MODULE 2.1

Question 1

An Unexamined Life is not Worth Living
- Father of Western Philosophy
- Gadfly of Athens
- Focused on the full power of reason: who we are, who we should be, and who we will become.
- Reality is Dualistic
- The soul strives for wisdom and perfection, and reason is the soul’s tool to achieve an exalted state of life.
- Our preoccupation with bodily needs such as food, drink, sex, pleasure, material possessions, and wealth keep us from attaining wisdom
- Self is synonymous with the soul. He believes that every human possesses an immortal soul that survives the physical body.
- He explains that the essence of the self–the soul–is the immortal entity. The soul strives for wisdom and perfection, and reason is the soul’s tool to achieve this exalted state. However, as long as the soul is tied to the body, the quest for wisdom is inhibited by the imperfection of the physical realm, where it wanders and is confused

Answer 1

SOCRATES

Question 2

Mortal, Imperfect, the body
○ changeable, transient, and imperfect

Answer 2

Physical Realm

Question 3

Immortal, Perfect, mind/soul
○ unchanging, eternal, and immortal
○ includes the intellectual essence of the universe and concepts such as truth, goodness, and beauty.

Answer 3

Ideal Realm

Question 4

The Soul is Immortal
- Self = Soul
- The philosophy of the self can be explained as a process of self-knowledge and purification of the soul.

Answer 4

PLATO

Question 5

The self consists of three-parts:

Answer 5

Reason
spirit or passion
physical appetite

Question 6

○ Is the divine essence that enables us to think deeply, make wise choices, and achieve a true understanding of eternal truths.

Answer 6

Reason

Question 7

○ includes basic emotions, such as love, anger, ambition, aggressiveness, and empathy.

Answer 7

spirit or passion

Question 8

○ includes our basic biological needs, such as hunger, thirst, and sexual desire

Answer 8

physical appetite

Question 9

The Soul is the Essence of the Self
- Anything with Life has a soul
- Soul + body = Self
- the soul is merely a set of defining features and does not consider the body and Soul as separate entities.
- humans differ from other living things because of their capacity for rational thinking

Answer 9

ARISTOTLE

Question 10

3 kinds of soul

Answer 10

Vegetative Soul
Sentient Soul
Rational Soul

Question 11

Vegetative Soul

Answer 11

Physical Body

Question 12

Sentient Soul

Answer 12

Sensual Desires & Emotions

Question 13

Rational Soul

Answer 13

what makes us human; power of reason
○ includes the intellect that allows man to
know and understand things

Question 14

The Soul is Superior to the Body
- A follower of Plato
- Physical Body < Soul
- physical body is radically different from and inferior to its inhabitant, the immortal soul
- Body - “Spouse of Soul”
- Body + Soul = Complete
- Everything created by God who is all good is good
- Self is known through knowing God
- God is transcendent, and the self seeks to be united with God through faith and reason
- “I am doubting, therefore I am.’

Answer 14

ST. AUGUSTINE

Question 15

I think therefore I am
- Essential self = Self as thinking entity
- Father of Modern Philosophy
- Cogito Ergo Sum
- the act of thinking about the self — of being selfconscious — is in itself proof that there is a self.
- Human Self - Doubts, Understand, Analyzes, Questions, and reasons
- The physical body is a material, mortal,
non-thinking entity, fully governed by the physical
laws of nature
- Body and Soul is independent from each other

Answer 15

RENE DESCARTES

Question 16

The Self is Consciousness
- Tabula Rasa = Blank Slate
- Self, or personal identity, is constructed primarily from sense experiences more specifically, what people see, hear, smell, taste, and feel
- Conscious awareness and memory of previous experience
- The essence of the self is its conscious awareness of itself as a thinking, reasoning, and reflecting identity
- More conscious, more coherent
- Reason and Knowledge is important in accuracy
- Knowledge is based on careful observation of experiences

Answer 16

JOHN LOCKE

Question 17

There is no Self
- Self is made up of bundle or collection of different
perceptions
- Personal Identity = An Imagination
- People have no experience of a simple and individual impression that they can call the self, it is the totality of a person’s conscious life

Answer 17

DAVID HUME

Question 18

Sensations (Emotions) (Vivid)
○ hate, love, joy, grief, pain, cold, and heat

Answer 18

Impressions

Question 19

thoughts/Images (less vivid)

Answer 19

Ideas

Question 20

We Construct the Self
- The Self Transcends Experience
- Self as the organizer and synthesizer of thoughts and perceptions
- The self, in the form of consciousness, utilizes conceptual categories, which he calls transcendental deduction of categories, to construct an orderly and objective world that is stable and can be investigated scientifically
- Transcendental deduction of categories - term of categorizing our experiences
- Self is the product of reason
- Self transcends experience because it can grasp things beyond senses (Time and Space)

Answer 20

IMMANUEL KANT

Question 21

The self is multilayered

Answer 21

SIGMUND FREUD

Question 22

○ realistic demands of a situation, the consequences of various actions, and the overriding need to preserve the equilibrium (balance) of the entire psychodynamic system of the self
○ Thoughts
○ Perceptions

Answer 22

Conscious

Question 23

○ basic instinctual drives, including sexuality, aggressiveness, and self-destruction; traumatic memories; unfulfilled wishes and childhood fantasies; thoughts and feelings that would be considered socially taboo
○ most primitive level of human motivation and human functioning that is governed by the “pleasure principle.”
○ much of the self is determined by this layer
○ Fears
○ Selfish Needs

Answer 23

Unconscious

Question 24

○ contains material that is not threatening and is easily brought to mind
○ located between the conscious and the unconscious parts of the self
○ Memories
○ Stored Knowledge

Answer 24

Preconscious

Question 25

The Self is the way you Behave
- Self = Pattern of Behavior
- Self = Bodily behavior
- I act therefore I am
- mind and body to be intrinsically linked in complex and intimate ways.
- self is the same as bodily behavior
- Mind is totality of human dispositions that is known through the way people behave
- the mind expresses the entire system of thoughts, emotions, and actions that make up the human self

Answer 25

GILBERT RYLE

Question 26

The Self is the Brain
- Eliminative materialism:
- Self - inseparable from the brain and body
- brain > Mind
- the physical brain, and not the imaginary mind, gives people the sense of self
- Mind cannot really exist because it cannot be experienced by the senses

Answer 26

PAUL CHURCHLAND

Question 27

The Self is Embodied Subjectivity
- all knowledge about the self (e.g., understanding the nature of the 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
- when people examine the self at the fundamental level of direct human experience, they will discover that the mind and body are unified, not separate
- Phenomenology of Perception - 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
- consciousness, the world, and the human body are intricately intertwined in perceiving the world
- perception is not merely a consequence of sensory experience; rather, it is a conscious experience

Answer 27

MAURICE MERLEAU-PONTY