GE 1: UNDERSTANDING THE SELF - CHAPTER 1: The Self from Various Perspectives

Practice flashcards covering the philosophical perspectives of the self from ancient, medieval, modern, and contemporary philosophers based on the GE 1 course material.

Socrates

Philosopher who believed the self is synonymous with the soul and famously stated that 'an unexamined life is not worth living.'

Ideal Realm

According to Socrates, this is the unchanging, eternal, and immortal realm of reality.

Physical Realm

In Socratic philosophy, the realm that is changeable, transient, and imperfect.

Socratic Method

Also known as 'introspection'; a method of carefully examining one's thoughts and emotions to gain self-knowledge.

Theory of Forms

Plato's concept introducing two worlds: the world of forms (non-physical ideas) and the world of sense (reality).

Reason (Plato)

The divine essence of the three-part soul that enables individuals to think deeply, make wise choices, and understand eternal truths.

Physical Appetite

The part of Plato's three-part soul that includes basic biological needs such as hunger, thirst, and sexual desire.

Spirit or Passion

The part of Plato's three-part soul that includes basic emotions such as love, anger, ambition, aggressiveness, and empathy.

Vegetative Soul

Aristotle’s term for the kind of soul that includes the physical body that can grow.

Sentient Soul

Aristotle’s term for the kind of soul that includes sensual desires, feelings, and emotions.

Rational Soul

According to Aristotle, this is what makes man human, including the intellect that allows one to know and understand things.

St. Augustine

Medieval philosopher who integrated Platonic ideas with Christian teachings, believing the physical body is inferior to the soul.

Confessions

The work in which St. Augustine describes humankind as created in the image and likeness of God.

St. Thomas Aquinas

Philosopher who proclaimed the supremacy of reason but argued that some truths can only be perceived through divine revelation.

Rene Descartes

Known as the 'Father of Modern Philosophy' and famous for the principle 'Cogito ergo sum' or 'I think therefore I am.'

Thinking Self

Descartes' concept of the soul as a non-material, immortal, conscious being independent of physical laws.

Tabula rasa

John Locke's concept that the human mind at birth is a 'blank slate.'

Self-consciousness

According to John Locke, the awareness necessary for a coherent personal identity or knowledge of oneself as a person.

Impressions

David Hume's term for basic sensations of experience such as hate, love, joy, grief, pain, cold, and heat.

Ideas (Hume)

Thoughts and images derived from impressions that are less lively and vivid.

Immanuel Kant

Philosopher who argued that the self is an organizing principle that actively constructs its own reality.

Conscious Self

The layer of Freud's multilayered self that is governed by the 'reality principle.'

Unconscious Self

The part of the self containing instinctual drives (sexuality, aggressiveness), traumatic memories, and taboo thoughts.

Preconscious Self

The part of the self containing non-threatening material that can be easily brought to mind.

Gilbert Ryle

Contemporary philosopher who defined the self as a pattern of behavior or human dispositions, stating 'I act therefore I am.'

Eliminative Materialism

The idea advocated by Paul and Patricia Churchland that the self is inseparable from the brain and the physiology of the body.

Maurice Merleau-Ponty

Philosopher who argued the self is 'embodied subjectivity,' where the mind and body are unified through experience.