THE SELF ACCORDING TO PHILOSOPHY

INTRODUCTION SOCRATES

Athens of ancient Greece, approximately 600

BCE, marked the birth of philosophy (Love of
Wisdom)

For instance, Greek philosophers who lived in

Miletus preferred natural explanations of
occurrences over mythical, generation-by- The foundation of Socrates philosophy was the
generation explanations from the gods. Delphic Oracle’s that command to “Know
Thyself”
Philosophers studied world changes, seeking
explanations through nature's laws, leading Socrates would like to emphasize that knowing or
to the idea of permanence. understanding oneself should be more than the
physical self, or the body.
Early philosophers focused on understanding
the world through elements, mathematics, The touching of the soul may mean helping the
and atoms, and shifted on examining human person to get in touch with his true self. The true
nature, morality, and life philosophies. self.
questions now center on the inner world of
man such as: Who am I? Why am I here? Socrates said, is not the body but the soul. Virtue
What do I want out of life? is inner goodness, and real beauty is that of the
soul.
When philosophical thoughts shifted to the
nature of human beings, Athens was the Socrates believed that his mission in life was to
center of western thought. In the 5th century seek the highest knowledge and convince others
BCE, Athens enjoyed the status of being a city who were willing to seek knowledge with him.
state and a democracy (Moore and
Bruder,2002) When the Delphi Oracle named Socrates wisest
men of all, Socrates became more confused.
Athenians settle arguments by discussion Socrates knew the importance of this but was also
and debate. People who are skilled in doing aware of his ignorance of it. He then realized why he
this were called sophists, the first teachers was the wisest. It was because he was the only one
of the west. These debates led to the who knew that he did not know.
examination and critiquing of accepted
standards of behavior within the society of “The unexamined life is not worth living”.
Athens.
According to the history he was not able to write
any of his teachings and life’s account. Instead, he
is known from the writings of his student Plato who
became one of the greatest philosophers of his
time. Socrates had a unique style of asking
questions called Socratic Method.
SOCTRATES Forms, according to Plato, it is what are real. They
are not objects that are encountered with senses
Socratic Method or dialectic Method but can only be grasped intellectually.
involves:
Therefore, the Forms are…
• The search for the correct/proper
definition of a thing. • Ageless and therefore are eternal.
• Unchanging and therefore permanent.
• Socrates did not lecture; he instead • Unmoving and indivisible.
would ask questions and engage the
person in a discussion. Plato also introduced to the West the existence of
two realms. This is known as Plato’s Dualism.
• He would begin by acting as if he did
not know anything and would get the 1. The Realm of the shadows is composed of
other person to clarify their ideas and unchanging, sensible things which are lesser
resolve logical inconsistencies (Price, entities and therefore imperfect and flawed
2000).
2. The Realm of Forms is composed of eternal
According to Socrates, real understanding things which are permanent and perfect. It is the
comes from within the person. source of all reality and true knowledge

His Socratic method forces people to use Plato believed that people are intrinsically
their innate reason by reaching inside good. Sometimes, however, judgments are made
themselves to their deepest nature. in ignorance and Plato equates ignorance with
evil.
The aim of Socratic method is to make
people think, seek, and ask repeatedly. LOVE is the way by which a person can move
from a state of imperfect knowledge and
ignorance to a state of perfection and true
PLATO knowledge. LOVE is the force that paves the way
for all beings to ascend to higher stages of self-
realization and perfection.

Plato’s love begins with a feeling or experience

that there is something lacking. The deeper the
thought, the stronger is the love.
Plato’s real name is ARISTOCLES (428-348
BCE). He was nicknamed Plato because of For Plato, LOVE is the way of knowing and
his physical built which means ‘wide/broad’. realizing the truth. Love is a process of seeking
higher stages of being. The greater the love, the
Plato’s metaphysics (philosophical study on more intellectual component it will contain.
the causes and nature of things is known as
the Theory of forms). To love the highest is to become the best.
PLATO
Charioteers who set a right course and
A student of Socrates, who introduced the harmoniously work their horses achieve wisdom
idea of a three-part soul/self that is and god banquet, while those who struggle with
composed of reason, physical appetite and control experience personal, intellectual, and
spirit or passion. spiritual failure.

• The Reason enables human to think Plato believed that people are intrinsically
deeply, make wise choices and good. Sometimes, however, judgments are
achieve a true understanding of made in ignorance and Plato equates
eternal truths. Plato also called this ignorance with evil.
as divine essence.
•
The Physical Appetite is the basic ST. AUGUSTINE
biological needs of human being such OF HIPPO
as hunger, thirst, and sexual desire.
•
The Spirit or Passion is the basic
emotions of human being such as
love, anger, ambition, aggressiveness
and empathy.

These three elements of the self-works in

every individual inconsistently. According to He is considered as the last of the great ancient
Plato, it is always the responsibility of the philosophers whose ideas were greatly Platonic.
reason to organize, control, and reestablish In melding philosophy and religious beliefs
harmonious relationship between these three together, Augustine has been characterized as
elements. Christianity’s first theologian.

Plato also illustrated his view of the soul/self Like Plato, Augustine believed that the physical
in “Phaedrus” in his metaphor: the soul is like body is different from the immortal soul.
a winged chariot drawn by two powerful
horses: a white horse, representing Spirit, Early in his philosophical development he
and a black horse, embodying Appetite. The described body as “snare” or “cage” of the soul
charioteer is Reason, whose task is to guide and said that the body is a “slave” of the soul he
the chariot to the eternal realm by controlling even characterized that “the soul makes war
the two independent-minded horses. with the body”.

Later on he came to view the body as “spouse”

of the soul, with both attached to one another by
a “natural appetite.”

He concluded, “That the body is united

with the soul, so that man may be entire and
complete, is a fact we recognize on the
evidence of our own nature.”
RENE DESCARTES
According to St. Augustine, the human nature
is composed of two realms:

1. God as the source of all reality and truth.

Through mystical experience, man can know
eternal truths. This is made possible through
the existence of the one eternal truth which is
God. He further added that without God as
the source of all truth, man could never
understand eternal truth. This relationship
with God means that those who know most A French philosopher, mathematician, and
about God will come closest to considered the founder of modern philosophy.
understanding the true nature of the world.
Descartes, famous principle the “cogito, ergo
2. The sinfulness of man. The cause of sin or sum— “I think, therefore I exist” established his
evil is an act of mans’ freewill. Moral philosophical views on “true knowledge” and
goodness can only be achieved through the concept of self. The cognitive as of human nature
grace of God. is his basis of existence of self.

Using his dreams as guide, Descartes came up

St. Augustine agrees with the Greeks that with a system using principles that were true and
man searches for happiness. However, he meaningful way. He turned to mathematics.
stated that real happiness can only be found Through math, he discovered that the human
in God. For God is love and he created mind has two powers:
humans for them also to love. Problems arise
because of the humans choose to love. 1.Intuition or the ability to apprehend direction of
Disordered love results when man loves the certain truths
wrong things which he believes will give him
happiness. 2. Deduction or the power to discover what is
known by progressing in an orderly way from what
1.Love for physical objects leads to sin of is already known. Truths are arrived at using a
greed. step-by-step process.

2.Love for the people is not lasting and Descartes believed that reasoning could produce
excessive love for them is the sin of absolute truths about nature, existence, morality
jealousy. and God. The truths that can be discovered are a
priori (nature). Ideas discovered this way do not
3.Love for the Self leads to the sin of Pride. rely on some experiences because they are
innate in the human mind.
4.Love for God is the supreme virtue and
only through loving God can man find real He also maintained that the soul and the body
happiness. are independent of one another, and each can
exist and function without the other. In cases in
which people are sleeping or comatose, their
bodies continue to function even though their
minds are not thinking, much like the
mechanisms of a clock.
JOHN LOCKE
For Locke, knowing what Good is does not
necessarily mean that people will always do what
is good. Morality has to do with choosing or
willing the good. Moral good depends on
conformity or non-conformity of a person's
behavior towards some law:
Without impressions, there will be no formation
of ideas.

Law of Opinion- where actions that are

praiseworthy are called virtues and those taht ate
Although Locke and Descartes believed that a
not are called vice
person or the self is a thinking intelligent
being who can reflect and to reason, Locke
Civil Law- where right actions are enforced by
was not convinced with the assumptions of
people in authority
Plato, St. Augustine and Descartes that the
individual self necessarily exists in a single
Divine Law- set by God on the actions of Man.
soul or substance. For Locke, personal
identity and the soul or substance in which
the personal identity is situated are two very
DAVID HUME
different things. The bottom line of his theory
on self is that self is not tied to any particular
body or substance. It only exists in other
times and places because of the memory of
those experiences

Locke believed that knowledge results from

ideas produced a posteriori (nurture) by
objects that were experienced.

Locke stated that, “nothing exists in the

He was a Scottish philosopher and an
mind that was not first in the senses.”
empiricist.
The process involves two forms:
sensation wherein objects are experienced ＊ His claim about self is quite controversial
through the senses and reflection by which because he assumed that there is no self! In
the mind looks at the objects that were essay entitled, “On Personal Identity” (1739) he
experienced to discover relationships that said that, if we carefully examine the contents of
may exists between them. [our] experience, we find that there are only two
distinct entities, "impressions" and "ideas".

Impressions are the basic sensations of our

experience, the elemental data of our minds:
pain, pleasure, heat, cold, happiness, grief, fear,
exhilaration, and so on.
On the other hand, ideas are copies of
impressions that include thoughts and SIGMUND FREUD
images that are built up from our primary
impressions through a variety of
relationships, but because they are derivative
copies of impressions, they are once
removed
from reality.

Impressions are immediate sensations of

external reality. These are more vivid than the
idea it produces. A well-known Australian psychologist and
considered as the Father and Founder of
Ideas are recollections of these impressions Psychoanalysis. His influence in Psychology and
The dualistic view of self by Freud involves therapy is dominant and popular in the 20th to
the conscious self and unconscious self. 21st century.

Without impressions, there will be no

formation of ideas. The conscious self is governed by reality
principle. Here, the self is rational, practical, and
The part of human nature is what other appropriate to the social environment. The
philosophers called the soul; Hume termed it conscious self has the task of controlling the
the ‘the self’. He concluded that man does constant pressures of the unconscious self, as its
not really have an idea of the so-called self primitive impulses continually seek for
because ideas rely on sense impressions of a immediate discharge.
self.
The unconscious self is governed by pleasure
He also stated that there is no such things as principle. It is the self that is aggressive,
personal identity behind perceptions and destructive, unrealistic and instinctual. Both of
feelings that come and go. So, for him, there Freud’s self needs immediate gratification and
is no permanent/unchanging self. reduction of tensions to optimal levels and the
goal of every individual is to make unconscious
Hume considered that the self does not exist conscious.
because all of the experiences that a person
may have been just perceptions, and this Subconscious serves as the repository of past
includes the perception of self. None of these experiences, repressed memories, fantasies, and
perceptions resemble a unified and urges. The three levels of the mind are:
permanent self-identity that exists over time.

Hume explained that the self that is being

experienced by an individual is nothing but a
kind of fictional self. Human created an
imaginary creature which is not real.
“Fictional self” is created to unify the mental
events and introduce order into an individual
lives, but this “self” has no real existence.
1. Id. This is primarily based on the pleasure
principle. It demands immediate satisfaction GILBERT RYLE
and is not hindered by societal expectations.

2.Ego. The structure that is primarily based

on the reality principle. This mediates
between the impulses of the id and restraints
of the superego.

3. Superego. This is primarily dependent on

learning the difference between right and
wrong, thus it is called moral principle. A British analytical philosopher. He was an
Morality of actions is largely dependent on important figure in the field of Linguistic Analysis
childhood upbringing particularly on rewards which focused on the solving of philosophical
and punishments. puzzles through an analysis of language.

Unconscious- Outside of your awareness According to Ryle, the self is best understood as
always a pattern of behavior, the tendency or disposition
for a person to behave in a certain way in certain
Preconscious- all information that you are circumstances.
currently aware of but that can be recalled

Conscious- current state of your awareness. He opposed the notable ideas of the previous
philosophers and even claimed that those were
results of confused conceptual thinking he
According to Freud, there are two kinds of termed, category mistake. “I act therefore I am”
instinct that drive individual behavior – the
eros or the life instinct and the Thanatos of
the death instinct. The energy of eros is called The category mistake happens when we speak
libido and includes urges necessary for about the self as something independent of the
individual and species survival like thirst, physical body: a purely mental entity existing in
hunger, and sex.in cases that human time but not space.
behavior is directed towards destruction in
the form of aggression and violence, such are
the manifestations of Thanatos.
The philosophical thought also mentioned If the self-failed to do this
that man is endowed with freewill but Ryle synthesizing function, there would be a chaotic
thought that freewill was invented to answer and insignificant collection of sensations.
the question of whether an action deserves
praise or blame. Ryle agrees with Kant who Additionally, the self is the product of reason, a
stated that freewill involves moral regulative principle because the self regulates
responsibility which further assumes that experience by making unified experience
man's actions must be moral for it to be free. possible and unlike Hume, Kant’s self is not the
object of consciousness, but it makes the
consciousness understandable and unique.
He also distinguished between 'knowing
that and knowing how. the former refer to Transcendental apperception happens when
knowing facts/information latter to using people do not experience self directly, instead as
facts in the performance of some skill or a unity of all impressions that are organized by
technical abilities. A person may acquire a the mind through perceptions. Kant concluded
great but of knowledge but without the ability that all objects of knowledge, which includes the
to use it solve some practical problems to self, are phenomenal. That the true nature of
make his life easier, this bulk of knowledge is things is altogether unknown and unknowable
deemed to be worthless. (Price, 2000).

In the matter of God, Kant stated that the

IMMANUEL KAN kingdom of God is within the man. God is
manifested in people’s lives therefore it is man’s
duty to move towards perfection. Kant
emphasized that people should always see duty
as a divine command.

PAUL AND PATRICIA

CHURCHLAND

A German Philosopher who made great

contribution to the fields of metaphysics,
epistemology, and ethics. Kant is widely
regarded as the greatest philosopher of the
modern period.

Kant maintained that an individual self makes

the experience of the world comprehensible
because it is responsible for synthesizing the
＊An American philosopher interested in the
discreet data of sense experience into a
fields of philosophy of mind, philosophy of
meaningful whole.
science, cognitive neurobiology, epistemology,
and perception.
It is the self that makes consciousness for the
person to make sense of everything. It is the
one that help every individual gain insight and
knowledge.
Churchland’s’ central argument is that the MAURICE MERLEAU-PONTY
concepts and theoretical vocabulary that
people
use to think about the selves—using such
terms as belief, desire, fear, sensation, pain,
joy—
actually misrepresent the reality of minds and
selves. He claims that the self is a product of
brain
activity.

The behavior of the self can be attributed to

the neuropharmacological states, the neural
activity in specialized anatomical areas. At the center of his philosophy is the emphasis
placed on the human body as the primary site of
Neurophilosopy was coined by Patricia knowing the world.
Churchland, the modern scientific inquiry
looks into the application of neurology to age- ＊A French philosopher and phenomenologist.
old problems in philosophy. The philosophy
of neuroscience is the study of the ＊Physical Body is an important part of the self.
philosophy of science, neuroscience, and
psychology. It aims to explore the relevance Embodied Subjectivity
of neurolinguistic experiments/studies to the Embodied means giving a body to
philosophy of the mind. Subjectivity is the state of being a
subject.
One cannot find an experience that is not
Patricia Churchland claimed that man’s brain embodied experience. all experience is
is responsible for the identity known as self. embodied. One's body is opening towards his
The biochemical properties of the brain existence to the world these men, are in the
according to this philosophy of neuroscience world.
is really responsible for man’s thoughts,
feelings, and behavior. He also asserted that whatever your mind
perceived it will be enacted by your body e.g. the
movie inside out whatever riley mind perceives
＊It seems that what and who the person i: her body will react according to it.
how he makes decisions, controls impulses
and how he sees himself is largely He asserted that the mind is part of the body, and
determined by his neurons, hormones and the body is part of the mind. mind and body
over-all genetic makeup. The man is a work of cannot be separated
art constantly evolving and at the same time
being molded by experiences of the world.