Philosophical Perspectives on Self PDF

Philosophical Perspectives on Self Philosophy Philosophy is derived from the Greek words “Philos” and “Sophia” which literally means “Love for Wisdom”. It is the study of acquiring knowledge through rational thinking and inquiries that involves in answering questions regardi...

Philosophical Perspectives on Self Philosophy Philosophy is derived from the Greek words “Philos” and “Sophia” which literally means “Love for Wisdom”. It is the study of acquiring knowledge through rational thinking and inquiries that involves in answering questions regarding the nature and existence of man and the world we live in. As such, it is imperative to look into the various explanations from different philosophers their notion of what the “Self” its nature and how it is formed in order to have a better picture on how people develop their behaviors, attitude and actions and to be able to identify and understand who we are and how we came to be Know thyself. -Socrates Philosophy employs the inquisitive mind to discover the ultimate causes, reasons and principles of everything. It goes beyond the scientific investigation by exploring all areas of knowledge such as religion, psychology, politics, physics, and even medicine. Hence, the etymological definition of philosophy “love of wisdom” could pertain to the desire for truth by formulating never ending questions to provide answers to every inquiry about the nature human existence. The nature of the self is a topic of interest among philosophers. The philosophical framework for understanding the self was first introduced by the ancient Greek philosophers Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. In particular, Socrates: “Know thyself”. But what exactly does “know thyself” mean? What is self and the qualities that define it? This chapter presents an overview of the philosophical perspective of the self to assist students identify one’s self---to gain knowledge. It intends to give a wider perspective in understanding the self. The different views of prominent philosophers regarding the nature of the self are discussed and while there are disagreements in how philosophers view of the self, most of them agree that self- knowledge is a prerequisite to a happy and meaningful life. SOCRATES: AN UNEXAMINED LIFE IS NOT WORTH LIVING For Socrates the self is synonymous with the soul. He believes that every human possess an immortal soul that survives the physical body. Socrates was the first to focus on the full power of reason on the human self: who we are, who should be, and who we will become. Socrates suggests that reality consists of two dichotomous realms: physical and ideal realms. The physical realm is unchangeable, transient and imperfect. The ideal realm is unchanging, eternal, and immortal. The physical world in which man lives belongs to the physical realm. On the other hand, the unchanging, eternal, perfect realm includes the intellectual essences of the universe, concepts such as truth, goodness, and beauty. The soul belongs to the ideal realm. Socrates explains that the essence of the self-the soul-is the immortal entity. The soul strives for wisdom and perfection, and reason is the soul’s tool to achieve this exalted state. But then as long as the soul is tied to the body, the quest for wisdom is inhibited by the imperfection of the physical realm, where it wanders and is confused. Socrates thus suggests that man must live an examined life and a life of purpose and value. For him, an unexamined life is not worth living. The individual person can have a meaningful and happy life only if he becomes virtuous and knows the value of himself that can be achieved through incessant soul searching. He must begin at the source of all knowledge and significance---the self. The Socratic method, the so-called introspection, is a method of carefully examining one’s thoughts and emotions—to gain self-knowledge. PLATO: THE SELF IS AN IMMORTAL SOUL Another ancient Greek philosopher, Plato, elaborates on Socrates’ concept of the soul. Like Socrates, Plato believes that the self is synonymous with the soul. His philosophy can be explained as a process of self-knowledge and purification of the soul. Specifically, he introduces the idea of a three-part soul/self: reason, physical appetite and spirit or passion. Reason is the divine essence that enables us to think deeply, make wise choices, and achieve a true understanding of eternal truths. The physical appetite includes our basic biological needs such as hunger, thirst, and sexual desire. The spirit or passion includes the basic emotions such as love, anger, ambition, aggressiveness, and empathy. These three elements of our selves are in a dynamic relationship with one another, sometimes in conflict. When conflict occurs, Plato believes it is the responsibility of Reason to sort things out and exert control, restoring a harmonious relationship among the three elements of our selves. Further, 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. This harmonious integration under the control of Reason is the essence of Plato’s concept of justice. As such, if man lives in accordance to his nature, then he is giving justice to his existence. Having described his vison of the soul/self, Plato goes on to elaborate his ideas about the soul. In his Theory of Forms, he introduces the concepts of the two worlds: the world of forms (non-physical ideas) and the world of sense (reality). While the world of forms is real and permanent, the world of sense is temporary and only a replica of the ideal world. Plato claims that the sensible world is dependent on the ideal world where the concept of the soul belongs. Since the soul is regarded as something permanent, man should give more importance to it than the physical body which resides in the world of sense. Plato’s 3 Parts of the Soul: Appetitive Soul Plato’s idea of the appetitive soul is the part of the person that is driven by desire and need to satisfy oneself. This satisfaction both involves physical needs and pleasures and desires. If the person finds an object or situation good or satisfying, the Appetitive soul can drive the person to lean towards those objects and situations. Spirited Soul This part of the soul can be attributed to the courageous part of a person, one who wants to do something or to right the wrongs that they observe. Spirited soul is very competitive and is very active, his competitiveness drives one to expect positive results and winning. Rational Soul The last part of the soul could be said is the driver of our lives, this is the part that thinks and plans. “The conscious mind” that decides what to do, when to do it, and the possible results one could have depending on their actions. ARISTOTLE: THE SOUL IS THE ESSENCE OF THE SELF Another Greek philosopher, Aristotle, believes that the soul is merely a set of defining features and does not consider the body and soul as separate entities. He suggest that anything with life has a soul. Aristotle holds that the soul is the essence of all living things. Thus, the soul is the essence of he self. However, humans differ from other living things because of their capacity for rational thinking. His discussion about the self centers on the kinds of soul possessed by man. Thus, he introduces the three kinds of soul: vegetative, sentient, and rational. The vegetative soul includes the physical body that can grow. The Sentient soul includes sensual desires, feelings, and emotions. Rational Soul is what makes man human. It includes the intellect that allows man to know and understand things. Thus, Aristotle suggests that the rational nature of the self is to lead a good, flourishing, and fulfilling life (self-actualization). The pursuit of happiness is a search for a good life that includes doing virtuous actions. In saying this, he posits that part of the rational soul is characterized by moral virtues such as justice and courage. ST. AUGUSTINE: THE SELF HAS AN IMMORTAL SOUL The African philosopher, Augustine, is regarded as a saint (i.e.,St. Augustine of Hippo) in the Catholic Church. He integrates the ideas of Plato and teachings of Christianity. Augustine believes that the physical body is radically different from and inferior to its inhabitant, the immortal soul. As his thinking matures, he developed a more unified perspective o the body and soul. He ultimately came to view the body as “spouse” of the soul, both attached to one another by a “natural appetite.” He believes that the body is united with the soul, so that man may be entire and complete. Nevertheless, as a religious philosopher, he contemplates on the nature of man with emphasis on the soul as an important element of man. He believes that the soul is what governs and defines man. In his work, Confessions, Augustine describes that humankind is created in the image and likeness of God. Everything created by God who is all good is good. Therefore, the human person, being creation of God is always geared towards the good. Augustine is convinced that the self is known only through knowing God. Augustine espouses the significance of reflection, as well as the importance of prayers and confessions to arrive at a justification for the existence of God. For him,” knowledge can only come by seeing the truth that dwells within us.” The truth of which Augustine speaks refers to the truth of knowing God. God is transcendent and the self seeks to be united with God through faith and reason. In his mission to discover the truth on the existence of God, Augustine develops the fundamental concept of the human person, and thus provides the philosophical principle, “I am doubting, therefore I am.” RENE DẺSCARTES: I THINK THEREFORE I AM French philosopher Rene Descartes is the father of modern philosophy. He has brought an entirely new perspective to philosophy and the self. He wants to penetrate the nature of reasoning process and understand its relationship to the human self. The Latin phrase Cogito ergo sum – “I think therefore I am” is the keystone pf Descartes’ concept of self. For him, the act of thinking about the self--- of being self---conscious—is in itself proof that there is a self. He is confident that no rational person will doubt his or her own existence as a conscious, thinking entity---while we are aware of thinking about ourselves. For Descartes, this is the essence of the human self---a thinking entity that doubts, understands, analyzes, questions, and reasons.  He contends further that if man reflects thoughtfully, he will realize that there are two dimensions of the human self: the self as a thinking entity and the self as a physical body. In particular, he introduces the idea of the thinking self (or soul) as non-material, immortal, conscious being, and independent of the physical laws of the universe. In contrast, the physical body is a material, mortal, non-thinking entity, fully governed by the physical laws of nature. In other words, the soul and the body are independent of one another, and each can exist and function without the other. The essential self—the self as a thinking entity---is distinct from the self as a physical body. Simply put, the thinking self can exist independently of the physical body. JOHN LOCKE: THE SELF IS CONSCIOUSNESS For English philosopher John Locke, the human mind at birth is tabula rasa or a blank state. He feels that the self, or personal identity, is constructed primarily from sense experiences---or more specifically, what people see, hear, smell, taste, and feel. These experiences shape and mold the self throughout a person’s life. For Locke, conscious awareness and memory of previous experiences are the keys to understanding the self. Locke believes that the essence of the self is its conscious awareness of itself as a thinking, reasoning, and reflecting identity. He contends that consciousness accompanies thinking and makes possible the concept people have of self. Self-consciousness is necessary to have a coherent personal (self) identity or knowledge of the self as a person. Consciousness is what makes identity of a person similar different situations. At this point, Locke is proposing that people could use the power of reason to gain knowledge and consequently use this knowledge to understand experiences. Knowledge is based on careful observation of experiences. Reason plays an important role in helping to figure out the significance of sense experience and to reach intelligent conclusions. Thus, using the power of reason and introspection enables one to understand and achieve accurate conclusions about the self (or personal identity). DAVID HUME: THERE IS NO SELF Scottish philosopher David Hume suggests that if people carefully examines their sense experience through the process of introspection, they will discover that there is no self. According to Hume, what people experience is just a bundle or collection of different perceptions. Hume maintains that if people carefully examine the contents of their experience, they will find that there are only distinct entities: impressions and ideas. Impressions are the basic sensations of people’s experience such as hate, love, joy, grief, pain, cold, and heat. Impressions are vivid perceptions and are strong and lively. Ideas, however, are thoughts and images from impressions so they are less lively and vivid. Hume further posits that different sensations are in a constant continuum that is invariable and not constant. Hume argues that it cannot be from any of these impressions that the idea of self is derived and consequently, there is no self. Hume’s skeptical claim on this issue is that people have no experience of a simple and individual impression that they can call the self where the self is the totality of a person’s conscious life. Subsequently, the idea of personal identity is a result of imagination. IMMANUEL KANT: WE CONSTRUCT THE SELF For German philosopher Immanuel 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. The self, in the form of consciousness, utilizes conceptual categories which he calls transcendental deduction of categories, to can be investigated scientifically. Kant believes that the self is an organizing principle that makes a unified and intelligible experience possible. It is metaphorically above or behind sense experience, and it uses the categories of our mind to filter, order, relate, organize and synthesize sensations into a unified whole. In other words, the self constructs its own reality, actively creating a world that is familiar, predictable, and most significantly, mine. The self is the product of reason, a regulative principle, because the self regulates experience by making unifies experiences possible. The self transcends experience because the mind can grasp aspects of reality which are not limited to the senses. Through rationality, people are able to understand certain abstract ideas that have no corresponding physical object or sensory experience. SIGMUND FREUD: THE SELF IS MULTILAYERED Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud is not a philosopher, but his views on the nature of the self has a far-reaching impact on philosophical thinking, as well as other disciplines such as psychology and sociology. Freud holds that the self consists of three layers: conscious, unconscious, and preconscious. The conscious self is governed by the “reality principle.” The conscious part of the self is organized in ways that are rational, practical, and appropriate to the environment. The conscious self usually takes into account the realistic demands of the situation, the consequences of various actions, and the overriding need to preserve the equilibrium (balance) of the entire psychodynamic system of the self. In contrast, the unconscious part of the self contains the basic instinctual drives including sexuality, aggressiveness, and self-destruction; traumatic memories; unfulfilled wishes and childhood fantasies; and thoughts and feelings that would be considered socially taboo. The unconscious level is characterized by the most primitive level of human motivation and human functioning which is governed by the “pleasure principle”. Freud argues that much of the self is determined by the unconscious. On the other hand, the preconscious self contains material that is not threatening and is easily brought to mind. According to Freud, the preconscious part is located between the conscious and the unconscious part of the self.. Three Layers of the Self GILBERT RYLE: THE SELF IS THE WAY PEOPLE BEHAVE British philosopher Gilbert Ryle believes that the self is best understood as a pattern of behavior, the tendency or disposition of a person to behave in a certain way in certain circumstances. Ryle’s concept of the human self thus provides the philosophical principle, “I act therefore I am.” Ryle considers the mind and the body to be intrinsically linked in complex and intimate ways. In short, the self is the same as bodily behavior. He concludes that the mind is the totality of human dispositions that is known through the way people behave. Nevertheless, Ryle is convinced that the mind expresses the entire system of thoughts, emotions and actions that make up the human self. PAUL CHURCHLAND: THE SELF IS THE BRAIN Canadian philosopher Paul Churchland advocates the idea of eliminative materialism or the idea that the self is inseparable from the brain and physiology of the body. All a person has is the brain, and so of the brain is gone, there is no self. For Churchland, the physical brain and not the imaginary mind, gives people the sense of self. The mind does not really exist because it cannot be experienced by the senses. MAURICE MERLEAU-PONTY: THE SELF IS EMBODIED SUBJECTIVITY French philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty argues that all knowledge about the self (e.g.,understanding the nature of the self) is based on the “phenomena” of experience. The “I” is a single integrated core identity, a combination of the mental, physical, and emotional structures around a core identity of the self. He further articulates that when people examine the self at the fundamental level of direct human experience, people will discover that the mind and body are unified, not separate. He notes in his book, Phenomenology of Perception, that everything that people are aware of is contained within the consciousness. Consciousness is a dynamic form responsible for actively structuring conscious ideas and physical behavior. He is convinced that consciousness, the world, and the human body are intricately intertwined in perceiving the world