Understanding The Self PDF

**CHAPTER 1** **PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE SELF** **MEANING PHILOSOPHY** - **William James**, an American philosopher and psychologist is a usually *stubborn attempt to think clearly.* - **Philosophy** is a human search for meaning in life. - Understanding and knowledge about hu...

**CHAPTER 1** **PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE SELF** **MEANING PHILOSOPHY** - **William James**, an American philosopher and psychologist is a usually *stubborn attempt to think clearly.* - **Philosophy** is a human search for meaning in life. - Understanding and knowledge about human life or about ourselves and our purpose in life **SELF IN THE GREEK PHILOSOPHY** **(**Body and soul are dualistic) **[PROTAGORAS ]** **(*Man is the measure of all things)*** - Man centered approach - Virtue depends in character, and character is shaped by every action the self performs. - Self is seen as a body and soul compound. - Man is the highest form of living things with the ability to think. **[SOCRATES]** **(*Happiness without morality is impossible)*** - Develop a method of inquiry known as **Socratic method** - Man is dualistic in nature composed of body and soul - "*The unexamined life is not worth living*" - Man's goal in life is to be happy by means of becoming virtuous - **Morality** is being good, it is the right or wrong, good and bad - **Socratic Method** -- exchanging of ideas or knowledge **HOW TO LIVE IN A GOOD MORAL LIFE** 1. Improving the quality of the soul or moral life. 2. Quest for wisdom and truth 3. Ceaselessly examine for it to be worth living **DUALITY OF SELF (according to Socrates)** **Body** - Physical thing - Temporary and not perfect - Physically nice but changes overtime **Souls** - Mental thing - Permanent - Separate from the body after death **[PLATO]** ***(Balance between body and soul)*** - Supported the dualistic nature of man but he added the three concepts of soul - **Tripartite of the soul** **TRIPARTITE OF SOUL (according to Plato)** **HEAD** - The highest elements of soul - Reasoning - Rule over the other parts **HEART** - Courage and protectiveness - Understands the demand of passion, honor and victory **STOMACH** - Sensual - Motivated by wants and needs **SELF IN THE MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY** **(**Not just body and soul but also spirit with essence of God and Christian doctrines) **[ST. AUGUSTINE ]** **(*All knowledge leads to God)*** - The self-composed of the body, soul and spirit - Known for his **theory of forms in Christian perspective** - Man is capable of immortality through communion with God - Reaching happiness through correct use of mind **THREE ASPECTS OF LIFE (according to St. Augustine)** 1. it is able to be aware of itself 2. it recognizes itself as a holistic one 3. it is aware of its unity **SELF IN THE MODERN PHILOSOPHY** **(**Heavenly concentrated about human mind) **[RENE DESCARTES]** **[(]*Cogito ergo sum: I think therefore I am)-*** things that you think are your perspective, it is the goal,kung pano ka mag isip yun mangyayari) - proposed that "doubt" was a principal tool disciplined inquiry - dualistic separation of mind and body (**infinite**-unlimited and **finite**-limited) **RENE'S CLAIM ABOUT SELF** 1. It is constant; it is not prone to change; and it is not affected by time 2. Only the immaterial soul remains the same throughout time 3. The immaterial soul is the source of our identity **BODY AND SOUL (according to Descartes)** **Body** - it is material substance - it can be doubted; the public can correct claims about the body - it is made up of physical, quantifiable and divisible parts **Soul** - it is conscious, thinking substance that is unaffected by time - it is known only to itself - it is not made up of parts **[JOHN LOCKE]** **[(]*Tabula rasa-****blank state**)*** - physical body is integrated into our personal self or personal identity. - When body is damage personality does not change - Pag pinanganak blank state of mind ng tao nagkakaron sya memories sa paglaki **[DAVID HUME]** **[(]*All knowledge is derived from human senses*)** - one of the main figureheads of **EMPIRICISM** movement - he believed that there is no logical justification of the existence of anything other than what your senses experienced (**sight, touch, hear, smell and taste**). **[IMMANUEL KANT]** **(*Reason is the final authority of morality)*** - he reconciled conflicting philosophy of rationalism and empiricism - rational component called "**Aprori**" - **Categories** as organizing principles **TWO KINDS OF SELF (according to Kant)** **Empirical self** - physical aspects - memories - personalities - history - culture - experience **Transcendental self** - is an activity or organizing principle that actively interprets, constructs and gives meaning to collection of sensory data. **[SIGMUND FREUD]** **[(]*Wish fulfillment is the road to the unconscious)*** - father of Psychoanalysis - developed the psychoanalysis theory - advocated effort to uncover the hidden nature of the self **THREE LEVELS OF CONSCIOUSNESS** 1. conscious 2. subconscious 3. unconscious **PSYCH STRUCTURE (according to freud)** **ID-**operates on pleasure principle **EGO-**operates according to reality principle **SUPEREGO-**incorporates the values and moral of society **[GILBERT RYLE]** **[(]*I act therefore I am)-***ang mga iniisip ko ay kaya kong gawin) - he wrote the **concept of mind** - believed that there is no hidden entity or ghost called **soul** inside a machine called **body** - believes that self comes from **behavior** **[PATRICIA AND PAUL CHURCHLAND]** - neuroscientist - believe that the body and mind cannot be solved by philosophers but by neuroscientist - they argued the self is the brain **[MAURICE MERLEAU-PONTY]** ***(Physical body is an important part of the self)*** - emphasized the body as the primary site of knowing the world - there is an intimate and inseparable unity between the self and the body **CHAPTER 2:** **SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE SELF** **SOCIOLOGY --** it is the scientific study of society, it includes patterns of social relationships, social interaction and culture. **VARIOUS SOCIOLOGICAL VIEWS OF THE SELF** **THE SELF AS A PRODUCT OF MODERN SOCIETY** According to **Manheim**, the author of the book **Sociological Research and Philosophy**, modernization is destruction of the self; - Manheim (**modernization** is destruction of the self, as we adapt changes there is a destruction - Pre-modern - Modern **THE SELF AS A NECESSARY FICTION** **Necessary fiction --** is defined as the belief that cannot be proven to be true but necessary to sustain life since people need some sense of certainty in a world of constant change. - in a world of constant changes, we need certainty **FRIEDRICH NIETZCHE** - German philosopher and cultural critic - For him true or real self is only a myth that does not have any continuous identity or even a social self **POST MODERN VIEW OF THE SELF** - Post-modernist argue that stable institution (family, friend, church) has no influence how we see ourselves - Globalization, media and technology has effective influence **Walter Truett Anderson** - Discusses the four terms on postmodernist use to speak of the self. 1. **Multiphrenia --** refers to the many voices in different cultures that tell who and what a person. - The idea of a person 2. **Protean --** popular notion **"walang forever".** Self is capable of changing constantly. - It changes depends on circumstances - **Post Modern View (us**) -- changing depend on present circumstances 3. **Decentered self --** belief that there is no self at all. - Because self is constantly changing so there's no self -- - There is no meaning 4. **Self in relation --** person's life is not lived of himself/herself but in relation to people. - you live your life in relation to people/ understanding other people 5. **Self as an Artistic Creation**, according to **Giddens**, Self-identity is a reflexive project. **Giddens** -- British Sociologist author of modernity (identity -- purpose) - He believed that identity can work out continuously (kinikilala ang sarili) - If you create, maintain and revise we can have self-reflection and knowledge from circumstances