LEC 1: IDENTITY AND THE SELF • acceptance of ignorance necessitates

humility and is the first step to knowing

APPROACHES TO UNDERSTANDING
what one lacks and need.
THE SELF
• asserted that one should more closely
the things we call ‘true,’ considering that
there are vast concepts that are not
easily defined.
• made a distinction between knowledge
and belief.
o knowledge – evidence-based,
universally true
o belief – personal opinion,
Also called Paradigm. sometimes true
• internal questioning/introspection –
PARADIGM way to knowing oneself, who you are as
a person, your strengths and
• a set of beliefs, values, or
weaknesses, and how you want others to
assumptions that form a particular treat you
way of thinking about the world o important because it makes you
• a framework or perspective through more human
which people view and understand • believed in dualism – personhood is
the world around them composed of the body and the soul – the
• in the scientific context, it serves as a soul is immortal, and that death is not the
framework that provides a set of end of existence. Rather, it is simply the
assumptions, concepts, and methods separation of the soul from the body.
for approaching a particular scientific o The soul goes to the higher realm
problem PLATO
• the term “paradigm” was popularized
• followed the footprints and ideologies of
by philosopher Thomas Kuhn in his
Socrates.
book “The Structure of Scientific
• a person who is a follower of truth and
Revolutions.” wisdom will not be tempted by vices and
LEC 2: PHILOSOPHICAL PARADIGMS will always be just.
OF THE SELF • also believed in dualism – body and soul
• posited three parts of the soul
SOCRATES o appetitive soul – driven by
• “knowing oneself” desire and need to satisfy
• “an unexamined life is not worth living” – oneself, involving physical needs,
the highest form of human excellence pleasures, and desires.
o spirited soul – part of a person
• acquiring knowledge is a virtue, while
that wants to right the wrongs
ignorance is depravity.
they observe, the soft part of
• the pursuit of knowing oneself is on one’s
being human.
abilities and wisdom.
 o rational soul – acts as a thinking • All recognized the importance of reason
agency, also known as the and rationality in understanding the self
“conscious mind” that decides and the world.
what and when to do actions.
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS
• all of these can simultaneously work
together. • relationship with God makes everything
ARISTOTLE at peace
• who you are as a person is related to your
• student of Plato understanding of who you are and how
• he diverged the ideologies of Socrates you question yourself.
and Plato and even argued that the soul • continuous questioning and finding the
is the animating principle of the body. truth can answer who we are and what
• it means that the soul is inseparable from our role is.
the body. • God – the model of a person’s likeness
• focused more on the natural, biological • idea of existence comes from a higher
aspects of human nature. he saw human form of sense – our purpose in life cannot
beings as a rational animals, with the be determined in one sitting
ability to reason and engage in moral • doubting means one is living – we
behavior. need to question things we see and keep
• fostered the concept of “golden mean” on finding evidence.
– the importance of balance and • bodies and senses are limited and
moderation in human behavior and imperfect – therefore, we should not be
suggests that the self is shaped by our dependent on our senses.
choices and habits over time. • the body dies, the soul remains.
• Focused on the importance of virtue and However, for him, the soul’s immortality
character in shaping the self. He believed requires a condition which is to be with an
that ethical behavior is not just a matter all-transcendent God.
of following rules or principles, but also • Theory of knowledge = all experiences
involves developing virtuous habits and about the world around determine self-
dispositions. knowledge
CONNECTION AND DISJOINT BETWEEN • Self-knowledge involves understanding
SOCRATES, PLATO, AND ARISTOTLE both the material and immaterial aspects
of a human being (dualism)
• All three philosophers were interested in • The more experiences one has, the
questions of ethics (question of morality more one gets to know himself
and how should one live their life) and • Our experiences add up to our
human nature. understanding of the world and ourselves
• Socrates and Plato believed in the • Humans gain knowledge of themselves
dualism of the personhood: the body through introspection and reflection
and the soul.
• They all believed that knowledge and RENE DESCARTES
understanding of the self are crucial • believed in modern dualism or the
for living a good and fulfilling life. existence of the body and mind
 o body – nothing but a part • mind – an active participant in acquiring
attached to the mind knowledge and emphasizing the
o mind – unseen creation importance of sensory perception,
• methodical doubt – a continuous memory, and reflection in the formation
process of questioning what people of beliefs and ideas
perceive and accepting the fact that • knowledge – a continuous process of
doubting, and asking questions is a part accumulating and revising ideas, and
of one’s existence. that the self is continually shaped and
• “Cogito Ergo Sum” or, “I think therefore redefined by the experiences and
I am.” – knowledge gained throughout one’s life
• mind – the seat of our consciousness • principle of individuation – an idea that
and it houses one’s drive, intellect, a person keeps the same identity over
passion, and understanding time
• it gives one identity and sense of self • the person keeps the same identity over
• perceptions cannot be fully trusted or can time if they can remember their
be easily deceived memories and past experiences.
• senses can not be trusted Therefore, if one person loses his/her
• the more we think and doubt what we memories, then he is no longer the
perceived from our senses and the person he/she was before.
answer that came from such thinking or
doubting leads to a better under standing
DAVID HUME
of ourselves
• different faculties of the mind: (which • no permanent “self”
he believed operate independently of • who you are as a person is only
each other) temporary
o mind – enables us to make • impressions of things are based on our
choices and decisions experiences and from such impressions,
o intellect – power that enables people create their ideas and knowledge
us to reason and understand of who they are
o passions – emotions and • self – a bundle of perceptions and
desires that motivate us to act experiences that are constantly changing
JOHN LOCKE • impression means that everything that
originates from our senses
• tabula rasa – blank slate – person is • ideas are just faint images of thinking and
born nothing reasoning based on impressions
• we come to know ourselves as distinct • a sense of self depends on how one’s
individuals through our experiences, mind puts impressions together and
memories, and reflections – therefore, makes sense of them as ‘me’
we are all different
• the person is born knowing nothing and
IMMANUEL KANT
susceptible to stimulation and
accumulation of learning from the • argued that the awareness of different
experiences, failures, references, and emotions that one has, impressions, and
observations of the person behavior is only part of oneself
• believed that the self is not a substance • Our experience of the world is not simply
or thing, but rather a set of conditions the results of adding all experiences
that are necessary for experience. together. Rather, it is holistic and
• two different aspects of the self. integrated.
o empirical self – individual’s • Body is not only an object or tool of
particular experiences understanding the world. Our bodily
o transcendental self – universal experiences and daily interactions with
and necessary conditions of the world or people, they shape and
experience inform our perception of the world and
vice versa.
GILBERT RYLE
• We exist not because we need to
• self is the behavior presented by the experience the world, but because we
person are integral part of it.
• dualism involves the behavior that one • three divisions:
shows o body – receives the experience
• emotions and actions are the reflections and integrates experiences in
of people’s mind; the manifestation of different perceptions
who they are o perceived world – cumulation of
• “I act; therefore, I am” the perception as integrated by
• Unraveled the separation between the the experiences of the body
mind and the body claiming that it is the o the people and the world –
behavior and actions that give a sense of enable one to not only be able to
self integrate the other objects in the
• argued that the mind does not exist world but also to experience the
cultural aspect and relate to
• rejected the idea that the mind is a
others
distinct aspect from the body. Instead, he
proposed that the self arises from our • the physical body is part of the self
actions and behaviors and not the prison house but the
subject that embodies self
• we basically define people from their
actions and performances

We must care for other aspects of ourselves,

MAURICE MERLEY-PONTY such as our soul and mind, in addition to our
physical body.
• body and mind are not separate
entities, but rather those two ALAGAAN NIYO MENTAL HEALTH NIYO
components are the same GUYS, WAG NA KAYO MAGREVIEW.
• believed that the physical body to be an DESERVE MAGPAHINGA :)
important part of what makes us the
subjective self
• phenomenology of perception – the
whole is greater than the sum of its parts
which pushed his idea of unity and the
function of the mind and body