Ancient Philosophy Understanding the Self PDF

experience physical pain, hunger, thirst Ancient Philosophy and other physical wants (1000 BC to 500 AD) Aristotle...

experience physical pain, hunger, thirst Ancient Philosophy and other physical wants (1000 BC to 500 AD) Aristotle The mind (self) is a tabula rasa (a The Ancient Triumvirate: Socrates, Plato, and blank tablet). Aristotle Self is composed of matter and form The Process of Completion is Socrates through experiences “Know thy self.” “An unexamined life is not worth Soul – form of the body (which allows living.” activities such as thinking, imagining, Dualistic Reality: Body and Soul perceiving. “Our soul strives for wisdom and perfection” Soul – it is the principle of life that causes the body to live Believes in soul (capacity to think and choose; essence of humans is to think and All living beings have soul (vegetative soul will) – plants; sensitive (animals); rational (highest level of soul, present only in Soul - is the essence of the human person man) (thinking and willing). It is the responsible agent in knowing and acting rightly and The Post-Aristotelians wrongly We need to take care of our soul/ Stoicism Apathy or indifference to pleasure self to attain good life Embracing Adversity It’s a philosophy designed to make us Life is geared towards knowledge of more resilient, happier, more good life virtuous and more wise–and as a result, better people, better parents Good life means being wise and and better professionals. virtuous. Good life is attained through the acquisition of knowledge, wisdom by Epictetus and virtue. The Stoics think that the only thing we can We need to devote considerable effectively control is our own mind and amount of energy, attention and how it perceives the world. resources to making our soul as good and as beautiful as possible “It’s not the accident that distresses this person … It is the judgment which he makes about it. Plato 3-Part Soul/self (Psyche) = Reason, Hedonism Physical Appetite & Spirit/Passion “Eat, drink, and be happy. For tomorrow, you will die.” They believe that pleasure is the only good in life, and pain is the Rational soul (located in the head – only evil, and our life's goal should intellect and freewill) be to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. Spiritual soul – located in the chest – man is capable of happiness, anger and other emotions; Pleasure is the highest human value Appetitive soul – located in the abdomen – Pleasure or pain motivate us #YOLO part of the soul that drives man to Epicureanism Moderate pleasure  The labels we attribute to ourselves are taken from the things we Being content with the simple things in life ensures that you will encounter in our environment never be disappointed. “The things that we love tell us what we are” Epicureanism is an ancient philosophical belief that happiness comes from Man is created in the image and likeness moderation, simplicity, friendship, and of God community. Purpose of man is to know and It is an approach to life that stresses love God finding happiness through living simply. Man is composed of body and soul. Medieval Philosophy 500 AD to 1350 AD Soul is the source of our freewill which allows us to make choices Theo-centric From the scientific investigation on Human beings possess freedom nature and search for happiness to the question of life and salvation in Freedom is necessary for living a virtuous another realm, in a better world (i.e., life the afterlife) There was an aim to merge Experiencing that something exists philosophy and religion (Christian, doesn’t tell us what it is Jewish, Muslim) Knowing and learning about a thing St. Augustine requires a long process of understanding; Integrates Platonic ideas with the same with the mind and the self – with tenets of Christianity experience and reason The self strives to achieve union with God through faith and reason Modern Philosophy Human condition is brought about by 14th Century to the Early 20th Century original sin and the sinful nature of man separates us from God. Moral and spiritual decay can be Anthropocentric remedied by God’s grace. Human beings are the central or most important element of He believes that humans were created in existence the image of God and that the essence of Thinkers began to reject the humanity lies in his soul. scholastics’ (medieval thinkers) excessive reliance on authority Man is composed of body and soul (body – Period of radical, social, political mortal; soul – immortal) and intellectual developments The soul is the seat of reason, will, and Rene Descartes emotion, human consciousness, and The self is a thinking thing, distinct self-awareness. from the body “I think therefore I am” Evil was the result of humanity’s freewill Body – material (physical)/ Soul – immaterial (consciousness) Man must be responsible for his actions Self-recognition/ awareness - o Thinking or reflecting on one's existence is what constitutes St. Thomas Aquinas the self Self-knowledge is dependent on our o Existence in the moment, experience of the world around us situation (objects in our environment) John Locke Personal identity is made possible Embodied Subjectivity: Both Husserl and by self-consciousness Merleau-Ponty agree that our living body is a natural synthesis of mind and Personal identity – continuity of biology. consciousness Mind accumulates experiences Phenomenological approach: describe which contributes to one’s identity the phenomena of the lived experience Consciousness and personal reflection (reducing biases) by describing what your – helped in shaping one self. immediate responses are— physically, emotionally, cognitively. David Hume There is no “self,” only a bundle of constantly changing perceptions passing through the theater of our minds Knowledge is derived from sense experience Denies the existence of the permanent, unchanging self Self is a bundle of perception (such as memories, emotions, thoughts, sensations) Immanuel Kant The self is a unifying subject, an organizing consciousness that makes intelligible experience possible. The self acts as a unifying principle: integrates and synthesizes experiences and different sensory information Gilbert Ryle The self is the way people behave The self is a pattern of behavior, one’s dispositions, or tendency to behave in certain ways Paul & Patricia Churchland The self is the brain. Mental states will be superseded by brain states. Thoughts, emotions and experiences can be explained and understood through the processes and activities of the brain (brain states). Contemporary Philosophy Late 19th Century Edmund Hurssel We experience our self as a unity which the in mental and physical are seamlessly woven together Maurice Merleau-Ponty The self is embodied subjectivity