Philosophical Perspectives on Self PDF

UNDERSTANDING THE SELF TOPIC 1: PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVE ON SELF  LEARNING OBJECTIVES At the end of this lesson, you will be able to: 1. Cite highlights in the life of the Philosophers that influenced their concepts and principles; 2. Identify and differentiate the Philoso...

UNDERSTANDING THE SELF TOPIC 1: PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVE ON SELF  LEARNING OBJECTIVES At the end of this lesson, you will be able to: 1. Cite highlights in the life of the Philosophers that influenced their concepts and principles; 2. Identify and differentiate the Philosophers’ perspectives of self; and 3. Create your own concept/ theory of SOCRATES PLATO ST. AGUSTINE RENE DESCARTES  PHILOSOPHERS’ PERSPECTIVE OF THE SELF The way you choose to spend your life contributes to the development of your identity and self-understanding. Your past is a contributory factor to who you are today, but who you will be tomorrow greatly depends on your perspective about yourself. PHILOSOPHERS’ PERSPECTIVE OF THE SELF Socrates Immanuel Kant Plato Sigmund Freud St. Agustine Gilbert Ryle Rene Descartes Paul Churchland John Locke Maurice Merleau- David Hume Ponty  SOCRATES (470-399 B.C.) Socrates was a scholar, teacher and philosopher born in ancient Greece. His Socratic method laid the for groundwork Western systems of logic and philosophy.  SOCRATES (470-399 B.C.) The philosophy of Socrates underlies the i m p o rta n c e of the notion o f “KNOW THYSELF” For him men’s goal in life i s to obtain happiness and such a goal motives us to act towards or avoid things that could have negative repercussions in our lives as such, by fully knowing oneself a person will be able to achieve happiness.  He believed in dualism that aside from the physical body (material substance), each person has an immortal soul (immaterial substance). The Socratic Method, the so-called introspection, is a method of carefully examining our thoughts and emotions- to gain self-knowledge. PLATO (428/427-348/347 BC) Plato was an Athenian philosopher during the Classical period in Ancient Greece, founder of the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world.  PLATO He was greatly affected by Socrates’ death. Socrates was Plato’s teacher. He believed that the self is immortal and that it consists of 3 parts: 1. Reason 2. Physical Appetite 3. Spirit or Passion Plato’s 3 Parts of the Immortal Self Reason- the divine essence that enables you to think deeply, make wise choices, and achieve an understanding of eternal truths. Plato’s 3 Parts of the Immortal Self Physical Appetite- your basic biological needs such as hunger, thirst, and sexual desire. Plato’s 3 Parts of the Immortal Self Spirit or Passion- your basic emotions such as love, anger, aggressiveness, and empathy. ST. AUGUSTINE (354-430) St. Augustine was the bishop of Hippo (now Annaba, Algeria) from 396 to 430. A renowned theologian and prolific writer, he was also a skilled preacher and rhetorician. He is one of the Latin Fathers of the Church and, in Roman Catholicism, is formally recognized as a doctor of the church. ST. AUGUSTINE He was a great explorer in his youth and young adulthood; he spent great times with his friends and up to the extent of fathering an illegitimate child.  His explorations led to his conversion to Christianity wherein he spent the remainder of his day serving the bishop of Hippo and writing books and letters including his idea of the self. He thought of the body as the “slave” of the soul but ultimately, regarded the body as the “spouse” of the soul both attached to one another. He believed that the body is united with the soul, so that man may be entire and complete. His first principle was, “I doubt, therefore I am.” RENE DESCARTES 1596 - 1650 René Descartes (1596–1650) was creativ e mathematician a of the first order,an scientific thinker, important and an original metaphysician. During his life, he was a mathematician first, a natural scientist or “natural philosopher” second, and a metaphysician third.  He was a devout Catholic who believed in immortal souls and eternal life. By having the idea of both the thinking self and the physical body, Descartes was able to reconcile his being a scientist and a devout Catholic. The self is a thinking thing, distinct from the body. The thinking self or soul is nonmaterial, immortal, and conscious while the physical body is a material, mortal, non- thinking entity, fully governed by the physical laws of nature.  RENE DESCARTES René Descartes is most known for his philosophical statement, “I think, therefore I am” (originally in French, but best known by its Latin translation: "Cogito, ergo sum”).  JOHN LOCKE (1634- 1704) John Locke was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most infl uential of Enlightenment thinkers and commonly known as the "Father of Liberalism". JOHN LOCKE (1634- 1704) He was known in his concept of TABULA RASA. The self or personal identity is constructed primarily from sense experiences which shape and mold the self throughout a person’s life. Personal Identity is made possible by SELF- CONSCIOUSNESS. In order to discover the nature of personal identity, you have to find out what it means to be a person.  DAVID HUME (1711- 1776) David Hume was a Scottish Enlightenment philosopher, historian, economist, librarian and essayist, who is best known today for his highly influential system of philosophical empiricism, skepticism, and naturalism. DAVID HUME (1711- 1776) For him, there is no “self” only a bundle of perceptions passing through the theatre of your minds. The mind is a theatre, a container for fleeting sensations and disconnected ideas and your reasoning ability is merely a slave to the passions. Hence, personal identity is just a result of imagination. IMMANUEL KANT (1724- 1804) Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and aesthetics have made him an influential figure in modern Western philosophy. IMMANUEL KANT (1724- 1804) For Kant, the self is a product of reason because the self regulates experience by making unified experience possible. We construct the self. The self exists independently of experience and the self goes beyond experience. SIGMUND FREUD (1856- 1939) Sigmund Freud, an Austrian Psychologist and Physician, he is also known as the “Father of Psychoanalysis” and is known for his work on human nature and the unconscious. SIGMUND FREUD (1856- 1939) The self is composed of three layers: conscious, preconscious and unconscious. THREE LAYERS OF THE SELF: Conscious Mind- includes thoughts, feelings, and actions that you are aware of. Preconscious Mind – mental activities that are stored in your memory, not presently active but can be accessed or recalled. THREE LAYERS OF THE SELF: Unconscious Mind- includes activities that you are not aware of. GILBERT RYLE ( 1900- 1976) His father was a general practitioner but had a keen interest in philosophy and astronomy that he passed it on to his children. He graduated with first class honors in the New Modern Greats School Philosophy, Politic and Economics. GILBERT RYLE ( 1900- 1976) His concept of the self is provided in his philosophical statement “I act therefore I am”. He views the self as the way people behave, which is composed of a set of patterned behavior. PAUL CHURCHLAND (1942) He became a professor at the University of California where he later became the department chair and member of the Cognitive Science of Faculty, a member of the Institute for Neural Computation. His membership to these organizations prompted him dwell on the brain as the self. PAUL CHURCHLAND (1942) His concept, “the self is the brain”. The self is inseparable from the brain and physiological body because the physical brain gives the sense of self. MAURICE MERLEAU- PONTY (1908- 1961) He won the school’s “Award for Outstanding Achievement” in Philosophy it traced his commitment to the vocation of Philosophy. MAURICE MERLEAU- PONTY (1908- 1961) His concept, “the self has embodied subjectivity” explained that all your knowledge about yourself and the world is based on your subjective experience and everything that you are aware of is contained in your consciousness.  THANK YOU FOR LISTENING  “To find yourself, think for yourself”- Socrates