Understanding the self lecture 1 - PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVES
- 1. THE SELF from Various Philosophical Perspectives Lecture 1 in UNDERSTANDING THE SELF Prepared by Prof. Ronuel L. del Rosario
- 2. PHILOSOPHY - 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.
- 3. PHILOSOPHY - 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.
- 4. Much of philosophy concerns with the fundamental nature of self.
- 5. 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.
- 6. 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.
- 7. THE PRE-SOCRATICS The Pre-Socratics (Thales, Pythagoras, Parmenides, Heraclitus, Empedocles, etc.) were concerned with answering questions such as • what is the world really made up of? • why is the world the way it is? • what explains the changes that happen around us?
- 8. THE PRE-SOCRATICS • arché- origin or source/the “soul”/the primal matter • the soul’s movement is the ultimate arché of all other movement • arché has no origin outside itself and cannot be destroyed • explains the multiplicity of things in the world
- 9. 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?
- 10. SOCRATES • concerned with the problem of the self • “the true task of the philosopher is to know oneself” • “the unexamined life is not worth living” • underwent a trial for ‘corrupting the minds of the youth’ • succeeded made people think about who they are
- 11. SOCRATES • ‘the worst thing that can happen to anyone is to live but die inside’ • “every person is dualistic”
- 12. SOCRATES • man = body + soul • individual = imperfect/permanent (body) + perfect & permanent (soul)
- 13. PLATO • 3 components to the soul rational soul – reason & intellect to govern affairs spirited soul – emotions should be kept at bay appetitive soul – base desires (food, drink, sleep, sexual needs, etc.) • when these are attained, the human person’s soul becomes just & virtuous
- 14. WHAT HAPPENS TO A PERSON WHOSE 3 COMPONENTS OF THE SOUL ARE IMBALANCED?
- 15. (ST.) AUGUSTINE • ‘spirit of man’ in medieval philosophy • following view of Plato but adds Christianity • man is of a bifurcated nature • part of man dwells in the world (imperfect) and yearns to be with the Divine • other part is capable of reaching immortality • body – dies on earth; soul – lives eternally in spiritual bliss with “God” (#lifegoalz)
- 16. DO YOU BELIEVE IN THE CONCEPT OF THE SOUL COMING TO HEAVEN AFTER DEATH?
- 17. WHAT MAKES US PEOPLE DIFFERENT FROM ANIMALS?
- 18. (ST) THOMAS AQUINAS • man = matter + form • matter (hyle) – “common stuff that makes up everything in the universe” • form (morphe) – “essence of a substance or thing”; (what makes it what it is) • the body of the human is similar to animals/objects, but what makes a human is his essence • “the soul is what makes us humans”
- 20. Rene DESCARTES • Father of Modern Philosophy • human person = body + mind • “there is so much that we should doubt” • “if something is so clear and lucid as not to be doubted, that’s the only time one should believe.” • the only thing one can’t doubt is existence of the self
- 21. Rene DESCARTES • “I think, therefore I am” • the self = cogito (the thing that thinks) + extenza (extension of mind/body) • the body is a machine attached to the mind • it’s the mind that makes the man • “I am a thinking thing. . . A thing that doubts, understands, affirms, denies, wills, refuses, imagines, perceives.”
- 22. DO YOU AGREE WITH THE STATEMENTS ABOUT THE SELF (body & soul) SO FAR? WHAT SEEMS TO BE QUESTIONNABLE IN THEIR CONJECTURES?
- 23. David HUME • disagrees with the all the other aforementioned philosophers • “one can only know what comes from the senses & experiences” (he is an empiricist) • “the self is not an entity beyond the physical body” • you know that other people are humans not because you have seen their soul, but because you see them, hear them, feel them etc
- 24. David HUME • “the self is nothing but a bundle of impressions and ideas” • impression – - basic objects of our experience/sensation - forms the core of our thoughts • idea – - copies of impressions - not as “real” as impressions - feeling mo lang yun!
- 25. David HUME • self = a collection of different perceptions which rapidly succeed each other • self = in a perpetual flux and movement • we want to believe that there is a unified , coherent self, soul, mind, etc. but ~~actually~~ it is all just a combination of experiences.
- 26. Immanuel KANT • agrees with HUME that everything starts with perception/sensation of impressions • there is a MIND that regulates these impressions • “time, space, etc. are ideas that one cannot find in the world, but is built in our minds • “apparatus of the mind”
- 27. Immanuel KANT • the self organizes different impressions that one gets in relation to his own existence • we need active intelligence to synthesize all knowledge and experience • the self is not only personality but also the seat of knowledge
- 28. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE DISCUSSION SO FAR?
- 29. Gilbert RYLE • denies the internal, non-physical self • “what truly matters is the behavior that a person manifests in his day-to-day life.” • looking for the self is like entering LU and looking for the “university” (explain!)
- 30. Gilbert RYLE • 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
- 31. MERLEAU-PONTY • a phenomenologist who says the mind- body bifurcation is an invalid problem • mind and body are inseparable • “one’s body is his opening toward his existence to the world” • the living body, his thoughts, emotions, and experiences are all one.
- 32. MERLEAU-PONTY • if you hate this subject, Merleau-Ponty understands you.
- 33. ANY QUESTIONS?