Understanding The Self: Philosophical Perspectives PDF

**UNDERSTANDING THE SELF: Self from Various Perspective** **Philosophical Perspectives** **SOCRATES: "An Unexamined Life is not worth living"** - **Self** is synonymous with the soul. - Focus on the full power of reason on the human self: who we are, who we should be and who we will beco...

**UNDERSTANDING THE SELF: Self from Various Perspective** **Philosophical Perspectives** **SOCRATES: "An Unexamined Life is not worth living"** - **Self** is synonymous with the soul. - Focus on the full power of reason on the human self: who we are, who we should be and who we will become. - Reality consists of two dichotomous realms: **physical** and **ideal** realms. - He was the **first** philosopher who ever engaged in a systematic questioning about the self. - To Socrates, this has become his **life-long mission**, the true task of the philosopher is to **know oneself**. - For Socrates, every man is composed of **body** and **soul**. - This means all individuals have an imperfect, impermanent aspect to him, and the body, while maintaining that there is also a soul that is perfect and permanent. **PLATO: "The Self is an immortal soul"** - Same as Socrates: self is synonyms with the soul. - Introduces the idea of a three-part soul/self: reason, physical and spirit or passion. - Theory of Forms: the concept of two worlds: the world form and the world of sense. - Plato, Socrates' student, basically took off from his master and supported the idea that man is a dual nature of body and soul. - Plato added that there are three components of the soul: the rational soul, the spirited soul, and the appetitive soul. - "The Republic (Plato,2000), Plato emphasizes that justice in the human person can only be attained if the three parts of the soul are working harmoniously with one another. **ARISTOTLE: "The Soul is the essence of self"** - Soul is merely a set of defining features and does not consider the body and soul as separate entities. - Anything with life has soul. - Three kinds of soul: vegetative, sentient (feeling, emotions) and rational (logical thinking) **ST. AUGUSTINE: "The Self has an immortal soul"** - Believes that the physical body is radically different from and inferior to its inhabitant, the immortal soul. - **CONFESSIONS:** humankind is created in the image and likeness of God. - **"knowledge can only come by seeing the truth that dwells within us"** - **"I am doubting, therefore I am"** -- I am thinking, therefore I **exist**. **RENE DESCARTES**: **"I think, therefore I am"** - The father of modern philosophy - ***Cogito ergo sum*** - Two dimensions of the human self: self as thinking entity and self as physical body. **JOHN LOCKE: "The Self is Consciousness"** - Human mind at birth is ***tabula rasa*** -- empty - Self is constructed primarily from sense experience. - Consciousness is what makes identity of a person similar in different situations. **DAVID HUME: "There is No Self"** - If people examine their sense experience through the process of **introspection** they will discover that there is no self. - There are only distinct entities: **impressions** and **ideas**. - The idea of personal identity is a result of **imagination** **IMMANUEL KANT: "We construct the self"** - It is self that makes experiencing an intelligible world possible. - Self is an organizing principle that makes a unified and intelligible experience possible. - Self constructs its own reality. **SIGMUND FREUD: "The Self id Multilayered"** - Self is consists of three layers: conscious, unconscious, and preconscious - Much of the self is determined by the unconscious - Preconscious part is located between the conscious and unconscious parts of the self. **GILBERT RYLE: "The Self is the way people behave"** - Self is best understood as a pattern of behavior. - **" I act, therefore I am"** - Mind and body are intrinsically linked in complex and intimate way. - Mind is the totality of human disposition. **PAUL CHURCHLAND: "The Self is the Brain"** - Eliminative materialism or the idea that the self is inseparable from the brain and physiology of the body. - Physical brain and not the imaginary mined, gives people the sense of self. **MAURICE MERLEAU-PONTY: "The Self is embodied subjectivity"** - All knowledge about the self is based on "phenomena" of experience. - "I" is a single integrated core identity. - Mind and body are unified not separated. - Phenomenology of Perception: people are aware of its contained within the consciousness. **Sociological Perspectives: Sociological Views of the Self** **THE LOOKING-GLASS SELF: Our sense of self is influenced by other's views of us** - The concept of the looking-glass self states that part of how we see ourselves comes from our perception of how others see us. (Cooley, 1902) - Actually, how we see ourselves does not come from who we really are, but rather from how we believe others see us. (Isaksen, 2013) **Sociological Perspectives: MEAD'S THEORY OF SELF** **THE "I" AND THE "ME"** **"I"** - it is the essence of agency in human action. - The "I" is the response of an individual to the attitudes of others - The "I" is the knower. **"Me"** - The "me" is the organized set of attitudes of others which an individual assumes. - The "me" is the accumulated understanding of the "generalized other" how one thinks one's group perceives oneself. - The "me" is the known **Sociological Perspectives: The Self as Product of Modern and Postmodern Societies** **GERRY LANUZA** - The Constitution of the Self - Discusses the relationship between society and the individual. - There is a need to discover the "authentic core" of the self. **JEAN BAUDRILLARD** - Exposes the negative consequences of postmodernity to individuals in the society. **The Self as Product of Modern and Postmodern Societies** **Modernization** or the destruction of the traditional way of life "delocalizes" the self. This poses certain problems as: 1. The newfound freedom threatens the very authenticity of the self. (love) 2. Alienation (Marx) -- human beings haunted by the very images they have created. 3. Objectification of the body (medical practices) 4. Dehumanization of self. I love it when people say things like, "So tell me about yourself." Well, I would love to share my world with you, if you'd like. So, I'm just a typical girl with soaring dreams and manifestations in life. I would like to be successful like any other but I'm making sure that every day I'm making a progress and some improvements to myself. Because success doesn't just come around instantly, it is paid by hard work and perseverance. Within the 18 years of my existence since the year 2006, April 23^rd^, I have experienced a lot of hardships and breakthroughs as well. And I think as of this year, I realized that those things made me even more stronger than I've ever imagined. Everyone has their own battles and I have a fair share of mine. But I prefer in fighting it bravely and winning it silently. As a person, I could be stubborn like any other Taurus people. Also, I have the symbol of a bull that's why I have a similar temper like the bull and diamond is my birthstone focusing more in my inner strength, balance, clarity and abundance in life. Looking back to the progress that I have made in the succeeding years, it can actually and literally be called as the successful years of my youth and I'm quite contented to what it is until now. I have made a distinguished excellence in terms of my academics and social/religious obligations as an honor student and as a lector and commentator in the church. I'm overjoyed when it comes to that because it made me experience both the beauty and challenges in life. Because it is not always about the medals, certifications and recognitions, it is the experience and the lesson that we've picked along the way with different people and in front of them as well. I have made a lot of friends and the companionship made me who I am today with regard of understanding, perception and appreciation to the people that surrounds me. I do not possess any typical talent like singing or dancing but I'm more fond of creative writing and organizing. I could be simple and be extravagant as well if obliged to, but I always prefer to not attract any attention that could be disturbing and unnecessary. Overall, I'm quite a boring girl but there's a lot more to it than meets the eye. My name is Kaelin de Roxas Enriquez and this is a glimpse of my world.