Understanding the Self

1. The Philosophical
Perspective of the
Self

2. Reflect the following:
▪ What do we even mean by the “self”?
▪ Are we souls, bodies, or fragments of someone else’s
imagination?
▪ Are we just minds or a combination of mind and body?
▪ Will I survive bodily death or is it the end when my bodily
self die?
▪ Am I a robot controlled by some entity?

3. Lesson 1: What Philosophy says about the self
▪ The philosophy of self-defines the essential qualities that make
one person distinct from all others. There have been numerous
approaches to defining these qualities. The self is the idea of a
unified being which is the source of consciousness. Moreover,
this self is the agent responsible for the thoughts and actions of
an individual to which they are ascribed. It is a substance, which
therefore endures through time; thus, the thoughts and actions
at different moments may pertain to the same self.
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4. Lesson 1: What Philosophy says about the self
▪ The ancient philosophy of the
self can be traced back from
one of 147 Greek aphorisms
prominently inscribed in the
temple of Apollo and Delphi—
Know thyself.
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5. Socrates
▪ This aphorism or principle was Socrates
guiding principle that he imparted to his
students. Since Socrates as a guru preferred
to engaged his students in endless
discussions, it is said that he had never
written down any of his ideas but instead
untiringly articulated concepts and principles
with his students. Socrates believed that the
real self is not the physical body, but rather
the psyche (or soul).
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8. Plato
▪ It was Plato, Socrates’s prized student,
who thoroughly expounded Socrates’s
ideas of the self. Plato’s
conceptualization of the self was
profoundly introduced in his dialogue,
Phaedrus, which has been a popular text
for many decades in the subject of
philosophy.
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9. The main idea in this dialogue is that the truth can be distinguished in
forms:
▪ metaphysical realm (mind); and
▪ physical world (body)
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▪ Ontos (ideal)- the ultimate reality which tends to be permanent and
spiritual
▪ Phenomena- which refers to the manifestation of the ideal.
Compared to ontos, phenomena is imperfect, impermanent and inferior.

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24. THIS WEEK'S ACTIVITY:
Choose at least one Philosopher whom you think
have the same Philosophy in life as yours then,
explain your philosophy in life.

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Thanks!