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Understanding Self and Philosophy Insights

Matthew Onas reflects on understanding the self through three key ideas: 1) Knowing oneself is difficult and constantly changing, limiting one's freedom, as values and interests change over time. 2) Descartes concluded "I think, therefore I am" - thinking defines one's existence, regardless of whether thoughts come from within or without. 3) Everyone reasons differently and questioning the world is vital to gain knowledge. Matthew develops his own philosophy shaped by experiences and reasoning, identifying as a rationalist who believes knowledge comes from reason over sense experience alone.

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185 views1 page

Understanding Self and Philosophy Insights

Matthew Onas reflects on understanding the self through three key ideas: 1) Knowing oneself is difficult and constantly changing, limiting one's freedom, as values and interests change over time. 2) Descartes concluded "I think, therefore I am" - thinking defines one's existence, regardless of whether thoughts come from within or without. 3) Everyone reasons differently and questioning the world is vital to gain knowledge. Matthew develops his own philosophy shaped by experiences and reasoning, identifying as a rationalist who believes knowledge comes from reason over sense experience alone.

Uploaded by

matthew onas
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© © All Rights Reserved
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NAME: MATTHEW ONAS YEAR & SECTION: BSMARE-1 ECHO

NGEC 1: UNDERSTANDING THE SELF


ACTIVITY 1
1. A. "Know thyself!" right? If we take the importance of change in our lives seriously, this
just isn’t an option. You might be able to know what you think of yourself in this
moment. But what you think of yourself is very different from who you are and what
you actually like. And in a couple of days or weeks, all of this might change anyway.

Knowing thyself is an obstacle to acknowledging and making peace with constantly


changing values. If you know thyself to be such-and-such a kind of person, this limits
your freedom considerably. You might have been the one who chose to be an espresso
person or a donating-to-charity person but, once these features are built into your self-
image, you have very little say in what direction your life is going. Any change would be
either censored or lead to cognitive dissonance.

1. B.  “I think, therefore I am” Descartes wondered how people knew their perceptions of
reality were not the illusions of a demon. In fact, he went on to ponder how people
know whether they exist at all. He mused that his own perception of himself might be
an illusion. The answer Descartes came up with for this dilemma was, “I think, therefore
I am,” which means that thinking is the one thing he knew could not be artificed. Even if
thinking comes from a different place than what is expected, the thoughts still come
from the individual and define the individual as real, regardless of any other factors.

2. Everyone has a different way of thinking and reasoning. In the studies of the
Philosophers I have learned that philosophy is the study of knowledge, reality, and
human existence. Socrates once said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” I agree
with this statement, because I believe any intellectual person must question the world
around them. Questioning different aspects of life is a vital way to gain knowledge.
During my search for knowledge, I began to develop my own personal philosophy. Our
philosophies are largely based off of our perceptions of the world around us. My
philosophy of life is shaped by my experiences, morals, and reasoning skills. Two major
opposing philosophical beliefs are rationalism and empiricism. Rationalism is the idea
that through unaided reason we can come to know the truth. Parmenides, a pre-
Socratic philosopher, was considered to be the first rationalist. He believed that
everything that we think exists in this world is merely an illusion. Empiricists reject this
view and believe that our knowledge comes from sense experience alone. I consider
myself to be a rationalist. 

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