Lesson 1 - The Self Flashcards

Vocabulary-style flashcards defining key philosophical concepts and the views of major philosophers regarding the nature of the self.

Self (Philosophy)

Defined as a unified being, essentially connected to consciousness, awareness, and agency (or the faculty of rational choice).

Identity

In philosophy, this refers to 'BEING' or anything that exists.

Person

A human or individual; the personality of a human being.

Philosophy

The study of knowledge or wisdom, derived from the roots philo (love) and sophia (wisdom).

Queen of All Sciences

A title for philosophy because every scientific discipline has philosophical foundations.

Socrates

A philosopher from Athens, Greece, who taught that 'An unexamined life is not worth living.'

Socratic Method

Also known as the dialectic method, it involves a unique style of asking questions to search for the correct definition of a thing.

Know Thyself

A mantra by Socrates emphasizing that understanding oneself should go beyond the physical body.

Physical Realm (Socrates)

The part of the dichotomous self that is changeable, temporal, and imperfect.

Ideal Realm (Socrates)

The part of the dichotomous self that is perfect, unchanging, eternal, and immortal.

Three-Part Soul (Plato)

Plato's idea that the soul/self is composed of Reason, Physical Appetite, and Spirit or Passion.

Reason (Plato)

The 'divine essence' that enables humans to think deeply, make wise choices, and understand eternal truths.

Physical Appetite (Plato)

Basic biological needs such as hunger, thirst, and sexual desire.

Spirit or Passion (Plato)

Basic human emotions such as love, anger, ambition, aggressiveness, and empathy.

St. Augustine

Characterized as Christianity’s first theologian, he believed the physical body is a 'snare' or 'cage' of the immortal soul.

Rene Descartes

A French philosopher, mathematician, and founder of modern philosophy famous for 'cogito, ergo sum.'

Cogito, ergo sum

A philosophical principle meaning 'I think, therefore I exist.'

Tabula Rasa

John Locke's concept of a 'Blank Slate' which assumes the nurture side of human development.

John Locke

English philosopher who defined the self as consciousness and a thinking, intelligent being.

David Hume

A Scottish philosopher and empiricist who controversially assumed that there is no self.

Impressions (Hume)

The basic sensations of our experience and elemental data of our minds, such as pain, pleasure, heat, and cold.

Ideas (Hume)

Copies of impressions that include thoughts and images; they are considered derivative and once removed from reality.

Sigmund Freud

Australian psychologist and Father of Psychoanalysis who proposed a dualistic view of the conscious and unconscious self.

Id

A structure of the mind primarily based on the pleasure principle.

Ego

A structure of the mind primarily based on the reality principle.

Superego

A structure of the mind dependent on learning right from wrong, otherwise known as the moral principle.

Eros

The life instinct that drives individual behavior; its energy is called libido.

Thanatos

The death instinct manifested in destruction, aggression, and violence.

Gilbert Ryle

A British analytical philosopher who suggested the self is a pattern of behavior or a disposition to behave in certain ways.

Immanuel Kant

A German philosopher who argued it is the self that makes consciousness for a person to make sense of everything.

Maurice Merleau-Ponty

A French phenomenologist who developed the concept of the self-subject and argued mind and body are interconnected.