LESSON 1: Philosophical Perspective

Self

a unified being or an organizing principle essential for consciousness, awareness, and agency, that makes us all different

Socrates

• The “Market Philosopher (He spent most of his time in Agora, The Central Athenian Marketplace practicing Philosophy) who prefers talking to children.

• He was born in 469 BCE, died in 399 BCE

• His mother is a Midwife, his father is a Mason

Hemlock

A poison drank by Socrates because he was ‘caught corrupting childrens’ mind’.

He drank the hemlock despite being given an opportunity to just leave Athens because he cared about what his students might think of him if he did that

Self Control

An act of limiting or restricting your self, as you can not control others aside from yourself

Moderation

Just doing what is needed: what is enough

Good Judgements

An act of creating a good judgement or decisions by using the sound of mind. A way to do this is by listing every option.

Ignorance

Absence of knowledge, where all of us are ignorant before creating a decision

Taking Care of the Soul

Looking back at the virtues and morals that we have before doing anything

Georgia’s statement about debates

Every time you debate with others, check first if you think the same way as they do or if you have the same perspective with them

Socrates’s Quote

An unexamined life is not worth living, meaning, whenever we face difficulty, we must know our virtues and we must go back to our soul

Plato

• A Student of Socrates who came from a Buena Familia, born in 427 BCE, died in 347 BCE

• He left Athens after Socrates died and he realized that the Soul is an Immortal Body, believing that a body will die without a soul, but a soul can live alone.

• He Preserved Socrates’s works and created his own like Psyche, Allegory of the Cave, and Allegory of the Chariot

Allegory of the Cave

It symbolizes staying in our comfort zone. Once we are brave enough to go outside of it, we will see the real word, or the things that we’ve missed

Psyche (Story of the Allegory of the Chariot)

• The Human Psyche/Psyche - The entire vehicle, including the driver and the two horses, represents the complete, living human soul or mind.

• The Charioteer (Reason/Logistikon) - The driver represents your intellect, logic, and rational mind. His job is to look ahead, see the destination (truth and wisdom), and guide the entire vehicle safely toward it

• The White/Beautiful Horse (Spirit/Thymoeides) - It represents your emotional spirit—your sense of honor, pride, shame, and courage. It naturally wants to do what is right and follows the spoken commands of the Charioteer.

• The Black/Ugly Horse (Appetite/Epithymetikon) - It represents your primal, instinctual physical desires (lust, hunger, greed). It is deaf, unruly, and constantly tries to run away, plunge into darkness, or pull the chariot down to the earth to satisfy its physical cravings

Saint Augustine of Hippo

• A Rebellious son, who ran away from home, stole from people, and vicious

• Born in 354 CE - 430 CE

• His mother is Saint Monica who keeps praying for him to be Enlightened

• he believed that people will give him what he wants, but he realized that HAPPINESS is important

Self Presentation

According to St. Augustine, this is the first step to achieve self-realization. It is about finding out that people still love you no matter what for your goodness, even if you are full of flaws. He believed that he wasted himself, he made others suffer.

3 Kind of Goods According to St. Augustine

1. The Greater Good (Magna Bona) - These are the highest, unchangeable, and spiritual realities that are good in themselves. You can not misuse it. Your love is found or seen in God

2. The Intermediate Good (Media Bona) - Human Will. These are powers or faculties given to humans that are necessary for righteous living, but can be directed toward either good or evil

3. The Lesser Good (Parva Bona) - These are temporary, physical, and material things that belong to the changing world. It makes us forgot love, like being blinded by wealth.

Disordered Love by St. Augustine

Disordered Love (Cupiditas): Your love becomes disordered because you are treating a Lesser Good as if it were a Great Good. Once Pride cuts you off from God, your heart becomes empty and deeply restless.

Sin and Pride in Disordered Love

• Pride (Superbia): It is the voice that says, "I don't need a higher power. I can satisfy myself, make my own rules, and find my own happiness. Augustine calls pride the "start of all sin." It happens when you look away from God

• Sin (Peccatum): Sin is simply what happens when disordered love expresses itself in action. You do not sin because you love bad things; you sin because you love good things in the wrong order

Modesty, Honesty, and Humility of Socrates

• Modesty - Socrates completely rejected the pursuit of Lesser Goods. He talked about Simple Lifestyle, and detachment from Materialism

• Honesty - Socrates possessed an uncompromising, transparent honesty that he applied to himself and demanded from others. We need self-examination and refuse to flatter (we do not need to sugarcoat things)

• Humility - It is not about putting yourself down, thinking you are ugly, or pretending you have no talent. It is simply about seeing yourself accurately—flaws and all—without any exaggeration.

Charity (love)

Giving out without expecting anything in return

Rene Descartes

• He is a Rationalist (Rationalism is the philosophical belief that reason and intellect, rather than sensory experience, are the primary sources of true knowledge).

• He was born in March 31, 1956 - February 11, 1650

• He is the Father of Modern Philosophy

• He is also a Mathematician. The Queen of Sweden, Queen Christina wanted Descartes to teach him math during 5:00 AM, but Descartes suffers from poor health, but he still taught her. He eventually died due to pneumonia

• He was an Overthinker and full of doubt - ‘how can I trust that this is a sugar cube, not a salt?’ ‘How can I believe that I exist?’

• Known for I think ‘Therefore I am, I doubt therefore I exist’

• He believed that we know things before even living

John Locke

• He was born in August 29, 1632, and died on October 28, 1704

• Father of Liberalism (Liberalism is a political philosophy built on the ideas of individual liberty, equality, and the consent of the governed)

• Pioneer of Empiricism (Empiricism is the philosophical belief that all knowledge comes strictly from sensory experience and observation)

Tabula Rasa - John Locke

Unlike Descartes, John Locke believed that people are born with a blank state, which means, we know nothing upon birth. Everything is learned through experience and observation

Primary and Secondary Quality

• Primary Quality - Primary qualities are characteristics that are built into the object itself. They exist in the physical world whether a human is looking at them or not. They are objective, measurable, and cannot be argued with. (Height, weight)

• Secondary Quality - Secondary qualities are not actually inside the object. Instead, they are powers possessed by the object that trigger reactions in your body's sensory organs. They only exist inside the faculty of the observer's mind. They are subjective and depend entirely on perception. (Color, taste, smell)

David Hume

• was born on May 7, 1711, and died on August 25, 1776

• If Locke believed the mind is a blank slate, Hume believed the mind is a theater of constantly moving, temporary perceptions.

• He believed that there is no self, there must be a tangible elements and it must be consistent

Immanuel Kant

• Was born on April 22, 1724 and died February 12, 1804

• He is known as the Giant in Philosophy

• Kant believed that morality comes from human reason, not from religion or emotion. He created the Categorical Imperative, which is a supreme moral rule you must follow regardless of your desires.

• Self is Transcendental - This is the unchanging, baseline "I think" that accompanies all of your thoughts. It is the pure, logical necessity that makes consciousness possible

Contemporary Philosophy

Contemporary philosophy breaks down reality through rigorous logic, conceptual analysis, and argumentation rather than laboratory experiments.

Gilbert Ryle

• Ryle did not believe the mind is a physical part of you, like your heart or lungs. He argued that "mind" is just an umbrella term for your abilities and habits (separated from the self)

• The Actor's Paradox - Your facial expression says "happy," but your internal reality says "miserable.

• Self is how you behave

Paul Churchland

• self" and the "mind" do not exist at all—you are just a brain.

• Churchland points out that everything that makes up your "self"—your personality, your memories, your morals, and your quirks—is highly fragile and entirely dependent on physical brain

Maurice Merleau Ponty

• Self is an embodied subjectivity

• To say the self is an embodied subjectivity means you cannot separate your conscious mind from your physical flesh. Your body is the very thing that allows your consciousness to exist and experience the world.

Psychological Perspective

• Before, it was just an umbrella of philosophy

• Kurt Lewin is widely recognized as the official "father of psychology"

• Germany started psychology, it had spread across the world

• It is the scientific study of behavior

• Even if people are conscious or unconscious, we still think, behave, and feel things

• William James (School of Thought, Founder functionalism which means that the mind is what the mind does, not what the mind is) brought psychology to America

The ‘I’ self and the ‘Me’ Self

• ‘I’ Self - This is the thinking self, the one who knows who you really are. The "I" is your pure, subjective awareness

• ‘Me’ Self - The self based on facts and truth. The "Me" is your objective self. It is the sum total of everything you can point to and say, "That is mine" or "That is who I am.

The 3 Distinct Layer of ‘Me’ Self

1. Material Self - This includes the objects that we own that tells us who we are (Our belongings, clothes, house, and more)

2. Social Self - The different versions of you that exist in the minds of other people. This is how we act and adapt in social situation.

3. Spiritual Self - The core value of who you are. Your internal psychological traits, emotions, values, dispositions, and conscience.

Carl Rogers

• He is known for counseling because of his humanistic approach (He treat people not as patients, but as clients who knows what the problem is and what to fix) He is optimistic.

Carl Roger’s Ideas

• Self Concept - This is how we perceive ourself, who we think we are

• Real Self - Your actual reality. It represents the traits, behaviors, strengths, weaknesses, and feelings.

• Ideal Self - The person we desire to be. It pushes us to go back and understand why we desire things

Congruence vs Incongruence

• Congruence - means your reality matches your dreams. You are at peace with who you are.

• Incongruence means your reality does not match your dreams. You feel anxious and unhappy because of the gap and the process of achieving your dreams.

Multiple Self

It is an act of us where we change depending on who we are socializing with

Unified Self

Thinking that you are still you no matter what. The belief that you are one single, consistent person across your entire life.

Donald Winnicott ideas of The True Self and The False Self

• True Self - Who you honestly are. It is your real feelings, spontaneous creativity, and authentic core when you feel completely safe.

• False Self - The protective mask you wear. It is the polite, compliant identity you show the world to please others and follow social rules.

The 2 Types of False Self

• The Healthy False Self - Doing things with respect even if you do not like it

• The Unhealthy False Self - When you are doing things that you do not like, you act aggressively, show your bad temper, and show that you truly do not like it

Albert Bendura - Agency

Agency is the power to intentionally make things happen

Albert Bendura’s Ideas

• Self-Development - Building your skills and confidence over time by learning from your own experiences and watching others

• Self Development Renewal - Intentionally restarting, reinventing yourself, and learning new ways of living when your old habits no longer work.

• Self Development Adaptation - your ability to change your behavior to match new, unpredictable, or difficult life circumstances and environment

Types of Agencies ( The 4 core features and 2 states of the self)

1. Intentionality - Suggests your intentions and our ability to make a conscious plan. It means you don't just react blindly; you intentionally choose a strategy to make something happen

2. Forethought - Your ability to look into the future. You set goals, anticipate what will happen, and guide your actions today based on what you want tomorrow.

3. Self -Reactiveness - our ability to motivate yourself and stick to the plan. You monitor your progress, and behavior in real-time, keep your emotions in check, and stay on track

4. Self- Reflectiveness - Your ability to look back and evaluate yourself. You judge your own actions, reflect on mistakes, and checks for room for improvements.

5. Agentic Self - The self as an active producer, and being accountable. This is your identity when you are actively taking control, making choices, and understanding your choices.

6. Efficacious Self - The self as a confident believer. This is your identity when you truly believe you have the power and ability to successfully achieve your goals; knowing self efficacy

• Low Efficacy - Full of complaint

• High Efficacy - Thinking about what you should do and doing it