philosophical Perspective of the Self

UTS

PHILOSOPHY

• love of wisdom

• Seeks to understand funda. aspects of:

  • Reality, Existence, and Human experience through rational inquiry

Greek word:

• Philos - love

• Sophos - wisdom

WESTERN PHILOSOPHY

• Socrates

• Plato

• Immanuel Kant

• Rene Descartes

• David Hume

• John Luke

• Michel Foucault

• Jean Paul Sartre

• Friedrich Nietzsche

SOCRATES

• Father of western philosophy

• Didn't leave written works, most knowledge came from his student Plato and Xenophon

SOCRATES PHILOSOPHY

1. Know theyself

“The unexamined life is not worth living”

2. The Socratic Method

• Asking a series of questions

• Challenging assumptions

• Helping others discover contradictions

• Guiding them toward clearer understanding

PLATO

• Student who founded the Academy in Athens

• Explored topics: metaphysics to politics in dialogues

PLATO'S IMMORTAL SOUL

• The Soul as the True Self

• Tripartite Theory of the Soul

• Knowledge of the Self through Reason

• Purpose of Life

(1) THE SOUL AS THE TRUE SELF

• Plato believes the soul is the real essence of a person—immortal, unchanging and divine

• The body is temporary, imperfect, and belongs to the material world

• The soul existed before birth in the realm of perfect, eternal form (the world of ideas)

• When born, the soul is trapped inside the body like a prisoner in a cell

(2) TRIPARTITE THEORY OF THE SOUL

1. Rational part - truth & wisdom (mind/reason)

2. Spirited part - courage, ambition, & willpower

3. Appetitive part - pleasure, food, wealth & physical satisfaction

(3) KNOWLEDGE OF THE SELF THROUGH REASON

• True self-knowledge - turning away from bodily distractions, focus on the soul’s wisdom

• Education process of recollection - remembering truths the soul knows b4 entering body

(4) PURPOSE OF LIFE

• Goal - care for the soul by living virtuously

• Soul’s destiny - return to the world of forms, free from the body

IMMANUEL KANT

• Explored metaphysics, ethics, and epistemology.

• Influential for moral philosophy and the nature of knowledge works

(1) IMMANUEL KANT’S PERSPECTIVE

The Self as a Rational Being

• self isn’t a collection of experiences; it’s the organizing subject that makes sense of experiences.

• self actively shapes knowledge through reason, not passively receiving info

(2) IMMANUEL KANT’S PERSPECTIVE

Two Aspects of the Self

1. Empirical Self - who we are based on experiences, memories, and personality. (“me” in the world)

2. Transcendental Self - pure rational consciousness that organizes experiences and makes them possible (“I” who experiences)

Ex: see colors, hear sounds, & feel textures —but transcendental self combines them to the experience of “holding a red apple”

(3) IMMANUEL KANT’S PERSPECTIVE

Self-Knowledge

• empirical self → introspection and observation

• transcendental self can’t be known—it’s the condition that makes knowing anything possible

Moral Self

• Humans → autonomous moral agents

• True selfhood - involves living to moral laws we give ourselves through reason (Categorical Imperative)

CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE

1. The Universal Law Formulation

• Act only according to rules that everyone could follow.

2. Humanity Formulation

• Treat every person w/ dignity; never use them merely as a tool.

3. Kingdom of End Formulation

• Act as though your behavior helps create a moral community based on mutual respect.

Ex: Lying

• People will stop trusting others; promises lose their meaning. Lying to deceive for gain, devaluing dignity. No respect of persons.

CRITICAL THINKING

• In the context of divorce, is it morally right or wrong based on Kant’s categorical imperative?

DUTY

• Kant believed: a truly moral action is performed because it is the right thing to do, not cause it brings rewards/avoids punishment

(4) IMMANUEL KANT’S PERSPECTIVE

We become “right” when we do “right”