CONTEMPORARY

PHILOSOPHERS
Gilbert
Ryle
• The self is the way people behave.
• What truly matters is the behavior that a
person manifest in his day to day life.
• British philosopher Ryle believes that
the self is best understood as a pattern
of behavior, the tendency or disposition
of a person to behave in a certain way
in certain circumstances.
• Philosophers principle “I act therefore I
am”
• Mind and body are intrinsically linked
in complex and intimate ways.
• The self is the same as bodily behavior.
Mind is the totality of human
dispositions that is known through the
very way people behave.
• Convinced that the mind expresses the
entire system of thought emotions and
actions that make up the human self.
• The workings of the mind are not
distinct from the actions of the body but
are one and the same.
• The mind is a set of capacities and
abilities belonging to the body. It is a
mysterious entity that controls the
mechanical workings of the body.
• The mind should be seen as an organizing
principle of the body.
• Teaches the distinction among:
- knowing how – (technical ability)
- knowing that – (facts and proposition)
- knowing what – (acquaintance with
things and persons)
 Maurice
merleau ponty
(1908-1961)
• French philosopher. All knowledge about
self is based on the phenomena of
experience.
• The “I” is a single integrated core identity, a
combination of the mental, physical and
emotional structures around a core identity
of the self.
• The mind and body are unified, not
separate.
• A phenomenologist, says the mind and body are
so intertwined that they cannot be separated
from each other.
• One cannot find any experience that is not an
embodied experience. All experience is
embodied. One’s body is his opening toward his
existence to the world. Because of these bodies,
men are in the world.
• For him, the living body, his thoughts, emotions
and experiences are all one.
• There is no experience that is not an embodied
experience.
• “Everything that we experience in this world –
experiences of joy, sadness, love, remorse –
happens with our bodies. There is never a
moment in which we are separated from our
bodies as if it is a clothing that we can shed off”
(Corpuz et al, 2019)
• Refers to this oneness or harmony between the
body and the world as our “being in the world.”
• Everything that people are aware of is
contained within the consciousness.
• Consciousness is a dynamic form
responsible for actively structuring
conscious ideas and physical behavior.
• Convinced that consciousness, the world
and the human body are intricately
intertwined in perceiving the world.
•Perception it is a conscious
experience, thus the self is
embodied subjectivity.
 PAUL
CHURCHLAND
 The Self is the Brain
• Canadian philosopher – advocates the idea of
eliminative materialism or the idea that the self is
inseparable from the brain and physiology of the
body.
• Adheres to materialism, the belief that nothing
except matter exists. If a thing cannot be recognized
by the senses then it is not real .
• Asserts that since the mind cannot be experienced
by our senses then the mind does not really exist. It
is the physical brain and not the mind that gives our
sense of self.
•All the person has is the brain, so if
the brain is gone, there is no self.
•The physical brain gives people the
sense of self. The mind does not
really exist because it cannot be
experienced by the senses.
• Decision making and moral behavior are
a biological phenomena. Human
behavior must be explained rather by a
mature cognitive neuroscience.
• Churchland speaks of neuro – conscience.
 MEDIEVAL
PHILOSOPHERS
•St. Augustine. The self has an
Immortal Soul.
•Combined Greek Philosophy
and truths contained in the
scriptures.
•Integrated the ideas of Plato
and teaching of Christianity.
•The physical body is radically
different from and inferior to its
inhabitant, the immortal soul.
•Ultimately came to view the body as
“spouse” of the soul, both attached to
one another by a “natural appetite”.
• The self is made up of a body and a soul, “a soul in possession of a
body which does not constitute two persons but one man”. His
concept of self is in the context of his relation to God. Every human
person is created into the image and the likeness of God, Every
human person is made for God. It is only upon one’s recognition of
God’s love and one’s response to the invitation to love that one
finds inner peace.
• Happiness is the end all and be all of human living and this
happiness can be found in God alone.
•Believes that the body is united with the soul so
that man may be entire and complete. As a
religious philosopher he contemplates on the
nature of man with emphasis on the soul as an
important element of man.
•Believes that the soul is what governs and
defines man.
•Humankind is created in the image and likeness of
God. Everything created by God who is all good is
good; Therefore, the human person being a
creation of God is always geared towards the
good.
•Self knowledge is a consequence of knowledge of
God.
•Espouses the significance of reflection as well
as the importance of prayers and confessions to
arrive at a justification for the existence of God.
“Knowledge come by seeing the truth that dwells
within us”
•Truth – refers to the truth of knowing God.
•Believes that a virtuous life is a
dynamism of love.
•Loving God means loving one’s
fellowmen, and loving one’s fellowmen
denotes never doing any harm to another.
•Goal of every human person; to attain
this communion and bliss with the Divine
by living his life on earth in virtue.
•Virtue is “the order of love”. To love God means
necessarily to love one’s fellowmen never to do
any harm to another as you would not others to
do unto you. This is Aristotle’s Golden mean.
•Man craves for something perfect immutable
and enduring, Possession of the goods such as
health, beauty, power, honor, fame can never
give to a human person what one is truly looking
for, these goods are finite, unstable and
ephemeral.
THOMAS AQUINAS
• Most eminent 13 century scholar and stalwart
th

of the medieval philosophy. Adapted some ideas

from Aristotle. To Aquinas man is composed of
two parts: matter and form.
a. Matter, or hyle in Greek, refers to the “common stuff
that makes up everything in the universe”. Man’s body
is part of this matter.
b. Form or morphe in Greek refers to the “essence of a
substance or thing”. It is what makes it what it is.
•The body of the human person is
something that he shares even
with animals.
•What makes a human person a human person is
his soul, his essence. To Aquinas, just as in
Aristotle, the soul is what animates the body; it
is what makes us humans.
•Like Aristotle, Aquinas proclaimed the
supremacy of reason in a human person. Can
know the truth with certainly by the use of his
reason.
•However there are some truths which cannot be
known by human reason alone and which can
be proclaimed only with the aid of the light of
divine revelation.
•These two truths those known through reason and
those from Divine Revelation can never contradict
each other because they emanate from the same
source. God who is Truth Itself.
• Aquinas pointed to a higher form of human perfection beyond
this life because of the immortality of the human soul found in
God alone.
• St. Thomas Aquinas was like St. Augustine who taught about the
human soul that is restless and imperfect until it rests in God.
UNDERSTANDING
THE SELF
VARIOUS PERSPECTIVE ABOUT THE SELF

• Time – past, present, future

• Dimensional – physical, emotional, mental, social, spiritual
• Functional – political, material/economic, digital

Self compose both;

I – as an actor
Me – as the object
ISSUES ON THE SELF

• Nature vs. nurture

a. Nature
Natural basis of the self is anchored on.
Biology – human traits are passed’ from one generation to another.
Genetics – a field of biology; deals with heredity (transmission of traits
and characteristics) as a process as well as with the characterization of
the organism. (similarities/differences)
b. Nurture
Self is an outcome of various nurturing facts.
Social sciences stress how group life (formal
and informal) affects one’s behavior and attitude.
IDENTITY VS. SELF

• Identity (noun) –
qualities, beliefs etc, which makes a particular person or group different from
others.
• Self (noun) –
The person that someone normally or truly is---entirety of an individual.
Identity – distinguishes/compares one from another
Self – refers to the total characteristics or qualities of a person both known and
unknown to others (but known to oneself)
• A person’s identity is highlighted by a dominant trait
which makes one distinguishable from others.

• To describe – physical characteristics/ certain

traits
OYSERMAN, ELMORE AND SMITH (2012, P.69)
STATING THAT:
Identities are the traits and characteristics, social relations, roles, and
social group memberships that define who one is. identities can be
focused on the past – what used to be true of one now, or the future
– the person one expects or wishes to become, the person one feels
obligated to try to become, or the person one fears one may become;
together, identities make up one’s self-concept variously described as
what comes to mind when one thinks of oneself.
Instructions: List down at least five (5) of your traits under each of the categories provided
below. Then, identify the possible source/s of these traits by ranking the influence of the different
factors (4 being the highest, 1 being the lowest).
DIMENSIONALITIES OF THE SELF OR
IDENTITY

• Social factor – refers to the influences of

significant persons to one’s life. Includes
primarily the family – referred to by social
scientist as the nursery of human nature; are
strong foundations of one’s being.
NOTE:

• Characteristics acquired from the influences of

social groups during the formative years are
integrated to form one’s identity, or uniqueness and
similarities with others. This process of character
and traits integration (forming of identity) is
referred to as the formation of personality.
• Personality – is the individual patterns of thinking, feeling, and
behaving.

Ways of shaping identity

- Modeling
- Imitation
- Traits integration
ENVIRONMENTAL FACTOR

• Natural force includes physical and communal elements.

Physical – climate, temperature, forms of land etc.

Communal – expectations
norms
HEREDITARY FACTOR

• Hereditary – biological process by which certain traits and

characteristics are passed from one generation to another.

• Non-negotiable factor – fixed and permanent

Dictates one’s physical attributes, and other personal
characteristics.
PERSON VOLITION FACTOR

• Refers to the inclination of a person to form and construct a

specific identity.

• This factor emanates from within the mentality of the person.

• A person exhibiting person volition factor refer to deviant or

non-conformist.
 MODERN
PHILOSOPHERS
 RENE
DESCARTES
 ◦Father of
Modern
Philosophers
◦Brought on entirely new perspective to
philosophy and the self.

◦Wants to penetrate, the nature of reasoning

process and understand its relationship to
the human self.
Self is a combination of two distinct
entities:
◦The cogito, the thing that thinks = mind

◦The extensa or extension of the mind,

which is the body.
◦The body is nothing else but a machine that
is attached to the mind.

◦What is a thinking thing? It is a thing that

doubts, understands (conceive), affirms,
denies, wills, refuses; that imagines also, and
perceives.
◦The only thing that one cannot
doubt is the existence of the self,
even if one doubts oneself, only
proves that there is a doubting self,
a thing that thinks therefore that
cannot be doubted.
Keystones of concept of
self: The Latin phrase
Cogito ergo sum
“I think therefore I am”
◦The act of thinking about self-of being self-
conscious is itself proof that there is a self.

◦The essence of the human-self – a thinking

entity that doubts, understands, analyzes,
questions and reasons.
Two dimensions of the
human self
◦Self as a thinking entity
◦Self as a physical body
◦The thinking self (or soul) as non-material
immortal, conscious being, independent of
the physical laws of the universe.

◦The physical body is a material, mortal,

non-thinking entirely, fully governed by the
physical laws of nature.
 The essential self
◦The self as a thinking entity - is
distinct from the self as a physical
body. Simply put, the thinking self
can exist independently of the
physical body.
◦The self is an immaterial mind and a
material body.
◦The mind is the seat of consciousness.
◦The body (which includes the human
senses) is unreliable hence, not to be
trusted. One can have ideas prior (a
pirori) to experience.
◦The center of man’s being is the
rationality and activity of the mind.

◦To instill virtue and give primacy to the

mind, his advice is for us to understand
work hard enough on our passion so
these passions are put under control.
◦The secondary position of the
body to the soul is a thread
among Descartes, Plato, Aristotle,
Augustine and Thomas Aquinas.
◦Establishing the distinction of
the soul from the body can
make people believe in the
after life and the soul’s
immortality.
JOHN LOCKE
◦Empiricist, Theory
of Personal
Identity
◦It is consciousness alone
that identity exists not
in the body and soul.
◦Essay concerning Human
Understanding, explained
that at birth the (human)
mind is a blank slate.
John Locke. Personal Identity
◦Holds that personal identity (the self) is a
matter of psychological continuity.

◦Personal identity is founded on

consciousness (memory), and not on the
substance of either the body or soul.
 Personal Identity
◦Is the concept about oneself that evolves
over the course of an individual’s life.
Includes aspects of life that man has no
control over, example: where he grew up or
the color of one’s skin; the choices he makes
like how he spends.
Impressions during infancy have very
important and lasting consequences,
“Association of ideas” individuals make
when young are more important than
those made later because they are the
foundation of the self.
◦Emphasized the “freedom of individuals to
author their own soul.” Individuals are free to
define the content of their character except for
their basic identity as a member of the human
species. A human person cannot change the fact
that he has twenty three pairs of chromosomes
for that is his/her nature but can develop or
change his (behavior) character.
◦Believes that the essence of the self is its
conscious awareness of itself as a thinking,
reasoning and reflecting identity.

◦Contends that consciousness accompanies

thinking and makes possible the concept
people have of a self.
◦Self consciousness is necessary to have a
coherent personal (self) identity or knowledge
of the self as a person.

◦Proposed that people could use the power of

reason to gain knowledge and consequently use
this knowledge to understand experiences.
◦Knowledge is based on careful
observation of experiences.
◦Reason plays an important role in
helping to figure out the significance of
sense experiences and to reach
intelligent conclusions.
◦Use power of reason and
introspection enables one to
understand and achieve accurate
conclusions about self. (Personal
Identity).
◦Like St. Augustine and St. Thomas he
believes that “God created man and we are
in effect God’s property”. The chief end set
for us as species and as individuals is
survival.
◦Being furnished with like faculties, sharing
all in one community of nature, there cannot
be supposed any subordination among us.
◦With survival as the end,
every human person has
the right to life, liberty,
health and property.
IMMANUEL KANT
◦Thinks that the things that men perceive around
them are not just randomly infused into the
human person without an organizing principle
that regulates the relationships of these
impressions.
◦Believes there is necessarily a mind that
organizes the impressions that men get from the
external world.
◦Suggests that it is an actively engaged
intelligence in man that synthesizes all
knowledge and experience.

◦The self is not just what gives one his

personality, it is also the seat of
knowledge acquisition for all human
persons.
◦German Philosopher Kant says, it is the self that
makes experiencing an intelligible world
possible because it is the self that is actively
organizing and synthesizing all our thoughts
and perceptions.
◦The self in the form of consciousness, utilizes
conceptual categories which he calls
transcendental deduction to construct an orderly
and objectives world that is stable and can be
investigated scientifically.
◦Believes that the self is an organizing
principle that makes a unified and
intelligible experience possible.
◦Self constructs its own reality, actively
creating a world that is familiar predictable
and most significantly mine.
◦The self is the product of reason, or
regulative principle because the self
regulates experience by making unified
experiences possible.
There is inner and outer self
◦Inner self includes rational
reasoning and psychological state.
◦Outer self includes the body and
physical mind, where representation
occurs.
◦A human person has an inner and outer
self which, together, form one’s
consciousness.
◦Like St. Augustine, Kant sees the self as
prone to corruption, life is a constant
struggle between beauty and pleasures
between.
◦If Descartes is known for his “I think
therefore I am” Kant is known for his
supreme principle of morality, the
Kantian Categorial imperative “Act only
according to that maxim by which you
can at the same time will that it should
a natural law”
DAVID HUME
◦Scottish philosopher; The self is the Bundle
Theory of mind
◦An empiricist who believes that one can only
know what comes from the senses and
experiences.
◦Men can only attain knowledge by
experiencing.
◦The self is nothing else but a bundle impressions.
Experiences can be categorized
into;
◦Impressions – the basic objects of our
experiences or sensation. Form the core of
our thought.

◦Impressions are vivid because they are

product of our direct experiences with the
world.
◦Ideas – are copies of impressions.

◦Self – a bundle or collection of different

perceptions which succeed each other
with an inconceivable rapidity and are
in a perpetual flux and movement.
Two distinct entities (content of
experiences)
◦Impressions – the basic sensation of
people’s experiences such as hate, love,
joy, grief,, pain, cold and heat. Are vivid
perceptions and are strong and lively.
◦Ideas – are thoughts and images from
impressions so they are less lively and
vivid.
◦In reality, what one thinks as
a unified self is simply a
combination of all
experiences with a particular
person.
◦David Hume, Empiricist, Skeptical
Philosophy
◦All knowledge passes through the
senses
◦There is no self, only a bundle of
perceptions
◦The idea of personal
identity is a result
of imagination.
Philosophical Perspective,
of the Self
(ancient)
 Socrates. 1st philosopher to
engage in a systematic
questioning about the self.
True task of the philosopher
is to know oneself.
Every human person is dualistic
Body – imperfect, impermanent
soul – perfect and permanent
- An unexamined life is not worth
living.
- Self is synonymous with the soul.
Reality consist of:
Physical realm – changeable,
transient, imperfect
Ideal realm – unchanging,
eternal and immortal
 The physical world in which man lives belongs to the
physical realm. The body belongs to physical realm.
 Unchanging. Eternal perfect realm includes the
intellectual essences of the universe, concepts such as
truth, goodness and beauty
 Soul belongs to the ideal realm
Soul – the immortal entity, strives for wisdom and
perfection
 Reason is the soul’s tool to achieve that exalted state
Man must live an examined and a life of purpose
and value.
An unexamined life is not worth living.
A person can have a meaningful and happy life
only if, he becomes virtuous and knows the value
of himself that can be achieved thru incessant
soul searching – begin with the self.
Socratic method – introspection – a method of
carefully examining one’s thoughts and emotions
to gain self knowledge.
Principally concerned with man.
Core of Socratic ethics is the concept of
virtue and knowledge.
Virtue – the deepest and most basic
propensity of man.
Knowledge is the source of all wisdom, an ind
may gain possession of oneself and be one’s
own master through knowledge.
Self exist in 2 parts:
Physical - tangible and mortal
aspects and can be constantly
changing.
Soul – immortal
Believed that alive our body and soul are
attached. Both parts of our self present in the
physical realm.
In death – body stays in the physical realm
while the soul travels to the ideal realm
making our soul immortal.
True self not to be identified with what we
own, with our social status, one’s reputation
or even with our body. He maintained that
our true self is our soul.
Dictum – Ignorance is the
beginning of wisdom.
Advice – Know thyself
Famous quote – The examined life
is not worth living
Plato: The Ideal Self, the Perfect Self

Man should live a life of virtue in

which true human perfection
exists.
Plato
Supported Socrates
ideas that man is a
dual nature of body
and soul .
The self is an “immortal soul in a
perishable body”
The soul has a tripartite nature;
a. A soul or an immortal rational part
of the body – survives after we die.
b. A courageous or “spirited” part.
(mortal and they perish when we die)
3 components of the soul.
 Rational soul – forged by reason and intellect govern
the affairs of the human person.
 Spirited soul – in charge of emotions, should be kept
at bay
 Appetitive soul – in charge of base desires like
eating, drinking, sleeping and having sex are
controlled as well.

 Justice can only be attained if the 3 parts of the soul

are working harmoniously with one another.
The self is an immortal soul
Introduced the idea of a 3 part soul/self:

Reason – the divine essence that enables us to think

deeply make wise choices and achieve a three
understanding of eternal truths.
Physical appetite – basic biological needs such as
hunger, thrust and sexual desire.
Spirit or passion - includes basic emotions such as
love, anger, ambition, aggressiveness and empathy.
This 3 are in a dynamic relationship with
one another, sometimes in conflict.
When conflict occurs, responsibility of
reason to sort things out and exert control
,restoring a harmonious relationship
This harmonious integration under the
control of reason is the essence of Plato’s
concept of justice.
If man lives in accordance to his nature,
then he is giving justice to his existence.
Theory of Forms (2)

The world of forms (non-physical

ideas) real and permanent.
The world of sense (reality)
temporary and only a replica of
the ideal world
Main idea:
Truth can be distinguished in 2 forms;
- metaphysical realm (mind)
- physical world (body)
Truth or reality is divided into 2;
1. Ontos (ideal) the ultimate reality
which tends to be permanent and spiritual.
2. phenomena – refers to the
manifestation of the idea is imperfect and
inferior .
The soul is the “giver of life to the body,
the permanent, changeless, and divine
element” as opposed to the changing,
transitory and perishable body”. This
makes the self “a soul using the body”.
The body is just a shell for the soul.
Life is a “continuous striving to free our
soul from its imprisonment in the body.
 Aristotle: The soul is the essence of
the self

Believes that the soul is merely a set

of defining features and does not
consider the body and soul as
separate entities.
Life has a soul, the soul is the essence
of all living things, thus the soul is the
essence of the self.
Three kinds of soul:
a.Vegetative soul – includes the physical
body that can grow.
b.Sentient soul – includes sensual desires,
feelings, and emotions.
c.Rational soul - is what makes man human.
It includes the intellect that allows man to
know and understand things.
Suggest – the rational nature of the self is
to lead a good, flourishing and fulfilling
life (self – actualization)
The pursuit of happiness is a search for a
good life that includes doing virtuous
actions.
Parts of the rational soul is characterized
by moral virtues such as justice and
courage.
He called the ideal as essence
and the phenomenas as matter.
Essence provides meaning and
purpose to the matter and the
matter provides substance and
solidity to essence.
 2 distinct lens:
a.Empiricism – there is no such thing as innate
knowledge, instead, knowledge is derived
from experience.
b.Rationalism – there is innate knowledge.

Conclusions are derived thus logic and

reasoning.
The self is composed of body and soul mind and
matter, sense and intellect; passion and reason.
Reason is supreme in a human person and so
should govern all of life’s activities.
The senses, the lower nature of a human person,
dominates a human person’s life, one tends to live
a chaotic life.
When reason rules over the senses, mind over
matter, the human person tends to live a happy
life.
 Puts emphasis on reason, does not neglect the
development of a human person’s physical, economic
and social powers.
 Human happiness comes from the harmonious
development of the whole self.
 Perfection and happiness come from wisdom and virtue.
Wisdom is true knowledge and virtue is doing what is best
for you that leads you to the attainment of your own
perfection and happiness.
 Taught the theory of Golden mean -
- means moderation: avoid the extremes;
- avoid too much or too little
- living a life of moderation is doing things in consonance
with reason.
PHILOSOPHICAL
PERSPECTIVE OF THE SELF
 PHILOSOPHY

Inquisitive mind to cover

the ultimate cause, reasons,
and principles of
everything.
ETYMOLOGICAL DEFINITION OF
PHILOSOPHY

“love for wisdom” pertains to the

desire for truth by formulating
never ending questions to
provide answer to every inquiry
about the nature of human
existence.
PHILOSOPHY

Often called the mother of all

discipline.
SELF

“a unified being, essentially connected to

consciousness, awareness and agency (or
at least with the faculty of national
choice).
Philosophical Perspective
of the Self
(ancient)
 Socrates. 1st philosopher to
engage in a systematic
questioning about the self.
True task of the philosopher
is to know oneself.
Every human person is dualistic
Body – imperfect, impermanent
soul – perfect and permanent
- An unexamined life is not worth
living.
- Self is synonymous with the soul.
Reality consist of:
Physical realm – changeable,
transient, imperfect
Ideal realm – unchanging,
eternal and immortal
The physical world in which man lives
belongs to the physical realm. The body
belongs to physical realm.
Unchanging. Eternal perfect realm includes
the intellectual essences of the universe,
concepts such as truth, goodness and beauty
Soul belongs to the ideal realm
Soul – the immortal entity, strives for
wisdom and perfection
Reason is the soul’s tool to achieve that
exalted state
Man must live an examined and a life of
purpose and value.
An unexamined life is not worth living.
A person can have a meaningful and happy
life only if, he becomes virtuous and knows
the value of himself that can be achieved
thru incessant soul searching – begin with
the self.
Socratic method – introspection – a
method of carefully examining one’s
thoughts and emotions to gain self
knowledge.
Principally concerned with man.
Core of Socratic ethics is the concept of
virtue and knowledge.
Virtue – the deepest and most basic
propensity of man.
Knowledge is the source of all wisdom, an ind
may gain possession of oneself and be one’s
own master through knowledge.
Self exist in 2 parts:
Physical - tangible and mortal
aspects and can be constantly
changing.
Soul – immortal
Believed that alive our body and soul are
attached. Both parts of our self present in the
physical realm.
In death – body stays in the physical realm
while the soul travels to the ideal realm
making our soul immortal.
True self not to be identified with what we
own, with our social status, one’s reputation
or even with our body. He maintained that
our true self is our soul.
Dictum – Ignorance is the
beginning of wisdom.
Advice – Know thyself
Famous quote – The examined life
is not worth living
Plato: The Ideal Self, the Perfect Self

Man should live a life of virtue in

which true human perfection
exists.
Plato
Supported Socrates
ideas that man is a
dual nature of body
and soul .
The self is an “immortal soul in a
perishable body”
The soul has a tripartite nature;
a. A soul or an immortal rational part
of the body – survives after we die.
b. A courageous or “spirited” part.
(mortal and they perish when we die)
3 components of the soul.
 Rational soul – forged by reason and intellect govern
the affairs of the human person.
 Spirited soul – in charge of emotions, should be kept
at bay
 Appetitive soul – in charge of base desires like
eating, drinking, sleeping and having sex are
controlled as well.

 Justice can only be attained if the 3 parts of the soul

are working harmoniously with one another.
The self is an immortal soul
Introduced the idea of a 3 part soul/self:

Reason – the divine essence that enables us to think

deeply make wise choices and achieve a three
understanding of eternal truths.
Physical appetite – basic biological needs such as
hunger, thrust and sexual desire.
Spirit or passion - includes basic emotions such as
love, anger, ambition, aggressiveness and empathy.
This 3 are in a dynamic relationship with
one another, sometimes in conflict.
When conflict occurs, responsibility of
reason to sort things out and exert control
,restoring a harmonious relationship
This harmonious integration under the
control of reason is the essence of Plato’s
concept of justice.
If man lives in accordance to his nature,
then he is giving justice to his existence.
Theory of Forms (2)

The world of forms (non-physical

ideas) real and permanent.
The world of sense (reality)
temporary and only a replica of
the ideal world
Main idea:
Truth can be distinguished in 2 forms;
- metaphysical realm (mind)
- physical world (body)
Truth or reality is divided into 2;
1. Ontos (ideal) the ultimate reality
which tends to be permanent and spiritual.
2. phenomena – refers to the
manifestation of the idea is imperfect and
inferior .
The soul is the “giver of life to the body,
the permanent, changeless, and divine
element” as opposed to the changing,
transitory and perishable body”. This
makes the self “a soul using the body”.
The body is just a shell for the soul.
Life is a “continuous striving to free our
soul from its imprisonment in the body.
 Aristotle: The soul is the essence of
the self

Believes that the soul is merely a set

of defining features and does not
consider the body and soul as
separate entities.
Life has a soul, the soul is the essence
of all living things, thus the soul is the
essence of the self.
Three kinds of soul:
a.Vegetative soul – includes the physical
body that can grow.
b.Sentient soul – includes sensual desires,
feelings, and emotions.
c.Rational soul - is what makes man human.
It includes the intellect that allows man to
know and understand things.
Suggest – the rational nature of the self is
to lead a good, flourishing and fulfilling
life (self – actualization)
The pursuit of happiness is a search for a
good life that includes doing virtuous
actions.
Parts of the rational soul is characterized
by moral virtues such as justice and
courage.
He called the ideal as essence
and the phenomenas as matter.
Essence provides meaning and
purpose to the matter and the
matter provides substance and
solidity to essence.
 2 distinct lens:
a.Empiricism – there is no such thing as innate
knowledge, instead, knowledge is derived
from experience.
b.Rationalism – there is innate knowledge.

Conclusions are derived thus logic and

reasoning.
The self is composed of body and soul mind and
matter, sense and intellect; passion and reason.
Reason is supreme in a human person and so
should govern all of life’s activities.
The senses, the lower nature of a human person,
dominates a human person’s life, one tends to live
a chaotic life.
When reason rules over the senses, mind over
matter, the human person tends to live a happy
life.
 Puts emphasis on reason, does not neglect the
development of a human person’s physical, economic
and social powers.
 Human happiness comes from the harmonious
development of the whole self.
 Perfection and happiness come from wisdom and virtue.
Wisdom is true knowledge and virtue is doing what is best
for you that leads you to the attainment of your own
perfection and happiness.
 Taught the theory of Golden mean -
- means moderation: avoid the extremes;
- avoid too much or too little
- living a life of moderation is doing things in consonance
with reason.
Philosophical Perspective
of the Self
Summary

 Socrates – the self is synonymous with the soul. Every human

possesses an immortal soul that survives the physical body.

 Plato – 3 elements of the soul/self;

Reason – divine essence that enables people to think
deeply, make wise choices, and achieve a true
understanding of eternal truths.
Physical appetite – includes basic biological needs.
Spirit/Passion – includes the basic emotions.
 Aristotle – the rational nature of the self is to lead a good, flourishing,
and fulfilling life.
 Augustine – the body is united with the soul, so that man maybe
entire and complete.
 Aquinas – man is composed of two parts;
- Matter or hyle – common stuff that makes up everything
in the universe. “Man’s body is part of this matter.”
- Form or morphe – the “essences of a substance or thing.
- The soul is what animates the body; it is makes us humans.
 Descartes – the act of thinking about the self or being self conscious
is proof that there is a self;
Two dimensions of the human self;
- The self as thinking entity
- The self as a physical body.

 Locke – conscious awareness and memory of previous experiences

are the keys to understanding the self. Essence of the self is its
conscious awareness of itself as a thinking, reasoning and reflecting
identity.
 Hume – the idea of personal identity is a result of imagination. If the
person examines his sense experience through the process of
introspection, he will discover that there is no self.

 Kant – the self constructs its own reality, actively creating a world
that is familiar and predictable.

 Ryle – the self is best understood as a pattern of behavior, the

tendency or disposition for a person to behave in a certain way in
certain circumstances.
 Churchland – the self is inseperable from the brain and the
physiology of the body.

 Merleau Ponty – all knowledge about the self is based on the

phenomena of experiences.
Sources:

 Go.Monlla and Ramirez, N. Understanding the self.

 C and E Publishing, Inc., 2018
 Alata, et al, Understanding the self, REX Book store, 2018
 Sociological
Perspective of
the Self
Human development is largely
influenced by membership in
crucial groups.

Beginning of life = family as

social group.
Views one holds about the world
Values uphold in making
decisions
Habits and persistent behavior
Formed in the context of one’s
family and home environment.
 Parents – first
teachers;
 Initial impressions of the world
beyond the home

 Thefirst barometer in determining

which acts are good and rewarded,
those unacceptable for which one is
reprimanded and punished.
Siblings
– first friends and
playmates

- Relationship with
siblings harness one’s
socialization skills.
Schools and general academic
environments
 World views expand as one gets exposed to more people
 Knowledge and social skills gained from mentors, relatives and peers
contribute to how the social self is harnessed.
 Information gleaned from books, lectures and insights from classmates –
assimilated and imbibed in the inner recesses of the self.
 Knowledge of the world is shaped by collaborative learning.
 Values of social harmony emotional sensitivity to the needs of others and
behavior to personal spaces of others etc are learning insights inculcated in
oneself.
Culture
 Complex whole which includes knowledge,
beliefs, law art, moral, custom, and other
capabilities and habits acquired by man as a
member of society, (Edward Tylor, 1871).

 Characteristics: Has great impact on the person.

 Socially transmitted and learned.

Models/Theories
1. Bioecological systems theory

 Explains a person’s social development,

using biological, environmental and
ecological lenses.

 Explains the bidirectional influence of

individual systems to each other.
Five Systems

a. Microsystem – institutions and social

groups that the individual has direct
contact and interactions with
b. Mesosystem – intercorrections among
aspects of the microsystem affecting the
individual;
c. Ecosystem – social setting that an
individual has no direct interaction with
but nevertheless affects one’s
e. Chronosystem – patterns of
environmental events, including
sociohistorical events from specific to a
general context.
2. Individualism – collectivism model (Hazel
Rose Markus and Shinsher Kitayama

Highlights the impact of the culture to the self.

 Individualism – focuses on one’s individual attributes

and personal distinctiveness. Individualistic persons
are observed to be competitive and self reliant.

 Collectivist orientation – values relationships and

harmony. Priority interest to maintain healthy
relationship.
3. I vs. Me (Herbert Mead)
To Mead, the self is not present
at birth. It develops only with
social experience in which
language, gesture, and objects
are used to communicate
meaningfully.
 Two parts of the self
“I”
 known as the unsocialized self.
 Who an individual really is. One’s opinion
of him/herself as a whole.
 Manifested when one acts naturally for
his/her own motivation and not because
of others.
 “Me”
The awareness of how others
expect one to behave.
Also known as the social self
The careful and conscious self
To Mead;

The state of the actual

self is achieved when
the “I” and “Me”
become congruent.
Mead’s 3 stage process in developmental
of self

a.Preparatory stage (0-3 years old)

 Imitate people around them.
 Copy behavior without understanding
underlying intentions so at this stage
no sense of self. Children are just
preparing for role taking.
b. Play stage (3-5 years old)
 Children start to view themselves in
relation to others.
 Role taking is exhibited but do not perceive
role taking.
 Self is developing at this stage.
c. Game stage (begins in the early school
years)
 Children understand their own social
position of those around them.
 Become concerned about take into account
their behavior, attitudes, viewpoints,
demands and expectations of society, ie;
cultural norms and values.
 Sophisticated look of people.
4. The Looking Glass Self –( Charles Horton Cooley)
the people whom a person interacts with become
a mirror in which he views himself / herself.

Three events to achieve self image

a. Conceiving an idea of how a person presents
himself to others
b. How he analyzes how others perceive him
c. How he creates an image of himself
These different models, present
ideas on the process of self
development. These models helps
in understanding oneself and other
people, but it is not ideal to
generalize a certain culture based
on this models.
Individual differences should always be considered
and respect should always be fostered among one
another.

Social Psychology – branch of psychology that studies

individuals as they interact with each other
(Lahey,2007)

For Plotnik and Kouyoumdjian (2014) , it is a broad

field whose goal is to understand and explain how
thoughts, feelings, perceptions and behaviors are
influenced by the presence of or interactions with
others.
It is the study of group and intergroup phenomena

Key words

Interaction – the mutual and reciprocal exchange of communication or

action between two or more persons or groups.

Relationship - particular way in which two or more individuals, groups or

even countries talk to, behave toward, or deal with each other.

There is a fine line between interaction and relationship.

Interaction is always a component of a relationship.

Relationship – includes the kind of interaction between the members of the

group, intellectual, psychological or even emotional investments made by the
parties to develop and maintain the relationship.
But it is not ideal, to generalize a
certain culture based on these models.

Individual differences should always be

considered and respect should always be
fostered among one another.