER 1 THE SELF FROM VARIOUS PERSPECTIVES PHILOSOPHY WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY Philosophy is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, value, mind, and language. It is a rational and critical inquiry that reflects on its own method...

CHAPTER 1 THE SELF FROM VARIOUS PERSPECTIVES PHILOSOPHY WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY Philosophy is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, value, mind, and language. It is a rational and critical inquiry that reflects on its own methods and assumptions. “I KNOW THAT I DON’T KNOW” SOCRATES -FATHER OF WESTERN PHILOSOPHY (470-399 B.C.E) SOCRATIC METHOD – ask questions and discuss possible answers. Example: Why do you say that? What do you mean by…? He believed that man is composed of body and soul. BODY – is imperfect SOUL – is perfect and unchanging is the person’s core identity, his/her unique spirit that makes one distinct.  “The unexamined life is not worth living” He believed that philosophy had a very important role to play in the lives of people. According to him, self-knowledge or the examination of one’s self, as well as the question about how one ought to live one’s life, are very important concerns because only by knowing yourself can you hope to improve your life. Self-knowledge would open your eyes to your true nature. The state of your inner being (soul/self) determines the quality of your life. Balance between mind and body  PLATO -Greek Philosopher ( 427 -3447 B.C.E) Plato was the student of Socrates. Plato’s dualistic, idealistic and abstract view of reality shaped his notion of the self. The self, for him is a rational substance consisting body and soul. The soul is derived from the world ideas, while the body from the world of matter. According to him, man’s real self is the soul, existing apart from the body; it is indestructible and it continues to exist eternally after death of the body. TRI-PARTITE SOUL Soul is composed of 3 parts. 0ur divine essence that enables us to think deeply, make wise choices, and REASON achieve a true understanding of eternal truths. PHYSICAL our basic biological needs APPETITE such as hunger, thirst, and sexual desire. our basic emotions such as SPIRIT or love, anger, ambition, PASSION aggressiveness, and empathy “The truth is like a lion: you don’t have to defend it. Let it loose, it will defend itself”  SAINT AUGUSTINE -Christian Theologian (354-430 AD) St. Augustine of Hippo is one of the two great thinkers of the medieval period whose works, to some extent, were influenced by Plato’s philosophy. He blended Christianity with the Philosophy of Plato, particularly on the dualistic view of reality and the self as evident in his work. The self is a tripartite being it is composed of the body, soul, and spirit. The body is the outer part of the self through which the self can come into contact with the world. The inner part of the self is called the soul, which composed of the mind, the emotions and the will. The innermost part of the self, or the core self, is called the spirit. It is through the spirit that the self ca n commune with God. Human self is an immaterial soul that can think. After the death of the souls of those who most love the forms would rise to contemplate the eternal truths. Emphasized the importance of the will, the ability to choose between good and evil. The fundamental religious duty is to love and serve God. “I think, therefore I am” COGITO ERGO SUM  RENE DESCARTES -founder of modern Philosophy (1596-1650) Descartes proposed that doubt was a principal tool of disciplined inquiry. His method was called hyperbolical/metaphysical doubt, also sometimes referred to as methodological skepticism. Rationalist view of perspective. He asserted that everything perceived by the senses could not be used as proof of existence because human senses could be fooled. He added that there was only one thing we could be sure of in this world, and that was everything could be doubted. He believed that being human starts with the self. Knowledge is a product of the rational mind.Mind/Soul and Body interact, but they are separate. THE SOUL THE BODY It is conscious, thinking substance that It is material substance that changes is unaffected by time through time It is known only to itself(only you It can be doubted: the public can know your own mental event) correct claims about the body It is not made up of parts. It views the It is made up of physical , quantifiable, entirety of itself with no hidden or divisible parts separate compartments. “We need reason in order to evaluate our thoughts and actions.” “Human mind at birth is a tabula rasa, which means that knowledge is derived from experience” JOHN LOCKE -British philosopher and physician (1632-1704) If Descartes described the “self” as a thinking thing, Locke expanded this definition of self to include the memories of that thinking thing. Locke believed that the “self” is identified with consciousness. A person’s memories provide a continuity of experience that allows him/her to identify himself/herself as the same person over time. Archetypal advocate of the empiricist view of knowledge: ▪ Believed that humans by nature are good. ▪ People are naturally reasonable and moral. ▪ Behavior is learned, people are either influenced to do good or bad. “We are like chameleons, we take our hue and the color of our moral character from those who are around us”. RATIONALIST The view that reason is the primary source of all knowledge and that only our reasoning abilities can enable us to understand sense experience and reach accurate conclusions. EMPIRICIST The view that sense experience is the primary source of all knowledge and that only a careful attention to sense experience can enable us to understand the world and achieve accurate conclusions. “A wise man proportion s his belief to the evidence”  DAVID HUME -Scottish philosopher and historian (1711-1776) He claimed that there cannot be a persisting idea of the self. For him the concept of self, in order to be intelligible and meaningful, must be based on sense impressions. All we know about ourselves are just bundles of temporary impressions. Hume harshly claimed that there IS no self. All ideas are derived form impressions. Impression – direct experience ; they result from inward and outward sentiments Ideas – imagination “Do the right thing, because this right”  IMMANUEL KANT -Prussian metaphysicist (1724-1804) Kant’s view the “self” is transcentdal, which means the self is related to a spiritual or nonphysical realm. He believes that man is a free agent, capable of making decisions for himself. As a free agent, man is gifted with reason and free will. “The busier we are, the more acutely we feel that we live, the more conscious we are of life.”  “Wish fulfillment is the road to the unconscious”  SIGMUND FREUD -Austrian neurologist/psychologist (1856-1939 Freud advocated effort to uncover the hidden nature of the self. His The mental Iceberg understanding of the nature of the self is multifaceted and rests in his concepts of mind and personality. Though conscious self also has important role to play in our lives, it is the unconscious self that holds the greatest fascination that has the dominant influence in our personalities. UNCONSCIOUS CONSCIOUS It is defined as a reservoir of The conscious mind involves all of feelings, thoughts, urges, and the things that you are currently memories that outside of aware of and thinking about. It is conscious awareness. Freud somewhat akin to short-term believed that the unconscious memory and is limited in terms of continues to influence behavior capacity. Your awareness of yourself even though people are unaware of and the world around you are part these underlying influences. of your consciousness. Pleasure Principle Reality Principle “The self is the way people behave”  GILBERT RYLE -British philosopher (1900-1976) Philosopher and professor produced a critique on Descartes’ idea that the mind is distinct from the body. He wrote The Concept of the Mind, where he rejected the notion that mental states are separable from physical states. The self is basically our behavior. This concept provided the philosophical principle, “I act therefore I am” or “You are what you do”. In short, the self is the same as bodily behavior. The physical brain and NOT the imaginary mind gives us our sense of self PAUL and PATRICIA CHURCH LAND NEUROSCIENTIST (1943-Present) The physical brain, and not the imaginary mind, gives people a sense of self. The mind does not really exist because it can not be experienced by the senses. To understand the nature of the mind, we must understand the brain. “The self is the brain” Stated that the self and brain I one. Basically if there is no brain, there would be no self. Eliminative Materialism”, where activities happening with an individual is explained through understanding the existing condition of the brain and how it work. To do this, one may opt to undergo MRI or CT Scan. “The self is embodied Subjectivity”  MAURICE MERLEAU-PONTY -French philosopher (1908-1961 According to him, the division between the “mind” and the “body” is a product of confused thinking. The self experienced as a unity in which mental and physical are seamlessly woven together. This concept explains that all our knowledge of ourselves and our world is based on subjective experiences. It is more on how we view and give perceptions. The self can never be truly objectified. END...