Understanding Self-PPT.pptx-adven-of rizal

Understanding
Prepared by :
Professor Bernadeth Pandes
the SELF

Learning objectives:
At the end of the lesson, you should be able to :
1. explain why it is essential to understand the self;
2. describe and discuss the different notions of the self
from the points of view of the various philosophers
across time and place.
3.compare and contrast how the self has been
represented in different philosophical schools; and
4.examine one’s self against the different views of self
that were discussed in class.

PCL Mission and Vision
The Mission of Paul College Leadership is to developed
servant leaders who have great passion for God and to
possess the biblical knowledge,Christ-like and practical-
skills needed for effective and holistic ministry to impact
our world and the global church fullfilling the great
commission.

VISION :
The Vision of Paul College Leadership is that the global
church would be supplied with equipped Godly and
bibical thinkers ever- progressing in dynamic spiritual
leadership, and reproduction of servant leaders who
will fulfill the great commission of christ in the
Philippines, Asia and the rest of the world.

What is self?
• The" self" has many aspects, These aspects make up the self's
integral parts, such as self-awareness, self esteem,self-
knowledge and self perception.
•The self is an important study in psychology. It holds that the
self is either the cognitive or the affective ctivities representatio
of the individual. Cognitive is relating to or involving
consciousnes intellectual activity while affective is relationg to
or arising from the feelings influenced by emotions.(merriam-
webster, 2017)

The self according to
philosophy
Philosophy is defined as the study of knowledge
or wisdom from its Latin roots, philo (love) and
sophia (wisdom).
• it is “ loving knowledge or loving wisdom.
• the term philosophy as originally use by the
greeks meant “ the pursuit of knowledge for its
own sake.

PHILOSOPHERS
socrates
Aristotle
PLATO

SOCRATES :
• He was a Greek philosopher from athens, Greece and
said to have the greatest influence on European
thought.
• However, Soractes never wrote anything. he was a
follower of Plato.
• He was known for his method of inquiry in testing an
idea.
• This is called the socratic method whereby an idea was
tested by asking a series of questions to determine
underlying beliefs and the extent of knowledge to
guideperson toward better understanding(maxwell,
2015)

Some of Socrates's ideas were :
• The soul is immortal
• The care of the soul is the task of philosophy
• Virtue is neccessary to attain happiness.
• He believed that philosophy had a very im,portant role to play in the
lives of the people. One of his most-quoted phrases is, " The
unexamined life is not worth living."
• According to him, self knowledge or the examination of one' s self, as
well as the question about how one ought to live one's life, are very
important concerns because only by knowing yourself can you hope
to improve your life( Rappe, 1195).

• Socrates believed that you as a person should consciously
contemplate, turn your gaze inward and analyze the true
nature and values that are guiding your life.
• He added self-knowledge would open your eyes to your
true nature; which contrary to pop culture, is not about
what you own, how many " likes" you get in your social
media posts, or how successful you are in your carreer.
• According to socrates, the state of your inner being
(soul/self) determines the quality of your life.
• Socrates said existence is of two kinds :
a. The visible and
b. The invisible

• The visible existence changes while the invisible
existence remains constant(Connolly, 2017)
• According to Socrates, this is the state of human being.
• The body, which is visible, changes; the other partm the
kind that is invisible to humans yet sensed and
understood by the mind remains constant.
• In the Socratic Dialogue, Plato wrote what socrates said
about the body and the soul; When the soul and body are
together nature assigns our body to be slave and to be
ruled and the soul to be ruler and master".(hamilton et
al., Organ 1986.

• Socrates also believed that the goal of life is to be happy.
How does one become happy?
• According to him, the virtuous man is happy man and virtue
alone is the one and only supreme good that will secure
his/her happiness.
• Virtue is defined as moral excellence, and an individual is
considered virtuous if his/her character is made up of the
moral qualities that are accepted as virtues, i. e, courage,
temperance, prudence, and justice ( The standford
Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2017).
• Even death is trivial matter for the truly virtuous because
he/she has realised that the most important thing is the
state of his/her soul and the acts taken from taking care
of the souol through self-knowledge.

PLATO
Good actions give strength to ourselves
and inspire good actions in others. -
Plato

• Plato was the student of socrates. He wrote the socratic
dialogue where socrates was the main haracter and speaker.
Plato’s philosophical method was what he identified as “
collection and division” (Phaedrus, 265e; smith 2017).
• In this method, the philosopher would “ collect” all the
generic ideas that seemed to have common characteristics
and the divided them into different kinds until the
subdivision of ideas became specific.
• He known for his theory of forms that asserted the physical
world is not really “ real” world because the ultimate reality
exist beyond the physical world.

The three ( 3) parts of the sould according to plato are :
• a. the appetitive - element that enjoys sensual experiences, such
as food, drink and sex.
• b. The rational- element that forbids the person to enjoy the
sensual experience, the part that loves truth, hence should rule
over the other parts of the soul through the use reason.
• The spirited - element that in inclined toward reason but
understand the demands of passion; the part loves honor and
victory.
 According to plato, the “soul” is indeed the most divine aspect of the
humanbeing. However, his concept of the divine is not spiritual being
but rather one has an intellectual connotation.

Understanding Self-PPT.pptx-adven-of rizal

Aristotle
“Man is the rational animal.”

Background:
Aristole defines the soul as the principles of life. And as
the principle of life, it causes the body to live. This
explains why for aristotle all living beings have soul.
Because for aristotle all living being have souls,then
follows that plants and animals, in addition human have
souls too.
Thus, aristotle distinguishes the three level of soul,namely
vegetative soul, sensitive soul and rational soul.

Three level of souls
THE VEGETATIVE SOUL SENSITIVE SOUL RATIONAL SOUL
 According to aristotle,
vegetative soul is
found in plants,
 Plants have soul,
 they possess three
basic requirements for
something to be called
a “ living being”.
 capacity to grow,
reproduce and feed
itself.
 it grows,
 reproduce,
 feed themselves
 capable of sensation
 rational souls grow,
 reproduce
 feed
 feel
 capable of thinking.
 The highest level of
soul
 is present only in
humans.

 Since humans possess all the characteristics of
animals, that is, the capacity to grow,
reproduce,feed itself and feel, in addition to being
rational.
 Aristotle concludes that the human person is just
an animal that thinks. As aristotle’s famous
dictum on the human person goes, “ Man is a
rational man”.

St Augustine Rene Descartes John Locke Immanuel kant
Other Philosophers:

• The three ( 3) parts of the sould according to plato are :
• a. the appetitive - element that enjoys sensual
experiences, such as food, drink and sex.
• b. The rational- element that forbids the person to enjoy
the sensual experience, the part that loves truth, hence
should rule over the other parts of the soul through the
use reason.
understand the demands of passion; the part loves honor
and victory.
St. Augustine -
“All knowledge leads
to God.”

use reason.
and victory.
 He callled Saint Augustine of Hippo, is one of the latin
Fathers of the church, one of the Doctors of the
church, and one of the most significant Christian
thinkers.
 He adopted Plato’s view that the “self” is an immaterial
(but rational) soul.
 Augustine asserted that these forms were concepts
existing within the perfect and eternal God. ( The
catholic University of America press, 1982) where the
soul belonged. Saint Augustine held that the truth and
was capable of scientific thinking.

use reason.
and victory.
The aspects of the self/soul according to saint
augustine’s are:
- It is able to be aware of itself.
It recognizes itself as a holistic one.
It is aware of its unity.
 Saint Augustine pointed out that a person is similar to
God as regards to the mind and its ability; that by
ignoring to use his/her mind( or the incorrect use of
mind) he/she would lose his/her possibility to reach real
and lasting happiness.

use reason.
and victory.
Rene Descartes
“I think, Therefore I
am.”

use reason.
and victory.
BACKGROUND:
 He was a French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist. He is
considered the father of modern Western philosophy. Descartes is
oftern regarded as the first thinker to emphasize the use of reason to
describe , predict and understand natural phenomena based on
observational and empirical evidence.
 He proposed that doubt was a principal tool of disciplined inquiry. His
method was called hyperbolical/metaphysical doubt, also sometimes
referred to as methodological skepticism,
 It is systematic process of being skeptical about the truth of one’s
belief in order to determine which beliefs could be ascertained about
as true.

use reason.
and victory.
 Rene Descartes famous line “ Cogito ergo sum “ translated as “ I
think, therefore I am” became a fundamental element of Western
philosophy as it secured the foundation for knowledge in the face of
radical doubt.
Descartes proved that there is a thinking entity that is doing the act
doubting.
Descartes’ Claims about the self” are :
 It is contant; it is not prone to change, and it is not
affected by time,
 only the immaterial soul remains the same
throughout time.
 The immaterial soul is the source of our identity.

 THE SOUL  THE BODY
 - It is a conscious, thinking subtance
that is unaffected by time.
 It is know only to itself(only you
know your own mental event and
others cannot correct your mental
states)
 It is not made up of parts. It views
the entirety of itself with no hidden
or separate compartments. It is both
conscious and aware of itself at the
same time.
 It is a material subtance that
changes through time.
 It can be doubted; The public can
correct claims about the body.
 It is made up of physical,
quantifiable divisible parts.
Distinctions between the soul and body as pointed out by
Descartes are:

use reason.
and victory.
JohnLocke
“Human mind at birth is a tabula
rasa which means that knowledge is
derived from experience.”

Background : John Locke
 He was philosopher and physician and was one of the most
influential Enlightenment thinkers. The age of Enlightenment or the
age of reason was an intellectual and philosophical movement that
dominated the ideas in Europe during the 18th century.
 Locked expanded this definition of “self” to include memories of that
thinking thing.
 Locked believed that the ‘ self” is identified with consciousness and
this “self’ consist of sameness of consciousness. This is usually
interpreted to mean “self consist of memory; that the person existing
now is the same person yesterday because she/he remembers the
thoughts, experiences, or actions of the earlier self.

 For locke, a person memories provide a continuity of
experience that allows him/her to identify himself/herself as
the same person over time. This theory of personal identiy
allows locke to justify a defense of accountability.
 According to him since the person is the same “ self” in the
passing time, he/ she can be held accountable for past
behaviors. However, locke insisted that a person could only
be held accountable for behavior he/she can remember.
 Locke believed that punishing someone for behaviors he/she
has no recollection of doing is equivalent to punishing him/her
for actions that was never performed.
 He asserted that the state of the person who cannot
remember his/her behavior is the same as the state of the
person who never commited the act, which meant the person
was ignorant.

use reason.
and victory.
DAVID HUME
“All knowledge is derived
from human senses.”

BACKGROUND : DAVID HUME
He was scottish philosopher, economist, and historian during the age of
Enlightenment.He was a fierce opponent of Descartes’ Rationalism.
Rationalism is the theory that reason, rather than experiencem is the
foundation of all knowledge.
Hume, along with John locke and bishop George Berkelym was one of the
three(3) main figureheads of the influentiak British Empiricim movement.
Empiricism is the idea that origin of all knowledge is sense experience. It
emphasized the role of experience and evidence( especially sensory
perception) in forming concepts, while discounting the notion of innate ideas.
He identified wiht the bundle theory where in he described the “self” or
person ( which hume assumed to be the “ mind” as a bundle or a collection
of different perception that are moving in a very fast and successive manner;
therefore, it is in a perpetual flux”.

HUME divided the mind’s perceptions into two groups stating that
the difference between the two “ consist in the degree of force and
liveliness with which they strike upon the mind” ( hume p.10P)
1.IMPRESSION
These are the perceptions that are the most strong. They enter the
senses with most forice. These are directly experienced; they
result from inward and outward sentiments.
2. IDEAS
These are the less forcible and less lively counterparts of
impressions. These are mechanisms that copy and reproduce
sense data formulated based upon the previously impressions.

 Hume compared the “ self” to a notion; where by a nation retains
its “ being a nation” not by some single core or identity but by
being composed of different, constantly changing elements such
as people, systems, culture and beliefs. In the same manner, the ‘
self “ according to hume is not just one impression received but a
mix and a loose impression that endures throughout your life.
 Hume did not believe on the existence of the “self”. He stressed
that your perceptions are only active for as long as are you
conscious. According to hume, should your perception be
“removed” for any time( such as when you are sleeping) and you
can no longer sense yourself then you cease to exist.
 Hume’s “ self” is a passive observer similar to watching one’s life
pass before the eyes like a play or on a screen; whereby the total
annihilation of the “ self” comes at death.

use reason.
and victory.
Immanuel kant
“ Reason is the final authority of
morality. Morality is achieved only
when there is absence of war
because of the result or
enlightenment.

Background : Immanuel Kant
 He was philosopher in a central figure in modern philosophy.
hiscontributions to metaphysics,epistemology,ethics and aesthetics have
had a profound impact on almost every philosophical movement that
followed him. Among other ideas that kant proposed was that, the human
mind creates the structure of human experience.
 Kant’s view of the self is transcendental, which means the self is related to
a spiritual or nonphysical realm. For kant, the self is not in the body. The self
outside the bodym and it does not have the qualities of the body.

 Kant stressed that the body and its qualities are rooted to the
self. he proposed that it is knowledge that bridges the “ self’
and the material things together (boreem 1999;brook,2004)
Two kinds of consciousness of self (rationality)
1. Consciousness of oneself and one’s
pyschological states in inner sense, and
2. Consciousness of oneself and one’s states by
performing acts of apperception.
Apperception- is the mental process by which a person makes
sense of an idea by assimilating it to the body of ideas he/she
already possesses.

Two components of the “ SELF”.
 INNER SELF
- The self by which you are aware of alteratins in your own
state. This includes your rational intellect and your
pychological state, such as moods, feelings, and sensations,
pleasure and pain.
OUTERSELF
- It includes your senses and the physical world. It is the
common boundary between the external world and the inner
self. It gathers information from the external world through the
senses, which the inner interprets and coherently expresses.

Kant proposed that the ‘self” organizes information in three ways :
 Raw perceptual input ;
 Recognizing the concept, and
 Reproducing in the imagination.
Kant’s “self” has a unified point of self-reference. You are conscious of
yourself as
the subject, and you are conscious of yourself as common subject of
different representations.
Kant confirmed that the impressions you perceive point to one single
common
fact- the self is the subject of these experiences.

use reason.
and victory.
Sigmund Freud:
Wish fullfillment is the road
to the unconscious.

Background : Sigmund Freud
 He was a philosopher,pyschologist , and pyschologist and one of the
most
influential thinkers of the 2oth century.
 His most important contribution,particularly in pyschology, was
pychoanalysis- a practice devised to treat those who are mentally ill
through dialogues)
 The vast majority of european philosophers before freud ( from plato &
aristotle to kant and descartes) regarded human beings as having as
“essence” to which the self/soul is ascribed. The “self” was an entity in
itself it
characterized as the subject (focal points): topic and doer of the action) of
the physical and mental actions and experiences.The notion is that the self
is essence and subject points to the idea of an entity that is unified, single ,

Structural division of the pysche, freud distinguished three levels
of consciousnes:
1. CONSCIOUS ;
- which deals with awareness of present preceptions, feelings,
thoughts,
memories, and fantasies at any particular moment.
2.PRE-CONSCIOUSN/SUBCONSCIOUS, which is related to data that
canreadily be brought to consciousness; and
3.UNCONSCIOUS, which is related to data retained but not easily
available
to the individual’s conscious awareness or scrutiny.

PYSCHOANALYTIC
THEORY- was proposed
existence of the
unconscious as :
1. A repository for
traumatic represented
memories and;
2. The source of anxiety-
provoking drives that is
socially or ethically
unacceptable to the
individual.
 Pyschoanalytic Theory- is a
personality theory based on the
notion that an individual gets
motivated by unseen forces,
controlled by the conscious and the
rational thought.
 Sigmund Freud did not exactly
create the notion of the conscious
versus unconscious mind, but he
certainly was responsible for making
it popular, and this was one of his
main contributions to pyschology.
( Mcleod, 2008)

Structured the pysche or mind into three parts :
1. ID - it operates on the pleasure principle. Every wishful
impulse should be satisfied immediately, regardless of the
consequences. When the id achieves its demands, you
experience pleasure; when it is denied,you experience
“unpleasure” or tension. ( ex: a new born baby)
2.Ego- it operates according to the reality principle. It works out
realistic ways of satisfying the id’s demands( often compromising
or postponing satisfaction to avoid negative consequences of
society).(ex. decision- making component of personality.)
 The ego considers social realities and norms, etiquette,
and rules in deciding how to behave.
3.Superego- it incorporates the values and morals of society.
The superego’s function is to control the id’s impulses.It
pursuades the ego to choose moralistic goals and to strive for perfection
rather than simply realistic ones.

Illustration of psyche structure ( Freud Psychoanalytic theory)

The superego consist of two systems;
1. Conscience- if the ego gives in to the id’s demands, the
supergo may make the person feel bad through quilt.
2. Ideal self - it is an imaginary picture of how you ought to be. it
represents career aspirations; how to treat other people; and
how to behave as a member of society.
According to freud’s structure of the mind, the Ego and the
superego function in different levels of consciousness. There is a
constant movement of memories and impulsess from one level to
another. The ID, on the other hand, is unaffected by reality,logic,
or the everyday world as it operates. within the unconscious part
of the mind.

Gilbert
Ryle
“ I act,therefore I am”.

Background: Gilbert Ryle
 Philosopher, professor and produced a critque on Descartes’ idea that
the mind is distinct from the body.
 He wrote the concept of the mind (1949) where the rejected the notion
that mental states are separable from the physical states.
 Ryle called the distinction between mind and matter a category-
mistake” because of its attempt to analyze the relation between “
mind” and “ body” as if the two were terms of the same categories
( nath,2013)

Ryle’s points against Descartes
theory are:
The relation between mind and body are not isolated processes.
Mental processess are intelligent acts, and are not distinct from
each other.
The operation of the mind is itself an intelligent act.

According to ryle, the rationalist view that mental acts
are distinct from physical; acts and that there is a
mental world distinct from the physical world is a
misconception.
Ryle criticized this distinction between mind and body
as “ the dogma of the ghost in the machine”
imagination and any other abilities or disposition do not
reside “ within the mind as if the mind or self) inside a
machine called. “body”.(ryle,1992)

Paul
Churchland
“The physical brain an d not the
imaginary mind gives us our sense of
self.”

Background:
 -philosopher ,professor, and known as for his studies in
neurophilosophy and the philosophy of mind.
 His philosophy stands on a materialistic view or the belief that
nothing but matter exists. In other words, if something can be seen,
felt, heard,touched or tasted, then it exist. There is nothing beyond
the sensory experience.
 Churchland view the immaterial,unchanging soul/self does not exist
because it cannot be experienced by the senses.

 churchland insisted that idea of a mind or soul is not in consonance
with the physical changes that have occured in the hereditary
characteristics of the human species over successive generations.
 Eliminative materialism or claim that people’s common sense
understanding of the mind( folk psychology is false, and that certain
classes of mental states which most people believe in do not
exist( churchland ;baker 1995)
 Churchland pointed out that in mental conditions , such as
depressionm it is technically wrong to say that the person is “ out of his
mind” because neuroscientist have found that brain activity and even
brain shape, appears to be associated with severe mood disorders.

Maurice
merleau-Ponty
“The self as embodied
subjectivity”.
“Physical body is an important part of the self”.

Background:
 He was a philosopher and author emphasizing the body as the
primary site of knowing the world,Maurice merleau- ponty idea’
of self is an embodied subjectivity.
 The term embodied is a verb that means to give a body to
usually an immaterial substance like a soul).
 Subjevtivity, in philosophy, is the state of being a subject-an
entity that possess conscious experiences, such as
perspectives, feelings, beliefs and desired.

 moreover, a subject acts upon or affects some other
entity,which in philosophy is called object.
 A subject, therefore, is something that exist, can take action,
and can cause real effects ( on an object)
 He asserted that human beings are embodied subjectives, and
that the understanding of the self should begin from this
fundamental fact. He added that the body is not a mere “
house’ where the mind resides.
 Merle-Ponty argued that the body is part of the mind, and the
mind is part of the body; that although there could be a stand-
alone mental faculty that perceives what the senses
experiencem it needs the body to receive these expectations,
act on its perceptions, and communicate with the external
world. The body acts what the mind perceive as unified one.

APPLICATION AND ASSESTMENT
In your own words, state what ‘self’ is for each of
the following philosophers. After doing so, explain
how your concept of self is compatible with how
they conceived of the “self”.

Understanding Self-PPT.pptx-adven-of rizal

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