Philosophical Perspective on the Self PDF

Philosophical PERSPECTIVE  What’s in a name Very often the first piece of information we have about a person is their name. It’s often the first thing you learn about someone. Sometimes it convey their personalities  The history of philosophy is replete with men and women who inqu...

Philosophical PERSPECTIVE  What’s in a name Very often the first piece of information we have about a person is their name. It’s often the first thing you learn about someone. Sometimes it convey their personalities  The history of philosophy is replete with men and women who inquired into the fundamental nature of the self. The different perspectives and views on the SELF can be best seen and understood then by revisiting the important conjectures made by philosophers. A Brief H I S T O R Y search for the “true essence of things” through looking on the basic stuff that composed everything  THALES (624-546 BC) He became known for positing that water is the single element that comprised all things in the universe. He also made famous the aphorism, “The most difficult thing in life is to know yourself.”  ANAXIMENES He designated air as the primary substance from which all things come from. “Although air is invisible, we live only as long as we can breathe, and just as our soul, being air, holds us together, so do breath and air encompass the whole world.” HERACLITUS “Life is FLUX” You cannot step twice into the same river. (SOUL) FLUX AND FIRE: To describe change as unity in diversity, Heraclitus assumed that there must be something which changes, and he argued that this something is FIRE.  DEMOCRITUS “Nothing exists except atoms and space, everything else is opinion.” A Brief H I S T O R Y “Great Greek Triumvirate” Ancient Greek philosophy opened the doors to a particular way of thinking that provided the roots for the Western intellectual tradition  “All I know is that I Socrates know (469-399 BC) nothing.” Unlike the Pre-Socratics, Socrates was more concerned with another subject, the problem of the SELF. For Socrates, every man is composed of body and soul. It means that every human person is dualistic, that is, he is composed of two important aspects of personhood.  “Man is the “Wise men speak Plato soul enclosed because they have in a body.” something to say; fools, because they (428-348BC) have to say was a student of Socrates who became known something.” through his dialogues which contained the presentation of his ideologies and theories in conversational form. In addition to what Socrates earlier espoused, Plato added that there are parts or three components to the soul: the rational soul, the spirited soul, and the appetitive soul.  Plato’s Concept of the SPIRIT Soul Soul has 3 parts REASON Virtue as Fulfillment of Function TEMPERANCE  Aristotle (384-322BC) was a student of Plato and became known as the first thinker to create a comprehensive system of philosophy, Two composition of soul: Rational encompassing Ethics, Aesthetics, Politics, Metaphysics, Logic and and Irrational. Science. Morality involves action. (Olympics) The human soul combines in itself all the lower forms of soul, the vegetative, nutritive, and sensitive, having in addition to these the rational soul. A Brief H I S T O R Y Does God Exist?  St. Augustine Following the ancient view of Plato and infusing it with the newfound doctrine of Christianity, he agreed that man is of *bifurcated nature. There is an aspect of man, which dwells in the world, that is imperfect and continuously yearns to be with the divine while the other is capable of reaching immortality. Philosophy of The Problem Man with Evil God created man as his beloved creation with rationality and free will. Evil is the absence of good.. There are two types of evil : God has given as the option to (1) physical evil and (2) moral evil. freely return to him through moral actions prescribed by the Church. Man has the responsibility to be with God. St. Thomas of Aquinas (1225 - 1274) was an Italian philosopher and theologian who became a great influence on subsequent Christian philosophies, particularly that of the Roman Catholic Church. Adopting some ideas from “To one has Aristotle, he said that man faith, no explanation is composed of two parts: is necessary. matter and form. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.” A Brief H I S T O R Y  The SELF is simply “a bundle or David Hume collection of different perceptions, which succeed each other with an (1711—1776) inconceivable rapidity, and are in Scottish philosopher and perpetual flux and movement” empiricist who argues that the SELF is not an entity over and beyond the physical body. The SELF is nothing but bundle of impressions.  Rene Descartes (1596 - 1650) “I think therefore, I French philosopher, mathematician, exist. (Cogito ergo sum)” scientist and writer of the Age of Reason. He has been called the "Father of Modern Philosophy" “We do not describe the world we see, we see the world we can describe…” A Brief H I S T O R Y between the Age of Reason during the 17th century and the Age of Enlightenment during the 18th century.  Karl Marx (1818–1883) “The philosophers have only interpreted the world, the point is to change it” Communism is a society in which each person should contribute according to their ability and receive according to their need. A Brief H I S T O R Y The present period in the history of Western philosophy beginning at the end of the 19th century with the professionalization of the discipline  Jean Paul-Sartre(1905-1980) “Existence precedes essence.” -Sartre “Man is challenged to create his meaning Existentialist philosophy, with the choice he is going to make.” Characterized by a development of classic phenomenology, but his reflection diverges from Husserl’s on methodology, the conception of the self, and an interest in ethics. Known for his dictum: “Hell is other people.” Martin Heidegger (1889— 1976) In being involved with the things in the world, a person is either being involved with or along these things or entities. 1. being with = subjects 2. being along = equipment Gazing towards death opens up new possibilities for imagining our being. - Heidegger End of Discussion