UNDERSTANDING THE SELF: WEEK 1

1. PHILOSOPHY

2. SOCIOLOGY

3. ANTHROPOLOGY

4. PSYCHOLOGY

Self from Various Perspectives

PHILOSOPHY

Study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence

Originated in Athens, Greece at around 600 BCE

LOVE

PHILOS MEANS

WISDOM

SOPHIE MEANS

1. SOCRATES

2. PLATO

3. ST. AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO

4. RENE DESCARTES

5. JOHN LOCKE

6. DAVID HUME

7. IMMANUEL KANT

8. SIGMUND FREUD

9. GILBERT RYLE

10. PATRICIA AND PAUL CHURCHLAND

11. MAURICE MERLEAU-PONTY

Prominent Figures in Philosophy

SOCRATES

Ancient Greek philosopher (but not a writer) ● Mentor of Plato ● Western philosophy is believed to be originated from him

SOCRATIC METHOD

Way of questioning truth by utilizing series of questions to search for the correct definition of a thing ● Leads the person to the finality of understanding

1. THE UNEXAMINED LIFE IS NOT WORTH LIVING

2. FINDING THE TRUE SELF MEANS TO REACH ONES SOUL

Socrates’ Perspective on Human Nature

PLATO

Founded The Academy

Theory of Forms

THEORY OF FORMS

The physical world is not the real world; ultimate reality exists beyond our physical world (i.e., in the Realm of Forms)

forms

abstract, perfect unchanging concepts or ideas that transcend time and space

1. Ageless and eternal ●

2. Unchanging and permanent ●

3. Unmoving and indivisible

Plato’s Theory of Forms: Characteristics of Forms

1. realm of shadows

2. realm of forms

Plato’s Theory of Forms: Plato’s Dualism

realm of shadows

changing, sensible things which are imperfect and flawed

realm of forms

- eternal things which are permanent and perfect; it is the source of all reality and true knowledge

platp

Who has this philosophical view of human nature?

Humans have immortal and rational soul that is created from the image of the divine

People are inherently good and ignorance is the equivalent of evil

1. the reason

2. the spirited

3. the appetites

enumerate: The Tripartite Soul

the reason

rational and motivated by goodness and truth

the spirited

non-rational and is the will or drive toward action

the appetites

irrational and lean towards the desire for pleasure

theory of love and becoming

Allegory of the Cave

● “The more the person knows, the more he is and the better he is.” ● “Love is the way by which a person can move from a state of imperfect knowledge and ignorance to a state of perfection and true knowledge.” ● “Love is the way of knowing and realizing the truth. And to love the highest is to become the best.”

st. augustine of hippo

Christian philosopher

● He initially rejected Christianity because it looked that it cannot provide him the answers to his questions of interest

● He sought the existence of moral evil as well as the sufferings in the world

1. god as the source of all reality and truth

2. the sinfulness of a man

St. Augustine of Hippo’s Perspective on Human Nature ● There are 2 realms in understanding human nature:

role of love

“God is love and He created humans for them to also love.” ● “Disordered love results when people love the wrong things which was believed to give him/her happiness.”

sin of greed

Physical objects

sin of jealousy

Not lasting and excessive love for people

sin of pride

self

God

upreme virtue and real happiness

rene descartes

● Father of Modern Philosophy ● Rationalist ● He applied scientific method and mathematics in his philosophy

CARTESIAN DOUBT

CARTESIAN DOUBT

to become skeptical and doubt the truth of one’s beliefs

1. INTUITION

2. DEDUCTION

Rene Descartes ● Two Powers of the Human Mind

I THINK THEREFORE I AM

“Cogito ergo sum” MEANS

RENE DESCARTES

WHOSE PERPESTIVE IS THIS : The cognitive aspect of human nature is his basis for the existence of the self

CARTESIAN DUALISM

soul/mind is a substance separate from the body/brain

JOHN LOCKE

His works focused on the activities of the human mind, especially how people acquire knowledge ● Ideas from objects that were experienced (a posteriori) produces knowledge

TABULA RASA

blank slate of mind

JOHN LOCKE

WHOSE PERPECTIVE IS THIS?

Moral, religious and political values must come from sense experiences

“Greatest Possible Good”

● Morality has to do with choosing the good

● Morality is defined by conformity towards the Divine Law, Civil Law and Law of Opinion

MORALITY

is defined by conformity towards the Divine Law, Civil Law and Law of Opinion

DAVID HUME

Empiricism and skepticism ● ‘He never again entertained any belief in religion’ after reading John Locke’s philosopy

MIND

receives materials from senses, called perceptions and has two types

1. IMPRESSIONS

2. IDEAS

Mind receives materials from senses, called perceptions and has two types:

IMPRESSIONS

– immediate sensation of external reality

IDEAS

recollections of impressions

1. PRINCIPLE OF RESEMBLANCE

2. PRINCIPLE OF CONTIGUITY

3. PRINCIPLE OF CAUSE AND EFFECT

Principles of Association

PRINCIPLE OF RESEMBLANCE

similar things tend to revive each otherPRI

PRINCIPLE OF CONTIGUITY

- things occurring together or next to another tend to revive each other

PRINCIPLE OF CAUSE AND EFFECT

Things in a cause and effect relationship revive each other

DAVID HUME

WHOSE PERSPECTIVE IS THIS?

Unlike other philosophers, Hume used the term “self” instead of “soul” ● People have no sense impression of self; hence, it is only imaginary and there is no ‘personal identity’ behind perceptions ● Permanent self is not existent

IMMANUEL KANT

● Founder of German Idealism ● He wrote the three books: Critique of Pure Reason, Critique of Practical Reason and Critique of Judgment

IMMANUEL KANT

WHOSE PERSPETIVE IS THIS ? Mind is not just a passive receiver of experience but rather actively participates in knowing the objects it experiences ● Mind does not conform to the world; rather, the world conforms to the mind

The kingdom of God is within man.

TRANSCENDENTAL APPERCEPTION

uniting and building of coherent consciousness out of different elementary inner experiences

SIGMUND FREUD

Austrian neurologist ● One of the pioneering figures of Psychology and founder of psychoanalysis ● Suggested the idea of the unconscious mind, hysteria, free association, dream analysis and hypnosi

1. UNCONSCIOUS

2. PRECONSCIOUS

3. CONSCIOUSNESS

Levels of Mental Life ACCORDING TO FREUD

UNCONSCIOUS

contains all drives, urges or instincts that are beyond our awareness but nevertheless motivate most of our words, feelings and actions

PRECONSCIOUS

contains all elements that are not conscious but can become conscious either quite readily or with some difficulty

CONSCIOUSNESS

mental elements in awareness at any given point in time

1. ID

2. EGO

3. SUPEREGO

Provinces of the Mind

id

Seeks pleasure (pleasure principle

ego

the only region of the mind in contact with reality (reality principle)

superego

represents the moral and ideal aspects of personality (moralistic principle)

GIRLBERT RYLE

English philosopher ● He contradicted Cartesian Dualism (mind/body problem) ● Ghost in the Machine – human consciousness and mind are very dependent on the human brain

GHOST IN THE MACHINE

human consciousness and mind are very dependent on the human brain

GILBERT RYLE

WHOSE PERSPECTIVE IS THIS ? Man is endowed with free will and it was

invented to determine if an action

deserve a praise or blame

1. KNOWING THAT

2. KNOWING HOW

Two types of knowledge:

PATRICIA AND PAUL CHURCHLAND

Canadian philosophers ● Combined neurology and philosophy in addressing the age-old problem suggested by Cartesian dualism ● “There isn’t a special thing called the mind. The mind just is the brain.” - Patricia Churchland ● Brain is the embodiment of the self

CHURCHLAND’S; PATRICIA AND PAUL

Abnormalities on the brain physiology leads to ● deviant thoughts, feelings and actions ● Normal brain – facilitates socially accepted behavior● Compromised brain – gives rise to aberrant behavior

NORMAL BRAIN

facilitates socially accepted behavior

COMPROMISED BRAIN

gives rise to aberrant behavio

MAURICE MERLEAU -PONTY

French phenomenological philosopher ● He wrote books on perception, art and political thought ● He argued that the human body is the primary site of knowing the world

MAURICE MERLEAU-PONTY

WHOSE PERSPECTIVE IS THIS

The subject-body concept ● Phenomenology provides a direct description of the human experience while perception forms the background of the experience which serves to guide man’s conscious actions ● Perception is not constant