Understanding the Self from Various Perspectives

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the key philosophers and psychological concepts related to the understanding of the self from ancient to modern perspectives.

Self-perception

Defined by an individual’s self-concept, self-knowledge, self-esteem, and social self.

Socrates ($469-399\,BC$)

Also known as the market philosopher, he directed philosophy's attention to an examination of existence and famously stated, 'An unexamined life is not worth living.'

Know Thyself

The central philosophical command associated with Socrates.

Plato ($427-347\,BCE$)

A philosopher who believed human beings are composed of a body and a soul and emphasized the dichotomy between the Ideal world (world of Forms) and the material world.

St. Augustine ($354-430$)

He argued that the material world is a temporary home and that man is the image and likeness of God, finding real permanence only in God's world.

René Descartes ($1596-1650$)

Considered the Father of Modern Philosophy, he emphasized consciousness with the phrase 'I think, therefore I am' (Cogito ergo sum).

John Locke ($1632-1704$)

Known as the Father of Classical Liberalism, he believed consciousness accompanies thinking and is what allows everyone to be what they call 'self.'

David Hume ($1711-1776$)

An empiricist who declared there is no permanent Self and divided the contents of the mind into impressions and ideas.

Immanuel Kant ($1724-1804$)

A philosopher who believed man is a free agent and that knowledge begins with the senses, proceeds to understanding, and ends with reason.

Sigmund Freud ($1856-1939$)

The Father of Psychoanalysis who proposed a tripartite division of the mind consisting of the id, ego, and superego.

Psychodynamics

A theory describing human behavior in terms of inner motivations based on origin and the harmonious functioning of the id, ego, and superego.

The Id

The most primitive force of the mind that follows the pleasure principle and seeks to realize its ends at all costs.

The Ego

The part of the mind that prevails over the id when exposed to environmental constraints; its realm is found in the conscious.

The Superego

The part of the mind that emerges as a child absorbs parental prohibitions, sanctions, and moral concepts.

Gilbert Ryle ($1900-1976$)

A philosopher who focused on language and argued that philosophical problems originate from the misinterpretation or misunderstanding of words.

Paul Churchland (b. $1942$)

A philosopher who, along with his wife, declared that the self is the brain and that the brain is the essence of the self.

Maurice Merleau-Ponty ($1908-1961$)

An existentialist philosopher who rejected the mind-body dichotomy and defined the self through movement, expression, and experience.

Dada Bhagwan

A figure who stated that not knowing 'Who am I?' is 'the greatest death to the Soul.'