Perspectives and Views on the Self

Lesson in Understanding the Self

1. Perspective and Views on the Self Prepared by: Orlando A. Pistan, MAEd Psychology Instructor

2. Perspective and Views on the Self The different views on the self can be best seen and understood by revisiting its prime movers and identify the most important conjectures made by philosophers from the ancient times to the contemporary period.

3. Socrates Concerned with the problem of the self. The first philosopher who ever engaged in a systematic questioning about the self For him- all individuals have imperfect and impermanent aspect, the body; and there is also a soul- that is perfect and permanent

4. Plato According to him, there are 3 components of the soul: the rational soul, the spirited soul and the appetitive soul. Rational soul – forged by reason and intellect, governs the affairs of the human Spirited soul – in charge of emotions Appetitive soul – in charge of desires like eating, drinking, sleeping and having sex

5. St. Augustine of Hippo Man is of a divided nature. Man has a material body and a spirit soul The body is bound to die on Earth The soul is anticipated to live eternally with God The goal of every human is to live in virtue to attain salvation.

6. St. Thomas of Aquinas Man is composed of 2 parts: matter and form Matter, or hyle in Greek, refers to the “common stuff that makes up everything I the universe”. Form, or morphe in Greek, refers to the “essence of a substance or thing”. The soul is what makes us human.

7. Rene Descartes Father of Modern Philosophy His famous treatise is “The Meditations of First Philosophy He claims that much of what we think and believe is not infallible; they may turn out to be false. The self is a combination of 2 entities: Cogito and Extenza Cogito - the thing that thinks, which is the mind Extenza - is the body, which is the extension of the mind

8. David Hume An empiricist who believes that knowledge can only be possible if it is sensed and experienced. The self is nothing else but a collection of impressions. Impression- the basic objects of our experience or sensation. Ideas- the not so vivid copy of impression Rejected other philosophers’ idea of the self which is unified and coherent.

9. Immanuel Kant The self is a seat of knowledge acquisition and not just a collection of impression. The mind organizes all experiences and sensations to create a concept of the self.

10. Gilbert Ryle “What truly matters is the behaviour that a person manifests in his daily day-to-day life.” The “self” is not an entity one can locate and analyse but simply the convenient name that people use to refer to all the behaviors that people make.

11. Maurice Merleau-Ponty The mind and the body are so intertwined that they cannot be separated from one another. The living body, the thoughts, emotions and experiences are all one – the SELF.

12. Activity: Make your own definition of the “self” and determine its compatibility with the pioneers of the discipline.

13. Example:

14. Perspective and Views on the Self Thank you for paying attention.