• He wrote more than 20 Dialogues

Understanding The Self with Socrates as protagonist in most

of them.
• Theory of Forms – the physical world
PERSPECTIVE OF PHILOSOPHY
is not the real world; ultimate reality
WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY?
exists beyond our physical world
• started in Athens of Ancient Greece at • Forms - abstract, perfect, unchanging
around 600 BCE
concepts or ideals that transcend time
• “philos” – love, “sophia” – wisdom and space; they exist in the Realm of
SOCRATES Forms
• The mentor of Plato THEORY OF FORMS
• Athens was the center of Western 1.THE FORMS ARE AGELESS
thought. Athenians settle arguments AND THEREFORE ARE ETERNAL.
by discussion and debate. 2.THE FORMS ARE
• Sophists - the first teachers of the UNCHANGING AND THEREFORE
West. PERMANENT.
• Socrates wanted to discover the 3.THE FORMS ARE UNMOVING
essential nature of knowledge, justice, AND INDIVISIBLE.
beauty, and goodness PLATOS DUALISM
• A lot of his thoughts were only known • THE REALM OF SHADOWS - is
through Plato’s writing (The composed of changing, ‘sensible’
Dialogues). things which are lesser entities and
SOCRATIC METHOD therefore imperfect and flawed.
• also called dialectic method. • THE REALM OF FORMS - It is the
SOCRATES’ VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE source of reality and true knowledge.
• “the unexamined life is not worth
living” PLATO’S VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE
• touching the soul may mean helping 3 COMPONENTS OF THE SOUL
the person to get in touch with his/her • REASON - motivation for goodness
true self. and truth.
• he believed that a person will become • SPIRITED - non-rational and is the
wiser by reaching inside themselves, will or drive toward action.
to learn continuously, and to look for • APETITES - irrational and lean
answers by thinking, seeking, and towards the desire for pleasures of the
asking repeatedly. body.
PLATO ST. AGUSTINE OF HIPPO
• The mentor of aristotles. • initially rejected Christianity but
• The Academy eventually became a priest and a
bishop of Hippo (354-436CE)
• St. Augustine View of Nature
 • God as the source of all reality and THE HUMAN MIND
truth. Without God, man could never Mind receives materials from sense
understand eternal truths. and calls it perceptions and it has two (2)
• The sinfulness of man. The cause of types:
sin or evil is an act of man’s freewill. •
Impressions – immediate
ROLE OF LOVE sensation of external reality.
• SIN OF GREED • Ideas – recollections of
• SIN OF PRIDE impressions.
• SIN OF JEALOUSY • The part of human nature that
• LOVE OF GOD IS THE SUPREME other philosophers called soul
VIRTUE was termed as ‘the self’ by Hume.
RENE DESCARTES • The self is also a product of the
imagination.
• Father of Modern Philosophy
• There is no
• The body is like a machine that is
permanent/unchanging self.
controlled by the will and aided by the
mind. IMMANUEL KANT
• I think, therefore I am. •Born in Konisberg, East Prusia
• The Mind-Body Problem. (Western Russia).
JOHN LOCKE • Founder of German Idealism.
• He wrote the three books:
• His works focuses on the workings of
Critique of Pure Reason, Critique
the human mind, particularly,
of Practical Reason, and Critique
acquisition of knowledge.
of Judgment.
• He believed that knowledge results
KANT’S VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE
from ideas produced a posteriori or by
objects that were experienced. • Transcendental apperception - the
• Tabula Rasa. capacity of that self to create a
meaningful world of experience.
LOCKE’S VIEW OF HUMAN NATURE
• the unconscious mind.
Moral good depends on conformity or
non-conformity of a person’s behavior LEVELS OF MENTAL LIFE
towards some law. According to Locke, there
are three laws:
• Law of Opinion
• Civil Law
• Divine Law
DAVID HUME
• Empiricism, Skepticism.
• After reading the Philosophy of John
Locke, ‘he never again entertained
any belief in religion.
 •He wrote books on perception, art,
and political thought.
• He argued that the human body is the
primary site of knowing the world.
MERLEAU-PONTY’S VIEW OF HUMAN
NATURE
• The body-subject concept.
• Phenomenology provides a direct
description of the human experience
while perception forms the
background of the experience which
serves to guide man’s conscious
actions.
• Perception is not constant

PERSPECTIVE OF ANTHROPOLOGY
WHAT IS ANTHROPOLOGY?
• came from the Latin words
‘ánthrōpos’ , which means ‘human’ ,
and ‘logos’ , which means ‘study of’
• scientific study of humans, human
GILBERT RYLE behavior, and societies in The past
• Freewill was invented to answer and present.
whether an action deserves praise and The four subfields of anthropology:
blame. 1. Archaeology
2 TYPES OF KNOWLEDGE 2. Biological Anthropology
• Knowing - that 3. Linguistic Anthropology
• Knowing – how 4. Cultural Anthropology
PATRICIA AND PAUL CHURCHLAND ARCHEOLOGY
•Neurophilosophy - the study of the • the study of the ancient and recent
philosophy of the mind, the human past through material remains.
philosophy of science, neuroscience • Archaeologists’ focus is the past and
and psychology. how it may have contributed to the
• Patricia Churchland - known for her present ways of how people conduct
claims that man’s brain is responsible their daily lives.
for the identity known as the self. • they discovered that the most
MAURICE MERLEAU-PONTY important aspect of human nature is
• Philosopher of the Body. survival.
BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
 • also called physical anthropology.
• a scientific discipline concerned with
the biological and behavioral aspects PERSPECTIVE OF SOCIOLOGY
of human beings. WHAT IS SOCIOLOGY?
• biological anthropologists focus •came from the Latin word socius,
primarily on human adaptability and which means companion’ and logos,
evolution. which means ‘the study of’
LINGUISTIC ANTHROPOLOGY • a social science that studies human
• branch of anthropology that studies societies, their interactions, and the
the role of language in the social lives processes that preserved and change
of individuals and communities. them.
• how language and modes of GEORGE HERBERT MEAD
communication change over time. •prominent in the field of social
• an essential part of human psychology, sociology, philosophy,
communication is language – a and pragmatism.
system of communication used by a MEAD’S SOCIAL SELF
particular country or community. • Social Behaviorism used to describe
CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY the power of environment in shaping
• the study of contemporary human human behavior; people develop their
cultures and how these cultures are self-image through interactions with
formed and shape the world around people.
them. • Self- dimension of personality that is
• Culture – a way of life of a group, that madeup of the individual’s self-
are passed along by communication awareness and self – image.
and imitation from one generation to • self cannot be separated from the
the next. society.
CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY 1. Preparatory Stage (birth - 2 years)
• Symbols - are the words, gestures, • the ‘self’ is not present at birth but
pictures of objects that have a develops over time through social
recognized/accepted meaning in a interaction and social experience.
particular culture. • at this stage, children’s behavior
• Heroes - are persons from the past or is primarily based on imitation.
present who have characteristics that • children become familiar with the
are important in a culture. symbols – the bases of
CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY communication that people use in
• Rituals - are activities participated in their interaction.
by a group for the fulfillment of 2. Play Stage(2-7 years old)
desired objectives and are considered. • Through communication, social
• Values - belong to the deepest level or relationships are formed.
the core of every culture.
 • Role-taking is the process of interactions learned to slant their
mentally assuming the presentation of themselves in order to
perspective of another person create preferred appearances and
• the ‘self’ is developing. satisfy particular people (impression
3. Game Stage (8-9 years old) management)
• child begins to consider several • (dramaturgical approach)-
tasks and various types of similarities of real social interaction
relationships simultaneously. to a theatrical presentation.
• ‘generalized other’ – the behavior
of the person when he
sees/considers other people in the
course of his actions.
STAGES OF SELF FORMATION
STAGE
1. PREPARATORY STAGE
2. PLAY STAGE
3. GAME STAGE
EXISTENCE OF SELF
1. NONE
2. DEVELOPING
3. PRESENT
CHARACTERISTICS
1. Imitates others
2. Role-taking
3. Generalized other
THE “I” AND “ME”
• “I” SELF - when the person initiates
or performs a social action, the self
functions as a subject.
• “ME” SELF - when the person takes
the role of the other, the self functions
as an object.
LOOKING-GLASS SELF THEORY
• a person ' s self grows out of society '
s interpersonal interactions and the
perceptions of others it develops in
three phases.
ERVING GOFFMAN
• The Presentation of the Self in
Everyday Life people in early social