Lesson 1: Philosophical Perspective

of the Self
"There are three things extremely hard: steel, a diamond, and to know one's self."
- Benjamin Franklin

Overview
Knowing oneself entails a deeper exploration and understanding about oneself.
It is a life-long journey of self-awareness, self-knowledge, self-realization. Its
goal is to answer the daunting question of “Who am I?”.

The process of knowing oneself allows one to assess how he or she is living his
life and evaluating how aligned his existence to his purpose in life. However,
knowing oneself is no easy task. Since it is a life-long process, it takes time and
effort.

In trying to understand the nature of the self, Philosophy is the first discipline of
study to understand the essence of the self. It was first introduced by ancient
Greek philosophers Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. This lesson presents an
overview of the philosophical perspectives of the self, in its intention to provide a
deeper level of self-understanding. Different perspectives of prominent
philosophers will be determined. The philosopher’s perspectives are arranged in
a historical approach starting from Ancient Philosophy to Contemporary
Philosophy. Philosophers presented in this section may have differing views on
the self, however, they all agreed on the importance of understanding oneself as
a key in living a meaningful life.

Specific Objectives
At the end of this lesson, students are expected to:

1. Describe and discuss the different notions of the self from the point of
view of the various philosophers across time and place
2. Compare and contrast how the self has been presented in different
philosophical schools
3. Examine one’s self against the different views of self that were
discussed in class
Activity #1
Reflect and Write: Who Am I Worksheet
Reflect in the questions posed on the worksheet and write their corresponding
answer on the space provided.

WHO AM I?

REFLECTION RESPONSES

Where have you

been in your
lifetime?

What defines
you?

What are your

goals for this
year and the
future?

What obstacles
have you
overcome?

What do you
really care
about?
Analysis
Answer the following guide questions filling out the “Who Am I” worksheet.

1. Which part of the worksheet is the easiest to answer? How about the most
difficult?
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
2. What do you have in mind while writing your worksheet? What part did
you answer first? Why?
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
3. How did you feel while writing your worksheet?
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
4. What were your realization after completing your worksheet?
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________

Abstraction
Ancient Philosophy
This is a classical Greek period in which it was imperative to know oneself.

Socrates
For Socrates, an unexamined life is not worth living.
Evaluating and examining one’s self is an essential
srep in getting to know the self. If one has self-
knowledge, one will be able to determine the answer
to the question of “how should I live my life?”. More
importantly, when we know oursleves, we will know
how to takge good care and give love to ourselves.
He determined a way to know oneself is through
Socratic Method or Elenchus- a systematic and
Socrates via shorturl.at/gAFK1
serious questioning.
Plato
Another ancient Greek Philosopher who elaborates Socrates’s concept of the self
is Plato.
His notion of the self could be explained using his Theory of Forms. He
emphasized that the physical world is not the ‘real’ world but ultimately exist
outside the realm of the physical world. He highlighted that there are two
worlds: Platonic World and Physical World. The physical world entails the world
of matter and all the material things we see in the physical realm. However,
according to Plato, physical world is characteristically temporary and imperfect.
On the other hand, platonic world is the world of ideals and this exist beyond the
physical realm. He characterized this as true and perfect.

According to Plato, the world we live in is a

poor imitation of the real world. The world
of forms is so ideal and perfect. Since we
are in world of matter, we forgot about
these ideal world. So our task is to
remember. Remember the things in the
world of forms. According to him, in order
to remember this is to use the method of
Anamnesis-which means to recollect. For
him, to know thyself is to remember.

Plato via shorturl.at/ctBRX

Plato also added that there are three components of the soul (psyche):

a. The RATIONAL soul: forged by reason and intellect has governed the affairs
of the human person.

b. The SPIRITED soul: is in charge of emotions should be kept at bay

c. The APPETITIVE soul: in charge of the basic needs like eating, drinking,
sleeping, and sex are controlled as well.

Medieval Philosophy
Philosophy during this period was theological in nature. It was closely associated
on Christian thought.

St. Augustine of Hippo

St. Augustine was great influenced by the
philosophy of Plato. He integrated Plato’s
ideas to Christian teachings. Similar to
Plato, he believed that there are two
worlds, and the physical world that we
live in is just temporary d prone to
mistakes. His philosophy of the self was
outlined in his vision of two worlds or
societies: the City of God and the City of
Man. These two worlds or cities are
symbolic embodiment of two spiritual
realms. For him, City of God is
characteristically perfect and heavenly
while City of Man is earthly and prone for
sins and imperfection.
For St. Augustine, the self is created in St. Augustine via shorturl.at/iBCQ2
the image and likeness of God. Thus,
we can only know ourselves through
knowing God. Self-knowledge is a
consequence of knowledge of God. The
development of the self is achieved
through self-presentation and self-
realization. He emphasized the importance
of reflection and prayer to arrive at a
justification of God.

Modern Philosophy
Philosophy during this period was anthropocentric in nature.

Rene Descartes
Considered as the Father of Modern Philosophy, Rene Descartes presented
a new perspective to philosophy and to the understanding of the self. He
applied the concept of Rationalism in understanding human nature. His
famous
phrase “Cogito ergo sum” or “I think
therefore I am” encapsulated his notion of
the self. For him, the act of thinking is an
evidence of the existence of the self. He
emphasized that no rational individual can
doubt his or her existence, for even if one thinks and doubts oneself, that only
proves there is a doubting self- an entity who thinks- and therefore cannot be
doubted. For him, the essence of the self is its capability to think, doubt,
understand, analyze, and reason.

John Locke
For John Locke, the human mind at birth is like a
tabula rasa-blank slate. The person’s experience
become notation of the slate and make individual
distinct from other people. He believed that the
self is primarily constructed from sense
experience. In turn, these sense experiences
shape the self throughout his or her life.

A keystone in understanding the self, for Locke,

is through conscious awareness and recollecting
John Locke via shorturl.at/iAHJP
previous experiences. Conscious awareness of
the self is essential to have a coherent and consistent sense of self. He
emphasized the use of reasons to obtain knowledge and consequently use the
knowledge to make sense of his or her experiences. For Locke, careful
observation of experiences is the foundation of knowledge. Through reasoning
and introspection allows an individual to assess and understand oneself.
David Hume
An empiricist just like Locke, David Hume
suggested that through careful examination
of the self, an individual will discover that
there is no self. For him, all we know about
ourselves are just bundles of temporary
impression and ideas. Impression pertains
to basic sensations of people’s experience
like love and joy. On the other hand, ideas
are images from impression that are strong
and lively. Hume theorized that these
impressions and ideas about selves are
temporary. According to him, notions of the
David Hume via shorturl.at/qwxFZ
self are based and derived from
impressions, and consequently there is no
self.

Contemporary Philosophers
This refers to the period of philosophy that generally deals with philosophers
from late 19th century to the present.

Gilbert Ryle
For Ryle, the self could be best understood based
from physical actions and behaviors of an
individual. His philosophy of the self could be
encapsulated in this principle: “I act therefore I
am”. We will only be able to understand the self
from the external manifestations and dispositions
like facial expression, gestures, and language.
He considers the mind as never separate from
the body. Both are intrinsically linked. The mind
pertains to human disposition that is manifested
through human behavior. For him, what truly
matters are the behavior that a person manifests Gilbert Ryle via shorturl.at/gvPWY

in his day-to-day life.

Maurice Merleau-Ponty
Merleau-Ponty argued that the self is based
from the “phenomena” of experience. He
regarded that the self should be taken as a
whole- a Gestalt understanding of perceptual
synthesis. The living body, his thought,
emotions, and experiences are all one. He
adheres to the notion that the mind and
body are unified, not separated. However,
the self can be perceived on different angles.

Activity #2
Synthesizing Activity. Students will complete the following sentences and
determine new knowledge learned from the lesson.

1. I’m thinking
_________________________________________
_________________________________________

2. Now, I’m thinking

_________________________________________
_________________________________________

3. I am beginning to think
_________________________________________
_________________________________________

4. My new thinking is _________________________________________

_________________________________________
Assessment

References
Alata, E. P., Caslib, B., Serafica, J., Pawilen, R. A. (2018). Understanding the self
(1st ed.). Sampaloc, Manila: Rex Book Store, Inc.

Go-Montilla, M., Ramirez, N. (2018). Understanding the self. Quezon City: C & E
Publishing, Inc.

Villafuerte, S. L., Quillope, A. F., Tunac, R. C., Borja, E. I. (2018). Understanding

the self. Quezon City, Philippines: Nieme Publishing House Co. Ltd.