M2: Philosophical Perspectives

Philosophy

• Love of Wisdom

• Come from Philo + Sophos. Philo meaning Love, Sophos meaning truth

• Never-ending search for the truth

Ancient Philosophy

• Study of astronomers, olden times, etc.

Socrates (470-399 BC)

• Father of WESTERN Philosophy.

• SOCRATIC METHOD

• Key Idea: “KNOW THYSELF”

• Believed that the self is the soul, which is the essence of a person. he emphasized self-examination and the pursuit of truth and virtue as a way to understand the self.

• The self is IMMORTAL and exists beyond the physical body.

Socratic Method

This method aims to make people think, seek, and ask again and again, what is important is that for them to realize that there are things that they are ignorant of, to accept this, and to continue learning and searching for answers.

Plato (428-347 BC)

• Real name is ARISTOCLES.

• Established “The Academy” after he returned to Athens,

• Wrote more than 20 Dialogues with Socrates.

• Key Idea: The SELF is composed of THREE PARTS:

  • REASON (Logical Thinking)

  • SPIRIT (Emotions and Willpower)

  • APPETITE (Desires and Basic Interests)

• The true self is the soul, which strives to align with the eternal and unchanging forms.

Plato’s View of Human Nature

• People are intrinsically good.

• Equates IGNORANCE with EVIL.

• Humans have immortal, rational soul even if the human body and physical world are imperfect.

• Everything in the universe can be found in people.

• Knowledge lies within the person’s soul.

Love

…is the way by which person can move from a state of imperfect knowledge and ignorance to a state of perfection and true knowledge; it is the way of knowing and realizing the truth.

• It is a process of seeking higher stages of being. ___ begins with a feeling or experience that there is something lacking which drives the person to seek for that which is lacking.

St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430 BC)

• THEOLOGIAN.

• Man is a sinner.

• Key Idea: The self is spiritual and oriented toward GOD.

• Believed the self is composed of the body and the soul, with the soul being the higher, immortal aspect.

• The true self seeks union with God through faith, introspection, and divine grace.

Love for GOD

• Supreme virtue

• Man can find true happiness

Rene Descartes (1596-1650)

• Father of MODERN Philosophy.

• Rationalist philosopher (truth is a universal concept)

• CARTESIAN DOUBT

• Key Idea: “Cogito, ergo sum” (“I think, therefore I am”)

• Argued that the self is a thinking substance distinct from the body. The mind (or soul) is immaterial and the source of identity.

• He introduced DUALISM - the separation of the mind and body.

Cartesian Doubt

• Systematic process of being skeptical about (or doubting) the truth of one’s beliefs.

  • Doubt everything can be doubted.

  • Don’t accept anything as known unless it can be established with absolute certainty.

Mind-Body Problem

Descartes believes that mind and body are NOT ONE and THE SAME SOUL/MIND (also the self) is separate from the body.

• A priori knowledge - innate truth, REGARDLESS of experience.

A priori knowledge

• innate truth, REGARDLESS of experience.

John Locke (1632-1704)

• Greatest OPPOSER of Cartesian Philosophy.

• Father of LIBERALISM.

• Key Idea: The SELF is tied to MEMORY.

• Defined the self as a continuity of consciousness over time. Personal identity depends on memories of experiences.

• The self is not the substance (body or soul) but rather the experiences that can be remembered and reflected upon.

• Posteriori Knowledge.

• TABULA RASA (“BLANK slate”) - we are born knowing nothing.

Posteriori Knowledge

• Knowledge DEPENDS on empirical evidence or experience.

David Hume

• Most coherent preacher of EMPIRICISM (Knowledge is IMPOSSIBLE without experience)

• Mind has limitations.

• Key Idea: The SELF is a BUNDLE OF PERCEPTIONS.

• Rejected the notion of a permanent self, arguing that there is no evidence of a unified, unchanging self.

• Instead, the Self is a collection of ever-changing perceptions, experiences, and emotions.

Immanuel Kant (1724 - 1804)

• Founder of GERMAN IDEALISM.

• Key Idea: The SELF is the CENTER of PERCEPTION and EXPERIENCE.

• Distinguished between:

  • Empirical Self: The Self we experience through senses and introspection.

  • Transcendental Self: The rational, unifying consciousness that organizes experiences.

• The self is the condition for the possibility of knowledge.

• Knowledge is the result of human understanding applied to sense experience.

Religious

• Following the practices more.

Spiritual

• Believing in a spiritual being and having your own belief.

Sigmund Freud (1856 - 1939)

• Father of psychoanalysis.

• From Austria, Neurologist.

• Key Idea: THE SELF IS DIVIDED INTRO THREE PARTS:

• Saw the self as a dynamic system consisting of:

  1. Id (Instinctual desires)

  2. Ego (rational, conscious self)

  3. Superego (moral conscience)

• The self is shaped by unconscious conflicts and childhood experiences.

Gilbert Ryle (1900 - 1976)

• Key Idea: The SELF is NOT a SEPARATE ENTITY but a PATTERN OF BEHAVIORS.

• Criticized Descartes’ dualism, calling it the “GHOST IN THE MACHINE”.

• He argued that the self is a collection of dispositions and actions, not an immaterial soul or mind.

• TYPES of Knowledge:

  • Knowing that - knowing facts / information.

  • Knowing how - using facts in the performance of some skill or technical abilities.

Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908 - 1961)

• PHENOMENOLOGICAL philosopher.

  • Phenomenology - study of STRUCTURES of experience and consciousness.

• Key Idea: THE SELF IS EMBODIED.

• Emphasized the importance of the body in shaping the self and experience.

• The Self is NOT SEPARATE from the physical world; instead, it is embedded in the body and interacts with the world through perception and action.

Patricia and Paul Churchland

• Founder of Neurophilosophy - study of the philosophy of the mind, the philosophy of science, neuroscience and psychology)

• Key Idea: The SELF is ROOTED in the BRAIN and its FUNCTIONS.

• A contemporary philosopher and neuroscientist, argues that the self is a construct of neural processes.

• She rejects dualism, emphasizing that the mind and self emerge from the brain’s physical activity.