The Philosophical Perspective of the Self PDF

THE PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE SELF  The etymological definition of philosophy is love of wisdom. Philosophy employs the inquisitive mind to discover the ultimate causes, reasons, and principles of everything. The nature of the self is a topic of interest among philosophers. ...

THE PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE SELF  The etymological definition of philosophy is love of wisdom. Philosophy employs the inquisitive mind to discover the ultimate causes, reasons, and principles of everything. The nature of the self is a topic of interest among philosophers.  The philosophical framework for understanding the self was first introduced by ancient Greek philosophers Socrates and Plato. Socrates suggests to “know thyself.” What is self and the qualities that define it? Philosophers agree that self-knowledge is a prerequisite to a happy and meaningful life. Notable Philosophers: Socrates Hume Plato Kant Aristotle Freud St. Augustine Ryle Descartes Churchland Locke Merleau-Ponty SOCRATES: AN UNEXAMINED LIFE IS NOT WORTH LIVING For ancient Greek philosopher Socrates, the self is synonymous with the soul. The soul is immortal. Socrates believed that every human possessed an immortal soul. Human life does not end at one’s death. Socrates explained that death is the departure of the soul for the eternal world. One continues to live in the world after death.  In Socrates' concept of Reality, it consists of two dichotomous realms: physical realm and ideal realm. The physical realm is changeable, transient, and imperfect. The body belongs to the physical realm. The ideal realm is unchanging, eternal, and immortal. The soul belongs to the ideal realm.  Socrates was the first thinker to focus on the full power of reason on the human self: who we are, who we should be, and who we will become. The soul strives for wisdom and perfection, and reason is the soul’s tool to achieve an exalted state of life. Our preoccupation with bodily needs such as food, drink, sex, pleasure, material possessions, and wealth keep us from attaining wisdom.  Goodness or beauty is the most important of all. A person can have a meaningful and happy life only if he becomes virtuous and knows the value of himself that can be achieved through constant soul-searching. For him, this is best achieved when one tries to separate the body from the soul as much as possible. How the self can be able to live a good moral life? The self must focus on improving quality of the soul or moral life instead of indulging in material things. The improvement of the soul can be achieved through the quest for wisdom and truth. Knowledge equals virtue. Life must be examined for it to be worth living.  PLATO: THE SOUL IS IMMORTAL Plato believed that the self is synonymous with the soul. Plato’s philosophy of the self can be explained as a process of self-knowledge and purification of the soul. Man is essentially a soul imprisoned in a body. The self consists of three-parts: reason (head), spirit or passion (heart), and physical appetite (stomach).  Reason is the divine essence that enables us to think deeply, make wise choices, and achieve a true understanding of eternal truths. The spirit or passion includes basic emotions such as love, anger, ambition, aggressiveness, and empathy. The physical appetite includes our basic biological needs such as hunger, thirst, and sexual desire.  These three elements of our selves are in a dynamic relationship with one another, sometimes in conflict. When conflict occurs, Plato believes that it is the responsibility of our Reason to sort things out and exert control, restoring a harmonious relationship among the three elements of our selves. Plato believes that genuine happiness can only be achieved by people who consistently make sure that their Reason is in control of their Spirits and Appetites. ARISTOTLE: THE SOUL IS THE ESSENCE OF THE SELF For Aristotle, the body and soul are not two separate elements but are one thing. The soul is simply the Form of the body, and is not capable of existing without the body. The soul is that which makes a person a person. The soul is the essence of the self. Without the body the soul cannot exist. The soul dies along with the body.  Aristotle suggested that anything with life has soul. His discussion about the self centers on the kinds of soul possessed by man. He introduced the three kinds of soul: vegetative, sentient, and rational.  The vegetative includes the physical body that can grow. Sentient includes the sensual desires, feelings, and emotions. Rational is what makes man human. It includes the intellect that makes man know and understand things. Aristotle suggests that the rational nature of the self is to lead a good, flourishing, and fulfilling life. The Self in the Medieval Philosophy Theocentric approach God and faith in Him is primary, and the self is secondary because the self-owed its origin to God. Human truth is subordinate to Divine truth. Human reason is meant to strengthen the faith. ST. AUGUSTINE: THE SELF IS KNOWN ONLY THROUGH KNOWING GOD St. Augustine integrated the ideas of Plato and Christianity. He developed a more unified perspective on the body and soul. The self is composed of the body, soul, and spirit. The soul is what governs and defines the human person or the self. The soul is an important element of man.  The soul is united with the body so that man may be entire and complete. The physical body is different from and inferior to its inhabitant, the immortal soul. Augustine described that humankind is created in the image and likeness of God. Augustine believed that God is transcendent and everything created by God who is all good is good.  Therefore, the human person being a creation of God is always geared towards the good. The self is known only through knowing God. Self-knowledge is a consequence of knowledge of God. For Augustine, “knowledge can only come by seeing the truth that dwells within us.” The truth of which Augustine spoke refers to the truth of knowing God RENE DESCARTES: I THINK THEREFORE I AM The phrase “I think therefore I am” is the keystone of Descartes’ concept of self. For him, the act of thinking about the self – of being self-conscious – is in itself proof that there is self. For Descartes, the essence of the self – a thinking entity that doubts, understands, analyzes, questions, and reasons.  There are two dimensions of the self: the self as a thinking entity and the self as a physical body. The thinking self (or soul) is the nonmaterial, immortal, conscious being, and independent of the physical laws of the universe. The physical body is the material, mortal, non- thinking entity, fully governed by the physical laws of nature  The soul and body are independent of one another and each can exist and function without the other. The self as a thinking entity is distinct from the self as a physical body. In other words, the thinking self can exist independently of the physical body. JOHN LOCKE: THE SELF IS CONSCIOUSNESS For Locke, the human mind at birth is tabula rasa or blank slate. He felt that the self, or personal identity, is constructed primarily from sense experiences – or more specifically, what we see, hear, smell, taste, and feel. These experiences shape and mold the self throughout a person’s life.  Self-consciousness is necessary to have a coherent personal (self) identity or knowledge of the self as a person. Consciousness is what makes possible our belief that we are the same identity in different situations. Using the power of reason and introspection enables people to understand and achieve accurate conclusions about the self. DAVID HUME: THERE IS NO SELF Hume suggests that if people carefully examine their sense experience through the process of introspection, they will discover that there is no self. According to Hume, what people experience can all be categorized into two: impressions and idea Impressions are the basic objects of our experience or sensation. They therefore form the core of our thoughts. Ideas on the other hand, are copies of impressions. The idea of personal identity is a result of imagination. IMMANUEL KANT: WE CONSTRUCT THE SELF According to Kant, it is the self that makes experiencing an intelligible world possible because it is the self that is actively organizing and synthesizing all of our thoughts and perceptions. In other words, the self constructs its own reality creating a world that is familiar and predictable. Through our rationality, the self transcends sense experience. SIGMUND FREUD: THE SELF IS MULTILAYERED According to Freud, the self consists of three layers: conscious, unconscious, and preconscious. The conscious self is governed by the reality principle- things we are aware of The preconscious is things we could pay conscious attention if we desired, where memories are stored for easy retrieval The unconscious- outside of conscious awareness, including many memories, thoughts, and urges of which we are not aware GILBERT RYLE: THE SELF IS THE WAY PEOPLE BEHAVE The self is best understood as a pattern of behavior, the tendency or disposition for a person to behave in a certain way in certain circumstances. Ryle’s concept of the human self thus provided the philosophical principle, “I act therefore I am.” In short, the self is the same as bodily behavior. PAUL CHURCHLAND: THE SELF IS THE BRAIN The self is inseparable from the brain and the physiology of the body. All we have is the brain and so, if the brain is gone, there is no self. For Churchland, the physical brain and not the imaginary mind, gives us our sense of self. The mind does not really exist. It is the brain and not the imaginary mind that gives us our sense of self. The self is the brain. MAURICE MERLEAU-PONTY: THE SELF IS EMBODIED SUBJECTIVITY All knowledge of our selves and our world is based on subjective experience. The self can never be truly objectified or known in a completely objective sort of way.