[USELF] L1 | PHILOSOPHICAL Perspective of the Self

SOCRATES

• He was born in Athens and married with several children. Because of his habit of engaging youths in philosophizing in public markets, he is also known as the market philosopher.

• "An unexamined life is not worth living".

SOCRATES said this meaning it is through an examination that we can know ourselves, and that is why there is a need to examine one's life. He believed that philosophy could help people live virtuous lives.

SOCRATES

• He was a well-known critic of intellectuals during his day, but he never claimed to be "wise" and instead saw himself as a "midwife" who assisted curious minds in achieving wisdom.

• soul

• [SOCRATES]Before man's body, there was the ___ first. The existence of man was first in the realm of ideas and exists as a soul or pure mind. This ___ knows by direct intuitions and is stored in man's mind.

• Socratic Method

• Before man's body, there was the soul first. The existence of man was first in the realm of ideas and exists as a soul or pure mind. This soul knows by direct intuitions and is stored in man's mind. Despite that, once a man came to the material world, he forgot most of what he knew. This, then, results in a lack of knowledge (ignorance). On the other hand, even ignorance causes problems to man, knowledge can be restored through a _________.

• Socratic Method

is an exchange of questions and answers that aims to make the person remember all the knowledge that he has forgotten, including his former omniscient self. It pertains to a particular way of addressing a conversation or discussion. This encourages critical thought, thus, making a person to think about whether their view is right.

PLATO

• He was born into an aristocratic Athenian family, which was involved in the rule of Thirty Tyrants. He founded the Academy, now considered the prototype of the modern university.

PLATO

• His most significant ideas include his theory of forms, which states that everything that exists is based on a concept that can only be understood in the mind. These nonphysical ideas are eternal and unchanging.

Plato’s theory of forms

• states that everything that exists is based on a concept that can only be understood in the mind. These nonphysical ideas are eternal and unchanging. The dichotomy of the Ideal world or the world of Forms and the Material world is an important part of Plato's philosophy.

• World of Forms

[THEORY OF FORMS] is the permanent, unchanging reality.

• Material world

[THEORY OF FORMS] is what we see around us. For Plato, this is where we live, and is just a replica of the real world found in the world of Forms.

Soul, body

• Dichotomy. Plato believed that human beings are composed of a body and a soul.
  The ____ is the true self, the permanent, and the unchanging self. On the other hand, the changing ____ is not the real self but only a replica of the true self.

Plato's Allegory of the Cave

A group of people chained up in a cave first believe that the shadows on the wall are separate entities. The shadows are caused by the bodies of the captives. In his allegory, Plato aimed to communicate that we can occasionally have a completely incorrect perception of the world around us. We must be willing to change our perception, if we are to come into contact with reality.

SAINT AUGUSTINE

• He was greatly inspired by Plato. He abandoned his early Christian faith because he found it difficult to reconcile a loving, all-knowing, and all-powerful God with the evils in the world. The Neo-Platonist and the idea of the world of Forms provided him a philosophical strongpoint for the idea of God and made it easier for his return to the folds of Christianity.

SAINT AUGUSTINE

• He differentiated between the real world and the temporary world. According to him, the world of materials is not the final home, but just a temporary home where people are just passing through. The real world is found in the world where there is infinity and permanence. This world is only found where God is. God is fully real - an unchanging, permanent being.

• The world of materials

• According to St. Augustine, the world of ______ is not the final home, but just a temporary home where people are just passing through.

• the real world

• According to St. Augustine, The ______ world is found in the world where there is infinity and permanence. This world is only found where God is. God is fully real - an unchanging, permanent being.

Man

• According to St. Augustine, ____ is created in the image of God.___ has an immortal soul, whose main pursuit is to have an everlasting life with God. In this world, ____ pursues this happiness, but this can only be achieved in God alone.

• moral law

• According to St. Augustine, the _______ exists and is imposed on the mind. People can discern the distinction between right and wrong because reason makes us recognize the _______.

• Eternal Law

• According to St. Augustine, this should be universally followed because this is from the Eternal Reason (God Himself). This is the law of conscience.

RENE DESCARTES

a foundational figure in modern philosophy, is best known for his contributions to the theory of the self. His views on the self are closely tied to his dualism. His theory of the self is deeply embedded in his Meditations on First Philosophy and other works.

dualism

views on the self are closely tied to his _____, the idea that the mind and body are distinct substances.

Cogito, ergo sum (" think, therefore / am".)

Descartes' most famous statement, the central to his theory of the self. In his Meditations on First Philosophy (1641), Descartes begins by doubting everything that can possibly be doubted, including the existence of the physical world and his own body. He argues that the one thing that cannot be doubted is the fact that he is thinking. Even if all external things, including his body, are illusions or dreams, the very act of doubting or thinking proves his existence as a thinking being. Thus, Descartes concludes, the essence of the self is thought, or mental activity, and this is the foundation of his understanding of the self.

The Mind-Body Dualism

Descartes is famous for his dualism-the belief that the mind and body are two fundamentally different substances. The body is a material substance that is subject to physical laws, whereas the mind (or soul) is an immaterial substance that is the seat of thought, consciousness, and personal identity. According to Descartes, the self (or soul) is purely mental and not subject to the same physical laws as the body. He famously states that the mind is distinct from the body, and that the mind (or self) is not dependent on physical processes to exist.

body, mind (or soul)

[The Mind-Body Dualism] The _____ is a material substance that is subject to physical laws, whereas the _______ is an immaterial substance that is the seat of thought, consciousness, and personal identity.

self (or soul), mind (or self)

[The Mind-Body Dualism] According to Descartes, the ________ is purely mental and not subject to the same physical laws as the body. He famously states that the mind is distinct from the body, and that the ________ is not dependent on physical processes to exist.

The "Thinking Substance"

Descartes claims that the essence of the self is captured in the "__________" (res cogitans). This is not bound by the laws of physics and is responsible for activities such as doubting, understanding, willing, and imagining.

extended substance

[The "Thinking Substance"] He contrasts this with the "_________" (res extensa), which is the material, physical world, including the body. The self, for Descartes, is fundamentally a non-material thinking substance that exists independently of the body.

RENE DESCARTES

His theory of the self is rooted in the idea that the self is primarily a thinking, non- material substance. Through his famous Cogito argument, he establishes that the self exists because it thinks, doubts, and reasons. The mind (or soul) is distinct from the body and exists independently of the physical world, which sets the stage for his mind-body dualism.

JOHN LOCKE

He is known as the "Father of Classical Liberalism". This is because of his contribution to the development of human rights. He thinks that our identity is not locked in the mind, soul, or body only. He considered man in his natural state as more cooperative and sensible, and he believed that society is built with the permission of the people who organize.

The memory theory

John Locke believes in ________, which states that we are the same person we were in the past as long as we can remember something from that time. This explains personal identity in terms of the psychological link between life's stages.

Personal Identity and Continuity of Consciousness

[His Theory About The Self -Elaborated]

Locke is best known for his theory of personal identity, which he proposes in Book II of his Essay Concerning Human Understanding. For Locke, the self is not defined by the substance of the soul or the body, but by the continuity of consciousness. He argues that a person's identity over time is preserved through the continuity of their conscious experiences, not by the persistence of a particular substance or physical body.

person

Locke famously asserts that "______" is a forensic term that refers to the continuity of consciousness, meaning that as long as a person's consciousness (i.e., their memory and self-awareness) persists, they remain the same person. Even if the body changes or the soul is different, as long as one can remember the experiences and actions of a previous state, they are the same person. This is commonly known as Locke's Theory of Personal Identity.

Locke's Theory of Personal Identity

Locke famously asserts that "person" is a forensic term that refers to the continuity of consciousness, meaning that as long as a person's consciousness (i.e., their memory and self-awareness) persists, they remain the same person. Even if the body changes or the soul is different, as long as one can remember the experiences and actions of a previous state, they are the same person. This is commonly known as ____________________.

Memory and the Self

Central to Locke's theory is the idea that memory is key to personal identity. He argues that a person is the same as they were at a prior time if they can recall past experiences and actions. For example, if someone at time T2T_2T2 can remember the thoughts, feelings, and actions they had at time T1T_1T1, then they are the same person at both times, even if the body or other physical conditions have changed.

Memory and the Self

Locke acknowledges that this view relies on the faculty of memory being reliable. If someone loses their memory (as in the case of amnesia), they may lose the continuity of identity, which complicates the notion of selfhood. However, Locke does not require perfect or total memory but instead holds that it is the ability to remember relevant experiences that preserves personal identity.

JOHN LOCKE

For him, the self is not a simple, static entity, but rather a complex, dynamic process defined by the continuity of consciousness and memory. His theory suggests that personal identity is based on psychological continuity, not material or metaphysical substances like the body or soul. His self is defined by its ability to remember past experiences, and this capacity for self-awareness is what makes a person the same over time.

PAUL AND PATRICIA CHURCHLAND

are prominent figures in the field of philosophy of mind and cognitive science, particularly known for their work in neurophilosophy. Their views on the self are heavily influenced by their naturalistic approach, which attempts to ground mental phenomena (including the self) in neuroscience and biological processes.

Self as a Construct of the Brain's Neural Networks

The Churchlands reject traditional dualistic notions of the self, where the self is considered a separate, immaterial entity distinct from the body. Instead, they argue that the self can be understood as a set of processes emerging from the brain's neural activity. In their view, the self is not a static or fixed entity but a dynamic and evolving network of neural representations and interactions.

Eliminative Reductionism

One of the Churchlands' key contributions to philosophy of mind, which suggests that many traditional psychological concepts (including ideas of the self) may be deeply mistaken or misinformed. They believe that much of folk psychology-the common-sense understanding of the mind and self-should be replaced by more scientifically accurate theories grounded in neuroscience. The self, in this view, isn't a mysterious substance but can be explained through the workings of neurons and brain structures.

Neurophilosophical Framework

Patricia and Paul Churchland advocate for a neurophilosophical approach, which sees the brain's cognitive and emotional states as the result of complex neural activity. In this framework, the concept of the self is closely tied to neural representations and the brain's ability to model itself and its environment. The self is, therefore, seen as a high-level cognitive construct arising from the brain's complex network of neurons, not as something separate from the brain or body.

Consciousness and the Self

The Churchlands argue that consciousness itself is a biological phenomenon-emerging from the brain's physical processes—and that understanding how the brain generates consciousness will shed light on the nature of the self. In this sense, the self is understood in terms of self-awareness and meta-cognition, which are products of the brain's representational systems.

Social and Evolutionary Factors

The Churchlands emphasize that the brain has evolved to create representations that serve social and survival functions, and the sense of a self is one of these evolved representations. The self, in this view, is deeply interconnected with social cognition, memory, and the brain's ability to interact with others and navigate complex social environments.

PAUL AND PATRICIA CHURCHLAND

They view the self as a complex, dynamic construct that emerges from the brain's neural activity and is not separate from the physical processes of the brain. Their work advocates for understanding the self through the lens of neuroscience, rather than relying on traditional, non-scientitic concepts.

MAURICE MERLEAU-PONTY

He is known for his existentialist philosophy. For him, to be a self is to be more than one's body. Thus, it includes everything one does with his body, how he acts on it, and how he will make it act in relation with other human beings. The self is believed to be grounded on the experiences of the past, future and the present cognition. He views the concept of a self as a continual flow of movement and expression from infancy to adulthood. The self is the result of one's conscious experiences. The self is about how one perceives and interprets his experiences.

The Embodiment of the Self

Merleau-Ponty's idea of the self is that it's not just a mind or a thinking subject, separate from the body. Instead, the self is closely connected to the body and how we experience the world through our senses. For him, the body is not just a tool that the mind uses to move around; it's actually how we experience everything.

Phenomenology of Perception (1945)

In Merleau-Ponty's book __________________, Merleau-Ponty argues that we don't experience the world as distant observers, but as living beings who are always interacting with the world through our body. This challenges the traditional view (like Descartes' idea) where the mind and body are seen as separate. Instead, Merleau-Ponty says the self is always tied to the body.

The Role of Perception

For Merleau-Ponty, _______ is key to understanding the self. He argues that we don't just think about the world abstractly; we experience it directly through our senses and body. The self is shaped by how we perceive and interact with the world.

The Role of Perception

is not passive-it's an active process where the body plays a central role in how we understand our surroundings. In Phenomenology of _____, Merleau-Ponty challenges the idea that perception is just a mental representation, instead showing that it's a livea, bodily experience where the body and mind are deeply connected. The self is built through this active _____ of the world.

The "I Can" and the Self: "I can"

Merleau-Ponty introduces the idea of the _____ to explain how the self interacts with the world. This refers to the self's ability to act, move, perceive, and connect with others. This shows that the self is not just a thinking mind, but an active participant in the world, engaging through the body. This suggests that the self is always changing and growing, constantly shaped by its actions and interactions with the world.

MAURICE MERLEAU-PONTY

His concept of the self is that it's not separate from the body, but deeply connected to it. He argues that the body is how we experience the world, not just a tool for the mind. In Phenomenology of Perception, he challenges the idea that the mind and body are separate, showing that the self is formed through active perception —where the body and mind work together. Perception is not just passive thought; it's an active, lived experience. He also introduces the idea of the "I can," which refers to the self's ability to act, move, and engage with the world. This highlights that the self is constantly changing and shaped by its actions and interactions with the world.