Understanding the Self THREE (3) ELEMENTS OF SOUL:

Lesson 2: Philosophical Perspective of the Self  RATIONAL SOUL

 reason and intellect
PHILOSOPHY  divine essence that enables us to think
 Acquiring knowledge through rational thinking deeply, make wise choices, and achieve at a
and inquiries that involves answering questions true understanding of eternal truths.
regarding the nature of existence.  SPIRITED SOUL
 What is morally right & wrong? and why?  emotion and passion
 What is a good life?  basic emotions such as love, anger, ambition,
 Does God exist? empathy, and aggressiveness
 What is the mind?  APPETITIVE SOUL
 It came from the GREEK words ‘’PHILOS”, which  basic needs
means LOVE and “SOPHIA” which means  includes our biological needs such as hunger,
WISDOM, compounded; its literal meaning is the thirst, and sexual desire.
“LOVE OF WISDOM”.  These elements of ourselves are in a dynamic
 PYTHAGORAS- the first to use the term relationship with one another, sometimes in
PHILOSOPHY. conflict.
 “Search for meaning’’  Plato believes that genuine happiness can only
be achieved by people who consistently make
PHILOSOPHER sure that their Rational is in control of their Spirits
1. SOCRATES and Appetites.
 “Know Thyself”
 Agree that self-knowledge is a pre-requisite to a 3. ARISTOTLE
happy and meaningful life.  “The Soul is the essence of the SELF”
 One of the founders of Western Philosophy, as  A student of Plato
being the first moral philosopher.  the BODY and SOUL are not two separate
 Every man is DUALISTIC. elements but are one thing.
SOCRATES’ two (2) dichotomous realms:  The soul is simply the form of the body, and is not
 Physical Realm capable of existing without the body.
 changeable, transient and imperfect  The soul makes a person a person.
 the BODY belongs to this realm  Aristotle suggest that the Rational nature of the
 Ideal Realm self is to lead a good, flourishing and fulfilling life.
 unchanging, external and immortal  Without the body, the soul cannot exist. The soul
 the SOUL belongs to this realm dies along with the body.
 A person can have a meaningful and happy life KINDS OF SOUL:
only if he became virtuous and knows the value  VEGETATIVE SOUL
of himself that can be achieved through constant  includes the physical body that can grow
SOUL-SEARCHING.  reproduction and growth
 For him, this is best achieved when one tries to  Plant
separate the body from the soul as much as  SENTIENT/SENSITIVE SOUL
possible.  includes the sensual desires, feelings and
emotions
2. PLATO  mobility and sensation
 “The Soul is Immortal”  Animals
 A student of Socrates  RATIONAL SOUL
 Philosophy of the self can be explained as a  what makes man a human. It includes the
process of self-knowledge and purification of the intellects that makes man know and
soul. understand things.
 He believed in the existence of the MIND and  Thought, reflection
SOUL.  Human
 MIND and SOUL are given in perfection with
God.
4. ST. AUGUSTINE
 “I am doubting, therefore I am”  He was a 20th Century British Philosopher,
 Integrated the ideas of Plato and Christianity mainly associated with ordinary language
 Augustine’s view of the human person reflects philosophy movement.
the entire spirit of the medieval world.  Self is not an entity one can locate and analyze
 Believed humankind is created in the image and but simply the convenient name that people use
likeness of God. to refer all the behaviors that people make.
 For him, what truly matters is the BEHAVIOR that
5. RENE DESCARTES a person manifests in his day-to-day life.
 “I think therefore I am”
 the act of thinking about self - of being self- 10. PAUL CHURCHLAND
conscious is in itself proof that there is self.  “The Self is the Brain”
DESCARTES’ TWO DISTINCT ENTITIES  The self is inseparable from the brain and the
 COGITO physiology of the body
 the thing that thinks  All we have is the brain and so, if the brain is
 MIND gone, there is no self
 EXTENZA  The physical brain and not the imaginary mind,
 the extension gives us our sense of self
 BODY
11. MAURICE MERLEAU PONTY
6. JOHN LOCKE  “The SELF is embodied subjectivity”
 “The Self is Consciousness”  The MIND- BODY BIFURCATION that has been
 human mind at birth is tabula rasa or blank slate going for a long time is a futile behavior and an
 he felt that the self is constructed primarily from invalid problem.
sense experiences  All knowledge of ourselves and our world is
 Locke theorized that when they are born, all based on subjective experience.
babies know absolutely nothing.  The living body, his thoughts, emotions, and
 what makes possible our belief, is that we are the experiences are all one.
same identity in different situations

7. DAVID HUME
 “There is NO SELF”
 He is a Scottish Philosopher, has a very unique
way of looking at man.
 Self is simply a bundle or collection of different
perceptions, which succeed each other with an
inconceivable rapidly and are in a perpetual flex
and movement.
 The idea of personal identity is a result of
IMAGINATION.

8. IMMANUEL KANT
 “We construct the SELF”
 German Philosopher who is a central figure of
Modern Philosophy.
 Self is not just what gives one his personality but
also the seat of knowledge acquisition for all
human person.
 The self constructs its own reality creating a
world that is familiar and predictable.

9. GILBERT RYLE
 “The SELF is the way people behave”