UTS

Self

A person's essential being that distinguishes them from others, considered as the object of introspection or reflexive action.

Homo Viator

A phrase meaning "man as a traveler," suggesting life is a journey.

John Ruskin

A prominent social thinker of the Victorian era who posed three perennial questions about self.

Three Perennial Questions by John Ruskin

who am i? where does man came from? does man’s life have a purpose?

Philosophy

The study of acquiring knowledge through rational thinking and inquiries about the nature and existence of man and the world.

Socrates

Know Thyself

Plato

A student of Socrates who believed in the immortality of the soul and the importance of self-knowledge.

Socrates

“An unexamined life is not worth living”

Socrates

concerned with the problem of the self.

Socrates

Body and soul

Socrates

• Based on the rationalistic philosophy

• Happiness without morality is impossible.

• The concept of virtue and knowledge is the core of Socratic ethics

Virtue

the deepest and most basic propensity of man.

Plato

• a student of Socrates

• the “soul is immortal”

Plato

- philosophy of the self can be explained as a process of self-knowledge and purification of the soul.

Plato

• he believed in the existence of the mind and soul.

• mind and soul is given in perfection with God.

Plato

• Self as a rational substance consisting of body and soul

• According to him, the mind or soul is distinct in its own right and is God given.

Head

exerts reason

heart

noble impulses

diaphragm

seat of our own passions

three parts of soul

– The head (exerts reason), the heart (for noble impulses) and the diaphragm (seat of our own passions)

reason

pursuit of knowledge

spirited

success and public acclaim

body

money and material gains

St. Augustine

A medieval thinker who viewed the self as a tripartite being composed of body, soul, and spirit.

Body

the outer part of the self through which the self can come in contact with the world 

Soul

the inner part which is composed of the mind, the emotions and will

Spirit

the innermost part or the core self

True

The self is secondary concern.

faith

fundamental so human reason is meant to strengthen the faith.

Rene Descartes

I think therefore I am

Rene Descartes

French philosopher who is usually considered the “father of modern philosophy”

Rene Descartes

Man is a finite substance composed of two independent substances known as “Cartesian dualism” mind and body

Rene Descartes

But what then am I? A thing which thinks. What is a thing which thinks? It is a thing which doubts, understands, affirms, denies, wills, refuses, which also imagines and feels

Rene Descartes

He knows that he exists and continues to exist as long as he is a “thing that thinks”

Cartesian Dualism

The concept by René Descartes that separates the mind and body as independent substances.

Rene Descartes

He stated that the mind and body are independent from each other and serve their own function. 

Rene Descartes

According to him, man must use his own mind and thinking abilities to investigate, analyze, experiment and develop himself

John Locke

Self-identity depends on our having the same consciousness and memories

John Locke

He distinguishes between a substance (the soul) and consciousness

John Locke

Memory provides an infallible link between what we might call different stages of a person

John Locke

an English Philosopher and Physician

John Locke

He is considered to be the father of Classical liberalism some of his works on this subject matter paved the way to several revolutions to fight the absolute powers of monarchs and rulers of his time that led to the development of governance, politics and economic system.

Tabula Rasa

the human mind at birth which means a blank slate.

David Hume

• A British thinker who belonged to empiricism postulated that the concept of self, in order to be intelligible and meaningful, must be based on sense impressions.

• "Causes and effects are discoverable not by reason, but by experience".

David Hume

“The self is the bundle theory of mind”

Impressions

the experience of senses such as pain, pleasure, heat, cold, etc. which are “LIVELY” and “VIVID”.

Ideas

refer to the recalled copies f the impressions. We see, feel taste things, then we remember what we have seen, felt, smelt and tasted.

Self

collection of different perception. (imagination and memory)

 

John Locke

A philosopher who argued that personal identity is based on consciousness and memory.

Immanuel Kant

• German philosopher, probably the greatest philosopher since Plato and Aristotle, who lived in a small town in East Prussia (Konigsburg)

• He said that human knowledge is composed of sensory component and rational component (prori –comes the mind itself and is dependent of sensation

Immanuel Kant

Respect for self

Two kinds of self

Empirical self and transcendental self

Sigmund Freud

• Advocated effort to uncover the hidden nature of self

• The self is composed of the unconscious self or id, the conscious self or ego, and the ideal self or superego

• He wanted to restore a harmonious balance among parts of mind

Empirical self

pertains to a particular aspect of self that makes the self-unique (physical aspects, memories personality, history, culture)

Transcendental self

the self is in activity or organizing principle that actively interpret, constructs and gives meaning to collections of sensory data

Immanuel Kant

•  a German Philosopher that is known for his works on Empiricism and Rationalism.

• “We construct the Self”

Transcendental Apperception

an essence of our consciousness that provides basis for understanding and establishing the notion of “self” by synthesizing one’s accumulation of experiences, intuition and imagination goes

Morality

how we may make ourselves worthy of happiness

Gilbert Ryle

• He claimed that Descartes’ body-mind dualism created a category mistake which occurs when one category of something is presented as belonging to another category

Gilbert Ryle

The self must be comprehended as a pattern of behaviour or the tendency of an individual to behave in a certain way in particular situations

Maurice Merlaeu-Ponty

According to him, there is an intimate and inseparable unity between the self and the body.

Maurice Merlaeu-Ponty

The self is the body, and the body is the self itself

Maurice Merlaeu-Ponty

The self for him is an embodied subjectivity or the body-subject

Maurice Merlaeu-Ponty

The body plays a vital role in perception, knowledge and meaning

Erik Erikson

A psychologist known for his psychosocial theory of development, outlining stages of identity formation.