Introduction to Western Philosophy of the Self PDF

INTRODUCTION ============ This lesson offers an overview of the Western philosophical tradition\'s views on the self. You will learn about different perspectives on the essence, origin, and role of the self in Western philosophy, based on key concepts, theories, and thinkers. The lesson will span f...

INTRODUCTION ============ This lesson offers an overview of the Western philosophical tradition\'s views on the self. You will learn about different perspectives on the essence, origin, and role of the self in Western philosophy, based on key concepts, theories, and thinkers. The lesson will span from various philosophical traditions, such as Ancient Greece, Medieval Philosophy, Enlightenment philosophy, Existentialism, and Postmodernism, and highlight the main arguments and philosophical issues related to the self. The concept of the self has been a central topic of inquiry in philosophy for centuries. It encompasses questions about human nature, personal identity, consciousness, and the nature of individuality. The philosophy of the self is a rich and complex field of inquiry that has implications for various disciplines and domains of human life. It can help us understand ourselves better, as well as our place in society and the universe. It can also challenge us to reflect on our values, goals, and responsibilities, and to seek wisdom and authenticity in our lives. The question of self and personal identity arises from the desire to overcome the fear of death, which is shaped by various religious, philosophical, and cultural influences. This question has transformed from the ancient notion of a non-physical soul to the modern idea of a coherent self, which has encountered various objections and critiques from different viewpoints. ANCIENT GREEK VIEWS ON THE SELF ------------------------------- #### PLATO "The soul of man is immortal and imperishable." The self in ancient Greek philosophy is a complex and fascinating topic that has been explored by many thinkers. The ancient Greeks had different views on the nature, origin, and function of the self, as well as its relation to the body, the soul, and the cosmos. Some of the main questions that they addressed were The Presocratics did not have a single concept of the self, but rather different perspectives that reflected their wider metaphysical views. For instance, Heraclitus saw the self as a part of the dynamic and ever-changing process, while Parmenides saw the self as an aspect of a static and eternal being. Pythagoras and his followers, meanwhile, believed in the reincarnation of souls, which implies that the self is not bound to a specific body or identity. Plato, an idealist ancient Greek philosopher, introduced a more elaborate understanding of the self which incorporated insights from the Presocratics. Plato\'s view of the self is reflected in his theory of Forms, which holds that the material world is only a shadow or copy of the real world of eternal and unchanging Forms. The self is not identified with the body or the material world but with the soul, which is immortal and capable of knowing the Forms (Ryan, 2018). Plato\'s views on the soul are not consistent throughout his works. In the Phaedo, he argued that the soul is rational and immortal, while the body is irrational and mortal. He rejected the idea that the soul is a harmony of the body because they can conflict with each other. However, in other dialogues, such as the Phaedrus, Republic, Timaeus, and Laws, he admitted that the soul has non-rational parts, such as spirit (emotion) and appetite (physical desire). In any case (Mason, 2014), Plato assigned to the soul the capacities that are generally considered mental, such as thinking, perceiving, feeling, desiring, and so on. According to Plato, the self as a rational and immortal soul has access to the realm of the eternal and perfect Forms that underlie reality. In the dialogue Meno, Plato introduced the idea that learning is a process of \"recollection\" of what the soul already knew before birth. He demonstrated this idea with a slave boy who can solve a geometry problem by answering Socrates\' questions. Plato claimed that this shows that the boy has a natural capacity to understand the forms that he inherited from a previous life. Among Plato's arguments for the soul's immortality, the 'affinity argument' stands out for its depth and complexity. This argument draws a parallel between the soul which is non-physical and Plato\'s Forms - timeless, unaltered, fundamental, and indivisible truths that underpin reality. By its resemblance to these Forms, the soul inherits their characteristics: it is eternal, constant, uncompounded, and cannot be split or destroyed. Thus, Plato concluded that the soul must be immortal. As outlined in Phaedo, the soul is (1) simple or incomposite, (2) immaterial, (3) unchanging, (4) indivisible, and (5) immortal( Sauchelli, 2017). On the issue of individuality, Plato believed that the true self is a universal and eternal aspect of human nature, while individuality is a particular aspect that varies from person to person. In other words, the true self is what makes us human, while individuality is what makes us unique (Salles, 2005). #### ARISTOTLE Aristotle, the most famous of Plato's students, was critical of his mentor\'s theory of Forms. He believed that form is an essential aspect of reality and that it is what gives things their identity and determines their nature. For Aristotle, form is not a separate entity from matter, but rather it is the organization or structure of matter that gives it its specific properties and characteristics (Cohen et al., 2016). He believed that everything in the world has a form and that these forms are what make things what they are. In addition, Aristotle believed that forms are not just abstract concepts, but rather they are instantiated in the physical world. For example, the form of a chair is what makes it a chair, and this form is instantiated in the physical matter that makes up the chair. Aristotle\'s view on form is closely related to his concept of substance, which he believed was composed of both matter and form. In line with his idea of form and matter, Aristotle viewed the human soul as the form of the body. The soul is not a material part of the body, but rather a set of capacities that a living thing has, such as the capacity to metabolize, move about, have desires and fulfill them, perceive, and contemplate. Aristotle believed that there are different levels of the soul, associated with different capacities or functions, such as the nutritive soul, the appetitive soul, the locomotive soul, the perceptive soul, and the rational soul. The rational soul is peculiar to humans and is responsible for the ability to reason and think abstractly (Cohen et al., 2016). Aristotle disagreed with Plato\'s view of the self as a pure spirit distinct and separate from the body. He believed that the soul and the body were not two separate things, but two aspects of one thing. But this does not mean that they cannot be separated at all. Ross (2005) clarifies that the soul and the body are like form and matter in general. The matter that makes up a living being was there before it became alive and will be there after it dies. It can only exist in some form, but not necessarily in this form. And the same form can exist without this matter. For Aristotle, the same form is shared by all members of a species, and it can exist without any one of them but not without all of them. It needs a certain kind of matter to exist, not any kind of matter. It needs a body with a specific chemical composition and shape, and it cannot be in another kind of body (Ross, 2005). Aristotle\'s philosophy includes the concept of the individual as a distinct entity with its unique characteristics and potentialities (Cohen et al., 2016). He believed that individuals have a specific nature or essence that determines their capacities and potentialities. For example, a human being has a rational soul that gives the capacity for reason and abstract thought, which is not shared by other animals. Aristotle also believed that individuals have telos, or purpose, which is determined by their nature and potentialities. The ultimate goal of human life, according to Aristotle, is to achieve eudaimonia, or happiness, by fulfilling one\'s potentialities and living by one\'s nature. Both Plato and Aristotle were influential in shaping subsequent philosophical discussions on the self. Their ideas laid the foundation for further explorations into topics such as personal identity, consciousness, and the relationship between the self and the external world. The Self in Medieval Christianity ================================= \`Medieval philosophy\' is the term used to describe the philosophical thought that emerged in Western Europe during the Middle Ages, a period that spanned from the fall of the Roman Empire to the dawn of the Renaissance. In the medieval view, the concept of the self was greatly shaped by Christian theology, influenced by thinkers such as St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas. St. Augustine's Understanding of the Self ----------------------------------------- St. Augustine of Hippo (354--430) is a prominent figure in the history of Western philosophy, particularly known for his extensive contributions to Christian theology. His philosophy of the self was deeply influenced by his own experiences, his religious beliefs, and his engagement with various philosophical traditions, including Neo-Platonism. Augustine\'s views on the self are complex and varied, but some key themes can be identified. He agreed with some Greek philosophers that the self is composed of both the body and soul and that the soul is the source of life and the unifier of the body. For Augustine, the body is the physical form that houses the soul. It is through the body that the soul interacts with the world and experiences sensory perceptions. He also posited that all living things have souls, even plants and the world itself. However, he distinguished human souls from other souls by their rationality. He argued that human souls are immaterial and simple substances that know their existence and can think of God (Sauchelli, 2017). Augustine\'s conception of the self changed from a Platonic to a Christian one. He agreed with Plato that the soul is not material and is higher than the body, but he also believed that the soul is a creation of God. He described the soul as a rational being that can control a body, but he also claimed that the soul\'s excellence is in its ability to reach God through its powers of reason and contemplation. While he accepted the Platonic principle that the soul is naturally immortal and that its immortality allows it to exist without a body, Augustine also affirmed the bodily resurrection as part of God\'s design. Augustine emphasized that every human being has a unique and individual identity, but not an isolated one. Rather, each person is connected to others and God through reason and love. He believed that by exploring our innermost self, we can encounter the eternal and unchanging Truth, which is God (Otten & Schreiner, 2018). St. Thomas Aquinas' Understanding of the Self --------------------------------------------- St. Thomas Aquinas (1224/25--74), another influential Christian thinker in the Middle Ages, built upon Aristotle\'s and Augustine\'s ideas and developed a more rational understanding of the self. He drew on both Western and Eastern sources to develop his theory of human psychology, based on Aristotle\'s De Anima. In the Summa Theologiae, Aquinas emphasized the rationality of human beings, their capacity for knowledge, and their ability to choose between good and evil. One important aspect of St. Thomas Aquinas\' views on the self is his understanding of the human person as an integrated whole, consisting of both a material body and a rational and spiritual soul. Following Aristotle, he believed that the soul is the form or principle of life for the body, giving it its purpose and guiding its actions. Thus, he considered the soul as the most important part of the self, as it is responsible for the characteristics that distinguish humans from other animals, such as rationality and the ability to know and love God. (Kinghorn, 2018). Aquinas also distinguished between human persons and animals, by claiming that human souls can exist apart from their bodies, while animal souls cannot. This is because human souls have intellectual and volitional powers that do not depend on the body, while animal powers do (Kinghorn, 2018). According to Aquinas, the human soul is an incorporeal and subsistent principle that is both the form of a body and a power that operates independently of the body. The human soul\'s essential role is to actualize a human body, but it has a power, its intellect, that cannot be carried out through the brain or any other bodily instrument. Aquinas also argued that the human soul is incorruptible, meaning that it has no natural basis for ceasing to exist once it is created by God. After death, the soul\'s incorruptibility entails that it will continue to exist without the body (Pasnau,2023). While Aquinas believed in the soul\'s capacity to exist without the body, he contended that resurrection of bodies is required because the life of the whole compound, soul, and body, is required for a person\'s survival. This implies that for Aquinas a person\'s soul surviving apart from its body is not sufficient for that person\'s survival. In general, Medieval thinkers' exploration of the self or soul as immortal and spiritual laid the foundation for the notion of a unified and lasting self in modern philosophy. Hume's Understanding of the Self -------------------------------- Challenging Locke's view, the Scottish philosopher David Hume (1711--1776), upheld that there is no evidence in experience for the existence of a continuous and enduring subject. Hume said that whenever one introspects, he only finds particular impressions or ideas, such as sensations, emotions, or thoughts. He never finds himself as a distinct entity apart from these impressions or ideas. Hume concluded that the self is nothing but a collection of changing and fleeting impressions or ideas, without any underlying substance or unity. Hume\'s view of the self is often called the \"bundle theory\" because it reduces the self to a bundle of impressions or ideas that are constantly in motion and flux (Robertson, 2020). However, Hume failed to give a satisfactory account of how these bundles are united into distinct and continuous selves. Kant's Understanding of the Self -------------------------------- Immanuel Kant (1724 --1804) appreciated Hume\'s theory of the self as a bundle of impressions or ideas constantly in flux because it challenged traditional metaphysical views of the self as a substantial entity that persists through time. Moreover, Kant agreed with Hume that there is no empirical evidence for the existence of a substantial self and that our sense of self is constructed out of our experiences and perceptions. However, Kant also held that there is a necessary condition for the possibility of experience, which is the unity of apperception or the meaningful organization of objects of perception within the consciousness. The unity of apperception is the unifying principle that allows us to bring together the manifold of sensuous awareness of objects into a coherent experience. The unity of apperception is the \"I think\" that accompanies all our representations, and it is what allows us to recognize that all our representations belong to the same subject. In other words, the unity of apperception is what allows us to have a sense of self as the subject of our experiences. Without the unity of apperception, our experiences would be a disconnected series of sensations without any coherence or meaning (Ishida & Sullivan, 2014). In summary, Enlightenment philosophers like Descartes, Locke, Hume, and Kant offered diverse perspectives on the nature of the self. Descartes emphasized a thinking self, distinct from the body, while Locke focused on the role of experience and memory in shaping personal identity. Hume, on the other hand, challenged the notion of a fixed self, proposing that it is an ever-changing collection of experiences and perceptions. These philosophical ideas continue to influence our understanding of the self and shape discussions in fields such as psychology and neuroscience. EXISTENTIALISM AND THE AUTHENTIC SELF ===================================== Existentialism is a philosophical movement that emerged in France in the mid-1900s, in response to the horrors of World War II, the Holocaust, and the atomic bomb. Existentialism focuses on the human condition and the challenges of facing death, freedom, and meaninglessness. Some of the main representatives of this movement were Kierkegaard, Sartre, Beauvoir, Camus, Marcel, and Merleau-Ponty, who expressed their ideas not only in philosophical works but also in novels, plays, and stories (Kevin, 2023). Existentialism views the self as a process of becoming, rather than a fixed entity. It emphasizes individual freedom and choice, and the responsibility that comes with it. According to existentialism, the self is not determined by external factors, but rather by the choices and actions of the individual. The self is also seen as being in a constant state of tension between being oneself and becoming oneself (Grøn et al., 2017b.) Existentialism can be divided into two groups: the religious and the atheistic. The religious existentialists, such as Kierkegaard, Jaspers, and Marcel, are Christians who affirm the existence of God and the value of faith. The atheistic existentialists, such as Heidegger and Sartre, deny any divine or transcendent reality and focus on human freedom and responsibility. The common ground between these two groups is the idea that existence precedes essence -- that is, that we are not defined by any pre-existing nature or purpose, but by our own choices and actions (Sartre, n.d.). Sartre's Understanding of the Self ---------------------------------- In his lecture "Existentialism is Humanism", French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre (1905 1980) held that the only valid starting point for philosophy is the individual\'s consciousness, which is the only absolute truth. Any other approach would reduce human beings to objects and ignore their dignity and values. The self is characterized by pure subjectivity, which is the experience of the self as a conscious, thinking being. The self is also characterized by freedom and responsibility, as individuals are responsible for creating their meaning and purpose in life through their choices and actions. Finally, the self is seen as both solitary and inter-subjective, as individuals must discover themselves through their own subjective experience, but also recognize the importance of others in shaping their identity (Sartre, 1946). Kierkegaard's Understanding of the Self --------------------------------------- While Sartre\'s view of selfhood affirms complete autonomy and self-creation, without any external factors influencing the self, Søren Kierkegaard's (1813--1855) emphasizes not only the idea of self-creation but also the recognition of self-acceptance. This means that the self is not entirely autonomous but is shaped by external factors such as biology and history. As a framework for understanding different ways of becoming oneself, Kierkegaard introduced three \"existence-spheres\": 1.) the aesthetic, 2.) the ethical, and 3.) the religious. These spheres are not mutually exclusive but rather represent different ways of becoming or failing to become a human self. The aesthetic sphere is characterized by a focus on pleasure and immediate experience, while the ethical sphere emphasizes duty and responsibility. The religious sphere involves a personal relationship with God and a recognition of the infinite. Kierkegaard contended that an authentic self cannot be achieved through the aesthetic life alone. As he explained, choosing \"aesthetically\" is not choosing at all, and that the aesthete needs to \"choose choice itself\" by taking responsibility for the person they have become, as the first step in aiming to change it. The most authentic self-choice, therefore, involves recognizing the limitations of the aesthetic life and taking responsibility for one\'s choices to move toward a more ethical or religious way of being (Lippitt & Evans, 2023). According to existentialism, no fixed or essential self exists independently of one\'s choices and actions. The self is a product of one\'s agency and freedom. Existentialism also emphasizes the value of authenticity in the self. Authenticity means being true to oneself and one\'s values, rather than conforming to external expectations or social norms (Grøn et al., 2017b.). The self is authentic when it aligns with its values and acts according to its sense of purpose and meaning. Overall, the self in existentialism is a dynamic and evolving entity that is created through individual choice and action. It is fundamentally free and responsible for its existence, and it is authentic when it is true to its values and sense of purpose. POSTMODERNISM ------------- Postmodernism is a philosophical and cultural movement that emerged in the mid-to-late 20^th^ century as a response to the failures of modernism. It is characterized by a skepticism towards grand narratives or metanarratives, a rejection of the idea of objective truth, and a focus on the role of language, power, and discourse in shaping reality. Postmodernism is often associated with a deconstructionist approach to texts and cultural artifacts, which seeks to reveal the underlying power structures and assumptions that shape them. It has had a significant impact on a wide range of fields, including literature, art, architecture, philosophy, and cultural studies. Postmodernism challenges the modernist notion of a stable and coherent self. According to postmodern thinkers like Foucault and Derrida, the self is not a fixed and independent entity, but rather a dynamic and dispersed phenomenon. They posited that the self is constantly constructed and reconstructed through the dynamic interplay of discourse and language. Postmodernism provides a useful critique of the limitations of modernity, such as its oppressive rationality and its disregard for tradition. However, despite its claim to challenge the modernist worldview, it remains a Eurocentric discourse that universalizes the experiences and values of the West. Postmodernism assumes that there is no objective truth or reality and that all knowledge is contingent and relative. However, this view ignores the fact that other cultures have different ways of knowing and being that are not based on the same premises as the Western tradition. The notion of self in both modernism and postmodernism is rooted in a dualistic and individualistic ontology that does not reflect the holistic and relational selfhood of many non-Western societies. Therefore, postmodernism fails to provide an adequate alternative to modernism for understanding and appreciating the diversity of human cultures (Yin, 2018).