Lesson 1: Philosophical Perspectives of the Self Flashcards
greek word “philein” and “sophia” literally means
“love” and “wisdom”
what is philosophy?
“A WAY OF LOOKING AT THE WORLD AND GIVING IT MEANING. IT CAN PROVIDE A HIGH QUALITY METHOD OF EXAMINING OUR BELIEFS.”
what is socrates famous quote
“Know Thy Self”
He agreed that self-knowledge is a prerequisite to a happy and meaningful life.
Socrates
An unexamined life is not worth living”: meaning we should learn to “reflect“
Socrates
One thing only I know, and that is I know nothing.“: the more that we know, the more questions we ask.
Socrates
Age comes with more questions and answers. To answer unanswered questions, we continue to seek for answers.
Socrates
What is the socratic method
How knowledge is brought (teaching by asking questions)
What is socrates dualistic approach
body and soul
What does Socrates mean about body in his dualistic approach
imperfect and impermanent
What does Socrates mean about the soul in his dualistic approach
perfect and permanent
What are the dichotomous realms
Physical realm and Ideal realm
Physical realm
changeable, transient and imperfect, the body belongs to this realm
unchanging, eternal, and immortal; the soul belongs to this realm.
Ideal realm
What keep us from attaining wisdom?:
focuses on material possession
Student of Socrates”
Plato
Founded the Academy: considered as
prototype of today’s universities.
Plato
Believe in the existence of the SOUL.
Plato
According to Plato what is the most divine aspect of the self
Soul
According to Plato what does divine mean
the soul is the most intellectual aspects of the person
what are the 3 components of soul?
- rational soul
- spirited soul
- appetitive soul
reason, intellect, enables us to think deeply, make wise choices, thinking soul
Rational soul
emotion and passion (what soul is this)
spirited soul
what soul (basic needs)
appetitive soul
“Cogito ergo sum”
I think, therefore I Am
Who said this “Cogito ergo sum”
Rene Descartes
Father of modern philosophy.
Rene Descartes
what is the hyperbolican doubt
doubting the existence of his own physical body
The existence of the body is NOT the proof that you exist.
Rene descartes
How can Descartes prove that I exist?
➢The mere fact that I can DOUBT is enough to prove that I can exist.
➢Your ability to question things is the proof that you can exist.
“mind-body dualism”
Rene Descartes
what does descartes believed that a man consists
Matter and mind
The physical stuff that walks, talks,
and plays the accordion.
Matter
The nonphysical substance (sometimes equated with the soul) that thinks, doubts, and remembers
Mind
The mind is united with the body to form a human being.
Rene Descartes
Who is known for Tabula Rasa
John Locke
The person is born like a blank slate. Clueless about the world. With experience we write in our blank slate/mind, and it got encoded.
John Locke
MEMORY: Our identity is not locked in the mind, soul or body only. If we don’t have memory, we cannot have a CONTINOUS Identity.
John Locke
Identity is explained in terms of psychological connection between life stages due to memory (we remember our experiences or what happened in the past).
John Locke
We learn more because of experiences and our ability to remember these experiences allows us to remember who we are today.
John Locke
✓”All knowledge is derived from human senses. “
David Hume
Influenced by empiricism (they don’t believe on what can’t be
seen or observe. We make use of our senses.)
David Hume
collection of impressions. The person is a collection of impressions.
Bundle Theory
vivid, products of direct experiences (perceptions of reality
impressions
copies of impressions; imaginations
ideas
There is no Self
Personal identity is just a result of imagination”. The mind is simply a container for fleeting sensations.
There is SELF. We construct self.
Immanuel Kant
The self constructs its own reality, actively creating a world that is familiar, predictable, and most significantly, mine.
Immanuel Kant
The self is a product of reason. Through RATIONALITY, people can understand certain abstract ideas that have no corresponding physical object or sensory experience.
Immanuel Kant
Self is not just what gives one his personality but also the set of knowledge acquisition for all human persons.
Immanuel Kant
What is Philosophy of Self and why it is important?
✓A philosophy is the pinnacle of one’s life: Without philosophy we are subject to aimless bouts where life seems sometimes void and meaningless.
✓Philosophy adds structure and balance, to implement goals and reach one’s dreams: It is the roadmap to our actions and thoughts, the processing tool of reason.
✓Improve critical thinking, argument skills, analysis skills, problem solving skills, and communications.
✓Allows you to: justify your opinions , spot a bad argument, explain to people and why they are wrong, and you are right, philosophy teaches us to think, and it Answers our WHY.
