The Philosophy of Self

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts regarding the Philosophy of Self from Eastern, Western, and Filipino perspectives.

Philosophy of Self

Refers to the conditions of identity that make the individual distinct from all others.

Identity

The qualities, characteristics, beliefs, and traits that make a person or group unique from one another.

Self-Knowledge

One's knowledge and understanding of one's own learnings, character, motivations, and capabilities.

Self-Activity

An independent and self-determined action of a person, representing the power of moving oneself without external aid.

Self-Independent of the Senses

The inner self that focuses on internal attributes such as abilities and natural intelligence, maintaining a person as a self-contained individual.

Self-Identity

The particular characteristics and awareness of one's individual potentials and qualities that determine uniqueness among others.

Self-Image

A mental structure of an individual regarding one's abilities, personality, and role that is resistant to change through time.

Atman

The real self, essence, breath, or eternal innermost soul of the individual in Hindu philosophy.

Brahman

The Highest Universal Principle and ultimate reality in Hindu philosophy, serving as the pervasive cause of all existence.

Five Skandhas

The five aggregates of existence in Buddhist philosophy: Form, Sensation, Perception, Mental Formation, and Consciousness.

Form (First Skandha)

The physical form of existence in Buddhist philosophy.

Sensation (Second Skandha)

The aggregate composed of emotional and physical feelings as well as sensory experience (seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, and smelling).

Perception (Third Skandha)

The aggregate that includes conceptualization, cognition, and reasoning, described as 'that which identifies'.

Mental Formation (Fourth Skandha)

The aggregate comprising mental states such as habits, prejudices, predispositions, willfulness, faith, and desire.

Consciousness (Fifth Skandha)

Awareness or sensitivity to an object without conceptualization, serving as the base that ties life experience together.

Four Beginnings

In Confucianism, the potential virtues present in every human at birth: the hearts of compassion, propriety, righteousness, and wisdom.

Jen

The Confucian virtue of benevolence or moral excellence originating from the heart of compassion.

Li

The Confucian virtue of propriety originating from the heart of propriety.

Yi

The Confucian virtue of righteousness originating from the heart of righteousness.

Chih

The Confucian virtue of wisdom originating from the heart of wisdom.

Socratic Method

A method of discovering self-knowledge through dialogue between the soul and itself or between a student and teacher.

Vegetative Soul

In Aristotle's philosophy, the kind of soul that possesses the ability to grow and nourish itself.

Sensitive Soul

In Aristotle's philosophy, the kind of soul that can experience sensations and move locally.

Rational Soul

In Aristotle's philosophy, the unique human soul that incorporates vegetative and sensitive powers, using intellect (nous) and reason (logos) to process forms.

Cogito ergo sum

"I think, therefore; I am"—Rene Descartes' statement emphasizing that the mind is a thinking substance capable of consciousness.

Impressions

In David Hume's empiricism, the original and direct form of all our ideas and mind perceptions.

Bundle Theory of Personal Identity

David Hume's theory stating that the mind/self is simply a collection of perceptions linked by relations of causation and resemblance.

Id

In Freud's Drive Theory, the structure working on the pleasure principle that serves as the seat of instinctual drives, desires, and impulses.

Ego

In Freud's Drive Theory, the realistic structure of the self that regulates action and mediates between the Id and Superego.

Superego

In Freud's Drive Theory, the structure operating on the morality principle that reflects internalized parental and cultural rules.

Sikolohiyang Pilipino

The homegrown Filipino psycho-philosophical perspective on the self, founded by Virgilio G. Enriquez.

Kapwa

The core value in Sikolohiyang Pilipino expressing the shared inner self and the unity of 'self' (inner self) and 'others' (outer self).