M1 UTS

Ancient Greek Views on the Self

Plato — “The soul of man is immortal and imperishable”

    The self is complex and fascinating topic that has been explored by many thinkers; different views on the nature, origin, and function of the self, relation to the body, the soul, and the cosmos.

    Main questions that want to be addressed:

  1. What is the essence of self

  2. Is it rational, emotional, or both

  3. is it immortal or mortal

  4. is it individual or universal

  5. does it know itself and the world

  6. does it act and interact with others

  7. does it achieve happiness and virtue

Presocratics — before socrates
; did not have an idea about the self but rather perspectives that reflect metaphysical views,

    Heraclitus — saw the self as a part of the dynamic and is ever-changing

    Permenides — saw the self as an aspect of a static and eternal being

    Phytagoras — believed in the reincarnation of souls, which implies the self is not bound to a specific body or identity

Beliefs of plato:

  • the self is rational and immortal; with access to the realms of eternal

  • believes in “recollection” — the soul already knows before being birth

  • affinity argument — the dang soul is immortal; draws a line between the soul which is non-physical

  • timeless

  • unaltered

  • fundamental

  • indivisible

  • the soul inherits characteristics

  • true self is universal and eternal

  • individuality is particular aspect

Aristotle — most famous student of Plato

Beliefs:

  • form is an essential form of aspect of reality

  • form is not a separate entity from matter; rather organization and structure of matter gives specific properties

  • everything has a form; makes things what they are

  • forms are not just abstract concepts; they are instantiated in the physical world

  • human soul is the form of the body

  • soul is not a material part of the body; a set of capacities that a living thing has

  • there different levels of the soul

  • the rational soul is peculiar to humans and is responsible for the ability to reason and think abstractly

  • disagreed with plato’s self as pure spirit

  • soul and body were not separate; still can be separated

Medieval Philosophy — used to describe the philosophical thought that emerged in western europe during the middle ages

St. Augustine (354-430) — a prominent figure in history of western philosophy, known for his extensive contributions to christian theology

beliefs:

  • believes the self is composed by body and soul

  • the body is the physical form forming the house of the soul

  • all living things have souls

  • human souls are rational, immaterial, and simple

  • the soul is rational and can control a body

  • soul is excellent in ability to reach God through reason and contemplation

  • bodily resurrection as part of God’s design

  • every human is unique

St. Thomas Aquinas (1224/25 - 74) — another influential Christian thinker

beliefs:

  • the human person as an integrated whole

  • the soul is the form for the body

  • the soul is the most important part of the self

  • distinguished between human persons and animals

  • humans are intellectual and volitional powers that do not depend on the body

  • soul is incorporeal and subsistent

  • soul is incorruptible

  • resurrection of bodies is required because the life of the whole compound is required for a person’s survival

Enlightenment Philosophy — represents a period of intellectual thought in 17th and 18th centuries

Rene Descartes (1596 - 1650) — considered one of the foundational figures of modern philosophy

beliefs:

  • senses do not show us true nature of things

  • human mind can grasp the reality of things through pure intellectual

  • cogito — a criterion of truth: whatever can be perceive truly by his intellect must be true

  • humans consists of two different substances

  • the self is a mind and soul that can exist independently of the body

John Locke (1632-1704)

beliefs:

  • all knowledge is dervied from experience and sensory

  • tabula rasa — blank state

  • personal conciousness is not a fixed essence but a consequence

  • self is determined by sequence and feelings that we are aware of and remember

  • personal identity does not depend on the identity of the soul

  • person persists overtime if he has the same consciousness

David Hume (1711-1776)

beliefs:

  • upheld that there is no evidence in experience for the existence of a continuus and enduring subject

  • when one introspects, one finds particular impressions or ideas

  • the self is nothing but a collection of changing and fleeting impression

  • bundle theory — the self is a bundle of impressions or ideas

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)

beliefs:

  • necessary condition for the possibility of the experience which is the apperception or the meaningful organization of objects

  • the unity of apperception — is the I think that accompanies all representations

Existentialism — a philosophical movement that emerged in France in the mid-1900s

  • the self as a process of becoming

  • individual freedom and choice

  • the responsibility that comes with it

Jean Paul Sartre (1905-1980) — french philosopher

beliefs:

  • individuals consciousness began philosophy

  • the self is characterized by pure subjectivity

  • individuals are responsible for creating their meaning and purpose in life

Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855)

beliefs:

  • emphasizes the idea of self creation and also recognition of self acceptance

  • not entirely autonomous

  • existence spheres:

    • aesthetic — pleasure

    • ethical — duty and responsibility

    • religious — a personal relationship with God

Post Modernism — cultural movement emerged in the mid-to-late 20th century as a response

  • challenges modernist notion of a stable and coherent self

  • the self is not fixed and independent entity but rather dynamic and dispersed