Lesson 4: Philosophical Perspective Flashcards
Purpose of learning philosophy
- to enable us to think critically
- read closely and comprehensively
- guide us to write clearly
- better ourselves in logical analysis
- these skills would enable us to enhance our problem solving ability
- help us to express ourselves that would make us better in communication skills
Philospher’s about Self
- Socrates
- Plato
- St. Augustine
- Descartes
- Humes
- Kant
full of mean and women who inquired into the fundamental nature of self
History of Philosophy
were the ones who seriously questioned myths and moved away from it,
Greeks
turn into attempting to understand reality and respond to enduring questions of curiosity about self
Greeks
first thinker to focus on the full power of reason on the human self: who we are, who we should be, and who we will become
Socrates
- every man is composed of body and soul ( means human person is dualistic , all individuals have imperfect, impermanent aspect of him- the body)
- the perfect and permanent - the soul - TRUE SELF
- Our goal as humans is to “?KNOW THYSELF”
Socrates
- the soul strives for wisdom and perfection, and reason is the soul’s tool to achieve an exalted state of life
- a person can have a meaningful and happy life only if her becomes virtuous and knows the value of himself
Socrates
Three Components of the Soul (can be controlled)
- The Rational Soul - Our Reason and Intellect
- The Spirited Soul - Our Emotions
- The Appetitive Soul - Our Desires like eating; drinking; sleeping; and having sex
- believes that it is the responsibility of our reason to sort things out and exert control, restoring a harmonious relationship among the three elements
- in the ideal state human person’s soul becomes just and virtuous
Plato
- believes that genuine happiness can only be achieved by people who consistently make sure that their reason is in control of their spirits and appetites
Plato
- the Body is bound to die on earth
- integrated the ideas of Plato and Christianity
- agreed that man is bifurcated nature
St. Augustine
- an aspect of man dwells in the imperfect world and is imperfect and continuous yearns to be the Divine and the other is capable of reaching immortality
St. Augustine
The Soul is to anticipate living in eternal realm
Heaven= _____
Hell = ______
Heaven = Eternal life with God
Hell = Eternal Suffering
_____ is what governs and defines the human person or the self (St. Augustine)
Soul
- described that humankind is created in the image and likeness of God
St. Augustine
- the goal of every human person is to attain this communion and bliss with the divine
- by living his life of virtue while on earth
- the self is known only through knowing God
St. Augustine
” I am doubting, therefore I am”
St. Augustine
he developed the fundamental concept of the human person
St. Augustine
Father of Modern Philosophy
Descartes
Cogito ergo sum “I think therefore I am”
Descartes
- we cannot doubt the existence of self
- even if we doubt - it is self doubt
Descartes
conceive that human being has a
- Body (The Extenza) - the extension of the body
- Mind (Cogito) - the thing that thinks
- for him, the act of thinking about the self - of being self-conscious - is in itself proof that there is self
Descartes
- the essence of the self - a thinking entity that doubts, understands, analyzes, questions, and reason
Descartes
- the fact that one thinks should lead to conclude without a trace of doubt the he exist
Descartes
“But what then, am I? A thinking thing. It has been said, But what is a thinking thing? It is a thing that doubts, understands, affirms, denies, wills, refuses, that imagines also, and perceives.”
Descartes
- Scottish Philosopher has a very unique way of looking at man
- as an empiricist who believes that one can know only what comes from senses and experiences
David Hume
is the school of thought that espouses the idea that knowledge can only be possible if it is sensed and experienced
Empiricism
Men can only attain knowledge by _____
Experiencing
The self is nothing else but a bundle of impressions.
Two Categories:
- Impressions
- Ideas
Basic objects of our experience and sensation
Impressions
Copies of impressions and not as clear and vivid as our impressions
Ideas
He suggests that if people carefully examine their sense experience through the process of introspection, they will discover that there is no self
Hume
“A bundle or collection of different perceptions, which succeed each other with an inconceivable rapidity, and are in perpetual flux and movement.”
Self
The idea of personal identity is a result of _____
Imagination
The thinking of self is a mere combination of impressions was problematic, but it begins with perception and sensation of impression
Immanuel Kant
he thinks that the things that men perceive around them are not just randomly infused into the relationship of all these impressions
Kant
- there is a need to be an organizing principle that regulates the relationships
- the mind necessary to organize the impressions that humans get from the external world
Kant
- through our rationality, the self transcends sense experience
- in other words, the self constructs its own reality creating a world that is familiar and predictable
Kant
