Understanding the Self: Philosophical Perspectives

Vocabulary-style flashcards covering the definitions and key philosophical perspectives on the self as presented in the lecture notes.

Self

The person you believe yourself to be, including your thoughts, feelings, values, beliefs, experiences, and personality.

Self-Awareness

Knowing your strengths, weaknesses, emotions, and behaviors.

Self-Knowledge

Understanding who you are.

Self-Esteem

How much value you place on yourself.

Self-Perception

How you see yourself.

Philosophy

Derived from the Greek words 'Philo' (Love) and 'Sophia' (Wisdom), meaning 'Love of Wisdom.'

Socrates

An ancient Greek philosopher who believed the self is synonymous with the soul and famously declared 'Know Thyself.'

Physical Realm (Socrates)

The part of reality that is temporary, imperfect, and constantly changing.

Ideal Realm (Socrates)

The part of reality that is eternal, perfect, and unchanging; according to Socrates, the soul belongs here.

The Socratic Method

A method of questioning used to discover truth through introspection and the careful examination of thoughts, beliefs, feelings, and actions.

Plato

A student of Socrates who argued 'The self is an immortal soul' and proposed a three-part soul model.

Reason (Plato)

The rational part of the soul that seeks truth and wisdom, responsible for thinking and decision-making.

Spirit (Plato)

The emotional part of the soul involving courage, ambition, anger, and passion.

Appetite (Plato)

The part of the soul consisting of physical desires such as hunger, thirst, and sexuality.

World of Forms

In Plato's philosophy, a reality that is perfect, eternal, and unchanging, where the soul originates.

World of Sense Experience

The physical reality that is temporary and imperfect.

Aristotle

Philosopher who rejected the separation of body and soul, stating 'The soul is the essence of the self' and that the two work together.

Vegetative Soul

Aristotle's term for the part of the soul responsible for growth and nutrition.

Sentient Soul

Aristotle's term for the part of the soul responsible for emotions and sensations.

Rational Soul

The part of the soul responsible for thinking and reasoning which, according to Aristotle, makes humans uniquely human.

Eudaimonia

A term meaning 'human flourishing' or 'living well,' which Aristotle believed is the goal of human life achieved through virtue.

René Descartes

Philosopher who Shifted attention to the thinking mind and is famous for the phrase 'Cogito, ergo sum' ('I think, therefore I am').

Mind-Body Dualism

Descartes' belief that humans consist of two dimensions: the thinking self (mind/consciousness) and the physical self (body/material).

John Locke

The 'Father of Liberalism' who argued 'The self is consciousness' and that identity is rooted in memory and experience.

Tabula Rasa

A Latin term meaning 'Blank Slate,' used by John Locke to describe the mind at birth containing no innate ideas.

David Hume

A radical philosopher who argued 'There is no self,' claiming what we perceive as 'self' is only a collection of changing experiences.

Bundle Theory

Hume's theory that the self is nothing but a collection or 'bundle' of different perceptions in constant flux.

Impressions (Hume)

Immediate and vivid experiences such as pain, joy, heat, or cold.

Ideas (Hume)

Mental images or memories of impressions; these are weaker copies of the original experience.

Immanuel Kant

Philosopher who argued 'We construct the self' by claiming the mind actively organizes experiences into a meaningful whole.

Gilbert Ryle

A critic of dualism who believed 'The self is the way people behave' and advocated that actions reveal the true self.

Paul Churchland

Advocate of Eliminative Materialism who believed 'The self is the brain' and that identity is a product of brain activity.

Maurice Merleau-Ponty

French phenomenologist who stated 'The self is embodied subjectivity,' viewing the person as an integrated whole of mind, body, and experience.