Uts 2j4962

UNDERSTANDING THE SELF

DEFINING THE SELF: PERSONAL & D E V E LO P M E N TA L PERSPECTIVES ON SELF AND IDENTITY CHAPTER 1

THE SELF FROM VARIOUS PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVES LESSON 1

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

AT THE END OF THIS LESSON, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO: • Explain why it is essential to understand the self; • Describe and discuss the different notions of the self from the points-of-view of the various philosophers across time and place; • Compare and contrast how the self has been represented in different philosophical schools; and • Examine one’s self against the different views of self that were discussed in class

Self-concept

W TS H IHE L S A E F T

Selfknowledge

SELF Social Self

Selfesteem

LET US NOW TAKE A LOOK AT HOW PHILOSOPHERS ANSWERED THE QUESTION, WHO AM I? 

SOCRATES (469-399 BCE) • The Market Philosopher • There is soul first before man’s body. Man first exists in the realm of ideas and exists as a soul or pure mind  Every man is composed of body and soul  Person is dualistic • When man came to the material world, he forgot the ideas that he knew, hence he became ignorant. Ignorance causes problem to man • Solution: Dialectic method/Socratic method

• Socrates’ student • In addition to what his master (Socrates) earlier espoused (man is dual nature of body and soul), he added that there are three components of the

soul • 3 components of the soul:

(Based in his magnum opus, “The Republic”) RATIONAL SOUL (forged by reason)  SPIRITED SOUL (charge of

PLATO (427-347 BCE)

ST. AUGUSTINE (354-430) • He agree that man is of a bifurcated nature • The body is bound to die on earth and the soul is to anticipate living eternally in the realm of spiritual bliss in communication with God • The goal of every human person is to

attain the communion and bliss with the Divine by living his life on earth in virtue

• The most eminent 13th century scholar and stalwart of the medieval philosophy • Man is composed of two parts:  MATTER or HYLE (common stuff that makes up everything in the universe)  FORM or MORPHE (essence of a substance or thing) • The soul is what animates the body; it is what makes us humans

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS (1225-1274)

RENE DESCARTES (1596-1650) • Father of Modern Philosophy • Brilliant mathematician (Cartesian Geometry) • For him, there is so much that we should doubt • The essence of man is in being a purely thinking being. Thus,

I think, therefore; I am or also known as Cogito (Cogito ergo sum) • He conceived of the human person as having two distinct entities:  COGITO or MIND (the thing that thinks)  EXTENZA or BODY (extension of the mind) • BODY is nothing else but a machine that is attached to the mind • MIND or THINKING THING is a thing that doubts, understands, affirms, denies, wills, refuses, imagines and perceives

ICE BREAKER

JOHN LOCKE • The self is not locked in mind, body and soul only • Memory is part of the definition of the self • Memory Theory (we are the same person as we were in the past for as long as we can something from that past)

(1632-1704)

DAVID HUME (1711-1776) • Scottish philosopher • Empiricism (school of thought that espouses the idea that knowledge can only be possible if it is sensed and experienced.

• Men can only attain knowledge by experiencing • The mind is divided into two categories: Impressions

and Ideas  IMPRESSIONS (basic objects of our experience or sensation; products of our direct experience)  IDEAS (copies of impressions) • Self is a bundle or collection of different perceptions

• There is necessarily a mind that organizes the impressions that men get from the external world. Built in our minds are the apparatuses of

the mind

• Without the self, one cannot organize the different impressions that one gets in relation to his own existence • Also, self is the seat of knowledge acquisition for all human persons

IMMANUEL KANT (1724-1804)

SIGMUND FREUD (1856-1939) • Man is a combination of his biological structure and the influence of his socio-cultural environment • He devised a tripartite division of man- id, ego,

superego • Id represents the biological structure, superego represents the socio-cultural environment • The two are at battles against each other and whoever wins between them is manifested in the ego. The ego being the self

solves the mind-body dichotomy • For him, what truly matters is the behavior that a person manifests in his day-to-day life • Self is not an entity one can • He

locate and analyze but simply the convenient name that people use to refer to all the behaviors that people make

GILBERT RYLE (1900-1976)

PAUL CHURCHLAND (B. 1942) • Eliminative Materialism (the self is the brain)

• The term mind, moods, emotions, actions, and consciousness are deeply affected by the state of the brain • He proposes a new conceptual framework should be made which is based on neuroscience

• Phenomenologist • He asserts that the mind-body bifurcation that has been going on for a long time is a futile endeavor and an invalid problem • Mind and body are intertwined

that they cannot be separated

• All experience is embodied • The living body, his thoughts,

emotions, and experiences are all one

MAURICE MERLEAUPONTY (1908-1961)

C C CC C O O OO O N N NN N C C CC C L L LL L U U UU U S S SS S I I I I I O O OO O N N NN N

Philosophers have given us different

ways of philosophically defining the self There are just guides since

ultimately, philosophy wants us to think on our own

SO NOW, HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE YOUR SELF?

R R R R BOOKS: • De Vera-Palean, E. et al. (2018). Introspection: Understanding The (pp. 2-16). Books Atbp. Publishing Corp. E E R E E • Self, Pastor-Alata, E.J. et al. (2018). Understanding The Self, (pp.1-11). F F E F F REX Book Store Publishing. E EF EE R RE R R E ERE E N NE N N C CN C C E ECE E S SE SS REFERENCES FROM THE BOOKS: • Beiharz, Peter, and Trevor Hogan. 2002. Social Self, Global Culture: An Introduction to Sociological Ideas. New York: Oxford University Press. • Chaffee, John. 2015. The Philosopher’s Way: Thinking Critically about Profound Ideas. 5th Ed. Boston: Pearson • Churchland, P.1989. A Neurocomputational Perspective. MIT Press • David, Randolph. 2002. Nation, Self, and Citizenship: An Invitation to Philippine Sociology. Department of Sociology, College of Social Sciences and Philosophy, University of the Philippines • Descartes, Rene. 2008. Meditations on First Philosophy: With Selections from the Objections and Replies. New York: Oxford University Press. • Freud, Sigmund (2015) Retrieved from: http://thecharnelhouse.org/2015/04/22/cartoon-commies/sigmind-freud-2/ • Generi, Jonardon. 2012. The Self: Naturalism , Consciousness, and the First-Person Stance, New York: Oxford University Press. • Hume, David, and Eric Steinberg. 1992. An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding: (with) A Letter from a Gentleman to His Friend in Edinburgh; (and) An Abstract of a Treatise of Human Nature. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing

R R RR E ERE E F FEFF E EF EE R RE R R E ERE E N NE N N C CN C C E ECE E S SE SS

• Locke, John. 1689. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Pennsylvania State. • Mark, J.J. (2009, September 02). Socrates. Ancient History Encyclopedia. Retrieved from: https://www.ancient.eu/socrates/ • Marsella, Anthony J., George A. De Vos, and Francis L. K. Hsu.1985. Culture and Self: Asian and Western Perspectives. London: Tavistock Publications. • Mead, George Herbert, 1934. Mind, Self, and Society: From the Standpoint of a Social Behaviorist. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. • Nazario, M. (2011). Man is a thinking being. • Plato. 2000. Plato: “The Republic” Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. • Plato. 2017. The Republic. : BookRix. • Rappe, Sara L. 1995. “Socrates and Self-Knowledge.”Apeiron: A Journal for Ancient Philosophy and Science 28 (1):1-23. • Schlenker, Barry R. 1985. The Self and Social Life. New York: McGraw-Hill • Schuler, Ron. (2006). Locke. Retrieved from: http://rsparlourtricks.blogspot.com/2006/08/locke.html • Stevens, Richard. 1996. Understanding the Self. California: SAGE Publications • The Charnel-House (2015). Immanuel Kant. Retrieved from: https://thecharnelhouse.org/2015/04/22/cartoon-commies/sigmund-freud-2/ • Troscianko, J. (2016). Churchland. Retrieved from: http://scfmadrid.wordpress.com/tag/churchland/ • Vlastos G. (1983). “The Socratic Elenchus”. Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy. 1:27-28.

PREPARED & PRESENTED BY:

GROUP 1

OF

BSA 1-1

A M O R A N TO, R O B I E C . H AO, K Y L A O. N A RVA J A , L O U I S E M A E B . N AV E A , J A N E L L A C .