Understanding The Self 1

UNDERSTANDING
THE SELF
Mario Luther A. Debuque Jr. ,JD(u)
Various Philosophical Perspectives
What is Philosophy?
0 study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and

existence, especially in an academic discipline. - a particular
theory that someone has about how to live or how to deal with
a particular situation.
0 academic discipline concerned with investigating the nature of
significance of ordinary and scientific beliefs - investigates the
legitimacy of concepts by rational argument concerning their
implications, relationships as well as reality, knowledge, moral
judgment, etc
What is Philosophy?
0 Much of philosophy concerns with the fundamental nature of

self.
0 The Greeks were the ones who seriously questioned myths and
moved away from them to understand reality and respond to
perennial questions of curiosity, including the question of the
self.
0 The following are discussions of different perspectives and
under- standings of the self according to its prime movers.
From philosophers of the ancient times to the contemporary
period.
THE PRE-SOCRATICS
THE PRE-SOCRATICS
0 were concerned with answering questions such as

0 • what is the world really made up of?
0 • why is the world the way it is?
0 • what explains the changes that happen around us?
0 • arché- origin or source/the “soul”/the primal matter
0 • the soul’s movement is the ultimate arché of all other
movement
0 • arché has no origin outside itself and cannot be destroyed
0 • explains the multiplicity of things in the world
DO YOU AGREE THAT THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE
BODY AND THE SOUL? DO YOU THINK YOU HAVE BOTH?
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWWEEN THE TWO?
SOCRATES
0 • concerned with the problem of the self

0 • “the true task of the philosopher is to know oneself”
0 • “the unexamined life is not worth living”
0 • underwent a trial for ‘corrupting the minds of the youth’
0 • succeeded made people think about who they are
0 the worst thing that can happen to anyone is to live but die
inside’
0 • “every person is dualistic” man = body + soul
0 • individual = imperfect/permanent (body) + perfect &
permanent (soul)
PLATO
0 3 components to the soul

0 rational soul – reason & intellect affairs spirited soul
0 emotions should be kept at bay
0 appetitive soul – base desires (food, drink, sleep, sexual needs,
etc.) •
0 when these are attained, the human person’s soul becomes just
& virtuous
WHAT HAPPENS TO A PERSON WHOSE 3
COMPONENTS OF THE SOUL ARE
IMBALANCED?
0 (ST.) AUGUSTINE
0 • ‘spirit of man’ in medieval philosophy
0 • following view of Plato but adds Christianity
0 • man is of a bifurcated nature
0 • part of man dwells in the world (imperfect) and yearns to be
with the Divine
0 • other part is capable of reaching immortality
0 • body – dies on earth; soul – lives eternally in spiritual bliss
with “God” .
DO YOU BELIEVE IN THE CONCEPT OF THE
SOUL COMING TO HEAVEN AFTER DEATH?
WHAT MAKES US PEOPLE
DIFFERENT FROM ANIMALS?
0 (ST) THOMAS AQUINAS

0 • man = matter + form
0 • matter (hyle) – “common stuff that makes up everything in the
universe”
0 • form (morphe) – “essence of a substance or thing”; (what
makes it what it is)
0 • the body of the human is similar to animals/objects, but what
makes a human is his essence
0 • “the soul is what makes us humans”
MODERN PHILOSOPHY
0 Rene DESCARTES
0 • Father of Modern Philosophy
0 • human person = body + mind
0 • “there is so much that we should doubt”
0 • “if something is so clear and lucid as not to be doubted, that’s
the only time one should believe.”
0 • the only thing one can’t doubt is existence of the self
.
Rene DESCARTES
0 “I think, therefore I am” “Cogito ergo sum”
0 • the self = cogito (the thing that thinks) + extenza (extension of
mind/body)
0 • the body is a machine attached to the mind
0 • it’s the mind that makes the man
0 • “I am a thinking thing. . . A thing that doubts, understands,
affirms, denies, wills, refuses, imagines, perceives.”
DO YOU AGREE WITH THE STATEMENTS
ABOUT THE SELF (body & soul) SO FAR?
WHAT SEEMS TO BE QUESTIONNABLE IN
THEIR CONJECTURES?
David HUME
0 disagrees with the all the other aforementioned philosophers

0 • “one can only know what comes from the senses &
experiences” (he is an empiricist)
0 • “the self is not an entity beyond the physical body”
0 • you know that other people are humans not because you have
seen their soul, but because you see them, hear them, feel them
etc
David HUME
0 • self = a collection of different perceptions which rapidly

succeed each other
0 • self = in a perpetual flux and movement
0 • we want to believe that there is a unified , coherent self, soul,
mind, etc. but ~~actually~~ it is all just a combination of
experiences..
David HUME
0 “the self is nothing but a bundle of impressions and ideas” •

impression – - basic objects of our experience/sensation -
forms the core of our thoughts
0 • idea – - copies of impressions - not as “real” as impressions -
feeling mo lang yun!
Immanuel KANT
0 • the self organizes different
impressions that one gets in relation
to his own existence
0 • we need active intelligence to
synthesize all knowledge and
experience
0 • the self is not only personality but
also the seat of knowledge
Immanuel KANT
0 • agrees with HUME that everything starts with

perception/sensation of impressions
0 • there is a MIND that regulates these impressions
0 • “time, space, etc. are ideas that one cannot find in the world,
but is built in our minds
0 • “apparatus of the mind”
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE
DISCUSSION SO FAR?
0.
Gilbert RYLE
0 • denies the internal, non-physical self

0 • “what truly matters is the behavior that a
person manifests in his day-to-day life.”
0 • looking for the self is like entering LU and
looking for the “university” (explain!)
0 • the self is not an entity one can locate and
analyze but simply the convenient name that
we use to refer to the behaviors that we make
MERLEAU-PONTY
0 • a phenomenologist who says the
mind- body bifurcation is an invalid
problem
0 • mind and body are inseparable
0 • “one’s body is his opening toward
his existence to the world”
0 • the living body, his thoughts,
emotions, and experiences are all
one.
0 • if you hate this subject, Merleau-
Ponty understands you.
Any Question?
PHYSICAL SELF
0 “Learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything
else.” – Leonardo da Vinci
0 "I am not who I think I am. I am not who you think I am. I am who
I think you think I am."
0 Physical Self - is the concrete dimension, the tangible aspect of
the person that can be directly observed and examined.
0 In Psychoanalytical school, Sigmund Freud's construction of self
and personality makes the physical body the core of human
experience.
0 Erik Erikson - the role of bodily organs is especially important in
early developmental stages of a persons life. Later in life, the
development of physical as well as intellectual skills help
determine whether the individual will achieve a sense of
competence and ability to choose demanding roles in a complex
society.
PHYSICAL SELF
0 How they view themselves How they view others How they think
others view them
0 The sociology of the body become an established discipline in the
1990’s. Bryan Turner, coined the term “somatic society” which
means the new found importance of the body in contemporary
society.
0 The obsession to have a beautiful face & body
0 Eating disorder such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia
0 The demand for cosmetic surgery and skin whiteners
0 Body Dysmorphic
0 Body Shaming
0 Many people especially women spend tremendous expenditure of
time, effort and money to alter their appearances to resemble an
ideal image.

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UNDERSTANDING

0 study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and

0 Much of philosophy concerns with the fundamental nature of

0 were concerned with answering questions such as

0 • concerned with the problem of the self

0 3 components to the soul

0 (ST) THOMAS AQUINAS

0 disagrees with the all the other aforementioned philosophers

0 • self = a collection of different perceptions which rapidly

0 “the self is nothing but a bundle of impressions and ideas” •

0 • agrees with HUME that everything starts with

0 • denies the internal, non-physical self

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