Philosophy of the Self - Key Thinkers and Concepts

Flashcards cover major theories of the self from Socrates through Merleau-Ponty, focusing on body-soul relations, immortality, consciousness, and the nature of self across philosophers.

What are the two important aspects of personhood according to Socrates?

The body and the soul; the body is changeable and impermanent, while the soul is unchanging, eternal, and immortal.

According to Socrates, what is best achieved regarding the body and the soul?

Separating the body from the soul as much as possible to attain wisdom.

What is Plato's view on the immortality of the soul?

The human soul is immortal.

Name Plato's three parts of the soul and their functions.

Rational Soul (reason and intellect), Spirited Soul (emotion and passion), Appetitive Soul (basic needs like hunger and desire).

How does Plato propose to achieve genuine happiness?

By ensuring that reason remains in control of the spirits and appetites, maintaining harmony among the three parts of the soul.

What is Aristotle's view of the relationship between the soul and body?

The soul is the form of the body and not separable from it; the soul cannot exist without the body.

List Aristotle's three kinds of soul and what they include.

1) Vegetative Soul – life and growth; 2) Sentient Soul – sensory desires and emotions; 3) Rational Soul – thought and reflection.

What is the core idea of Augustine’s synthesis of philosophy and Christianity?

Integration of Platonic ideas with Christian doctrine; the soul is united with the body, and humanity is created in the image of God.

According to Augustine, how is self-knowledge attained?

Self-knowledge is a consequence of knowledge of God; knowledge comes from seeing the truth within us.

Which famous phrase is attributed in the notes to Augustine about doubt and existence?

'I am doubting, therefore I am'.

What are the two distinct entities in Descartes' theory?

Cogito (the thinking mind) and Extenza (the extended body).

What is John Locke's view of the self at birth?

The self starts as tabula rasa—a blank slate—and is constructed from sense experience.

What does Locke consider necessary for a coherent personal identity?

Consciousness.

What is David Hume’s claim about the self?

There is no enduring self; the self is a bundle of perceptions in perpetual flux, with personal identity arising from imagination.

What famous statement is associated with Sigmund Freud in these notes?

The ego is not master in its own house.

How does Immanuel Kant view the self?

The self is the seat of knowledge acquisition; it constructs reality through rationality and transcends sense experience.

What is Gilbert Ryle’s view of the self?

The self is the way people behave; it is not a separable entity, and 'I act therefore I am'.

What does Paul Churchland claim about the self?

The self is the brain; it is inseparable from the brain and physiology; without the brain there is no self.

What is Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s view of the self?

The self is embodied subjectivity; all knowledge of self and world comes from subjective experience and cannot be fully objectified.