UNDERSTANDING THE SELF

Bill Chislev Jeff J. Cabrera, RPm, MaEd.

College of Arts and Sciences
The Self from Various perspectives

Learning objectives
Demonstrate understanding of the range of
representations and conceptualizations of the self
from various disciplinal perspectives;
compare and contrast how the self has been
represented across disciplines;
Examine the different influences, factors that
contribute to the development of the self;
Analyze the development of one’s self and identity by
creating a theory of self.
Philosophy of the Self
Philosophy is often called the mother of all disciplines
simply because all fields of study began as
philosophical discourses.
The self has been defined as a unified being,
essentially connected to consciousness, awareness,
and agency.
Different philosophers introduces specific
characteristics and meanings of the self.
Philosophy of the Self through distinct lens:
Empiricism and Rationalism

In Empiricism, there is no such thing as innate

knowledge; instead, knowledge is derived from
experience – either perceived with the five senses or
processed with the brain.
Rationalism on the other hand, argues that there is
innate knowledge; however, there are different
sources of knowledge. Rationalism explains self from
the standpoint of what is ideal and true.
Rationalism derived through logic and reasoning.
 The Self in
Philosophical Western and
Perspectives Eastern
Thought

The Self from Various perspectives

Sociological Anthropological Psychological

Perspective Perspective Perspective
 “Knowing other is wisdom, knowing the self is enlightenment”
Lao Tzu
Philosophical Perspective of the Self
 “Know thyself”

Socrates
 “Know thyself”

Most of the Philosophers agreed that

self-knowledge is a prerequisite to a
happy and meaningful life.

Socrates
 Socrates: An Unexamined
Life is Not Worth Living

Self is synonymous with the soul.

He was the first to focus on the full

power of reason on the human self:

Who we are
Who we should be
Who we will become.
 Socrates: An Unexamined
Life is Not Worth Living

Socrates suggests that reality

consists of two dichotomous realms:
Physical realm and ideal realms.

Physical realm is changeable,

transient, and imperfect.

Ideal realm is unchanging, eternal

and immortal and perfect.
 Socrates: An Unexamined
Life is Not Worth Living

Socrates explains that the essence of

the self (the soul) is the immortal
entity.

Thus, he suggested that man must

live an examined life and a life of
purpose and value.
 Socrates: An Unexamined
Life is Not Worth Living

Socrates explains that the essence of

the self (the soul) is the immortal
entity.
Thus, he suggested that man must live
an examined life and a life of purpose
and value.
The Socratic method, the so-called
INTROSPECTION, is a method of carefully
examining one’s thought and emotions.
 Plato: The Self is an
Immortal Soul

Plato elaborates on Socrates’ concept of

the soul. He believes that the self is also
synonymous with the soul.

His philosophy can be explained as

a process of self-knowledge and
purification of the soul.
Three part soul or self:
Reason, Physical Appetite, and
Spirit or Passion.
 Plato: The Self is an
Immortal Soul
Reason is the divine essence that enables
us to think deeply, makes wise choices,
and achieve a true understanding of
eternal truths.
Physical Appetite includes our basic
biological needs such as hunger, thirst and
sexual desire.

The Spirit or Passion includes basic

emotions, such as love, anger, etc.
 Plato: The Self is an
Immortal Soul
Plato elaborates his ideas about the soul.
In his Theory of Forms, he introduces the
concepts of the two worlds: The World of
forms (non physical ideas) and the World
of sense (reality).

World of Forms: real and permanent.

 Plato: The Self is an
Immortal Soul
Plato elaborates his ideas about the soul.
In his Theory of Forms, he introduces the
concepts of the two worlds: The World of
forms (non physical ideas) and the World
of sense (reality).

World of Sense: Temporary and only

a replica of the ideal world.
 Aristotle: The Soul is the
Essence of the Self

The soul is merely a set of defining

features and does not consider the
body and soul as separate entities.

Anything with life has a soul.

Thus, he introduces the three kinds

of soul: vegetative, sentient, and
rational.
 Aristotle: The Soul is the
Essence of the Self

Vegetative soul includes the physical

body that can grow.

Sentient soul includes sensual

desires, feelings, and emotions.

Rational Soul is what makes

human.
 Aristotle: The Soul is the
Essence of the Self

Rational nature of the self is to lead a

good, flourishing and fulfilling life.
St. Augustine: The self has an
Immortal Soul

As a religious philosopher, he
contemplates on the nature of man
with emphasis on the soul as an
important element of man.
He believes that the soul is what
governs and defines man.

He believes that the body is united

with the soul, so that man may be
entire and complete.
St. Augustine: The self has an
Immortal Soul

In his work, Confessions, he

describes that humankind is created
in the image and likeness of God.

Augustine convinced that the self is

known only through knowing God.

God is transcendent and the self

seeks to be united with God through
faith and reason.
 Rene Descartes: I think
therefore I am

For him, the act of thinking about the

self – of being self conscious – is in
itself proof that there is a self.

He is confident that no rational

person will doubt his or her own
existence.
The essence of the self for him is a
thinking entity that doubts,
understand, analyzes, questions and
reasons.
 Descartes: I think
therefore I am

Thinking Entity (or soul) as non-

material, immortal, conscious being,
and independent of the physical laws
of universe.

The physical body is a material,

mortal, non-thinking entity, fully
governed by the physical laws of
nature.
 John Locke: The self is
Consciousness

The human mind at birth is tabula rasa or

a blank state.

Locke believes that the essence of the self is

its conscious awareness of itself as thinking,
reasoning, and reflecting identity.

Self-consciousness is necessary to have a

coherent personal identity or knowledge of
the self or person.
 John Locke: The self is
Consciousness

Power of reason to gain knowledge and

consequently use this knowledge to
understand experiences.

Using the power of reason and

introspection enables one to understand
and achieve accurate conclusion of the
self.
 David Hume: There is no self

He suggests that if people carefully

examine their sense experience through
the process of introspection, they will
discover that there is no self.

Distinct entities: impressions and ideas

 David Hume: There is no self

Impression are the basic sensations of

people’s experience such as hate, love,
joy, grief, pain, cold and heat. These are
vivid perceptions and are strong and
lively.
Ideas are thought and images from
impressions so they are less lively and
vivid.

Man can only attain knowledge by

experiencing.
 Immanuel Kant: We construct
the self
It is the self that makes experiencing an
intelligible world possible because it is the
self that is actively organizing and
synthesizing all of our thoughts and
perceptions.

Transcendental deduction of categories,

to construct an orderly and objective
world that is stable and can be
investigated scientifically.
 Immanuel Kant: We construct
the self
Self is transcendental.

Body and the qualities are rooted in the self,

but the self does not mingle with them.

Mind can grasp aspects of reality.

 Sigmund Freud: The Self is
Multilayered

Conscious Self is governed by reality

principle. This part of the self is
organized in ways that are rational,
practical and appropriate to the
environment.
 Sigmund Freud: The Self is
Multilayered

Unconscious self contains the basic

instinctual drives.
It is governed by the pleasure principle.

He argued that much of the self it

determined by the unconscious.
 Sigmund Freud: The Self is
Multilayered

Preconscious self contains material

that is easily brought to mind.
Serves also the moral principle of the
self and is located between the
conscious and the unconscious parts of
the self.
 Gilbert Ryle: The Self is the
way people behave

He believes that the self is best

understood as a pattern of behavior.

Philosophical Principle, “I act, therefore I

am”

Ryle is convinced that the mind expresses

the entire system of thoughts, emotions,
and actions that make up the human self.
 Paul Churchland: The Self is
the brain

The idea that the self is inseparable from

the brain and the physiology of the body.

All a person has is the brain, if the

brain is gone, there is no self.

The mind does not really exist because it

cannot be experienced by the senses.
 Merleau-Ponty: The Self is
Embodied Subjectivity

All knowledge about the self is based on

the phenomena of experience.

He notes in his book, Philosophy of

Perception, that everything that people
are aware of is contained within the
consciousness.