SS031 Understanding the Self: Philosophical Journey to Discovering the Self

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, quotes, theories, and philosophical perspectives on the self from Socrates to Maurice Merleau-Ponty.

An unexamined life is not worth living

A foundational statement by Socrates emphasizing that human existence requires urgent self-reflection and examination to understand the self.

Socratic Method / Dialectic Method

An exchange of questions and answers described as a sort of intellectual midwifery used to coax forgotten knowledge out of a person and help them remember their former omniscient self.

World of Forms (Ideal World)

In Plato's philosophy, the permanent and unchanging realm separate from the material world; it is where pure knowledge exists and where the soul, as the true self, belongs.

Saint Augustine's Concept of the Self

The view influenced by Plato asserting that man was created out of God's love in His image, possessing an immortal soul whose ultimate goal and pursuit of happiness can be achieved in God alone.

Cogito Ergo Sum

Rene Descartes' proposition meaning 'I think, therefore I am,' which establishes that the essence of the self lies in being a purely thinking entity.

Cartesian Dualism

Rene Descartes' view that the mind and body are separate entities, but conjoined such that they causally act upon each other, with the self being the mind more than the body.

Memory Theory

John Locke's theory stating that consciousness and memory define identity; a person remains the same self over time for as long as they can remember past experiences while remaining aware of the present.

Impressions (David Hume)

According to David Hume, these are direct perceptions experienced immediately through our senses.

Ideas (David Hume)

According to David Hume, these are combinations and creations in the mind derived from prior sensory impressions.

Bundle Theory / No-Self View (David Hume)

David Hume's empiricist view that there is no impression corresponding to an enduring self; because perceptions constantly change, the permanent self is merely a fiction.

Immanuel Kant's Constructivist View of the Self

The idea that man uses reason and free will to organize sensory data, allowing individuals to construct a coherent view and find the true essence of the self while respecting man as an end and not a means.

Tripartite Division of Man (Sigmund Freud)

Sigmund Freud's structural model comprising the id (biological structures), the superego (social-cultural environment), and the ego, which represents the self that manifests from the conflict between id and superego.

Category Mistake (Gilbert Ryle)

Gilbert Ryle's critique of Rene Descartes, arguing that it is an error to treat the mind as a entity separate from the body, and asserting that talk of the mind is simply talk of behavior.

Eliminative Materialism (Paul Churchland)

Paul Churchland's view that the brain is the physical organ responsible for understanding moral facts and that the brain itself is the essence of the self, directly shaping mind, emotions, and consciousness.

Phenomenological Self (Maurice Merleau-Ponty)

Maurice Merleau-Ponty's rejection of mind-body dichotomy, proposing that the self is grounded in bodily perception, expression, past experiences, present conditions, and future possibilities.