Module 2-What Philosophy Says About The Self: Plato (/ Pleɪtoʊ
Module 2-What Philosophy Says About The Self: Plato (/ Pleɪtoʊ
Module 2-What Philosophy Says About The Self: Plato (/ Pleɪtoʊ
This section highlight how classical and modern philosophical models defined the self, the
evolution of these philosophical frameworks from ancient to contemporary times and the
relevance of the philosophy of the self to how the youth define their own sense of self.
Classical Antiquity
The ancient philosophy of the self can be traced back from Greek aphorisms---Know thyself Socrates’s guiding
principle that he imparted to his students. Socrates was more concerned with another subject, the problem of the self.
Socrates (/ˈsɒkrətiːz/;[2] Ancient Greek: Σωκρᾰ́της Sōkrátēs [sɔːkrátɛːs]; c. 470 – 399 BC) was a
Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as one of the founders of Western
philosophy, and as being the first moral philosopher of the Western ethical tradition of
thought.
He was the first philosopher who ever engaged in a systematic questioning about the self. To
Socrates, and this has become his life-long mission, the true task of the philosopher is to
know oneself. Plato claimed in his dialogues that Socrates affirmed that the unexamined life
is not worth living. For Socrates, every man is composed of body and soul.
This means that every human person is dualistic, that is, he composed of two important
aspects of his personhood.
For Socrates, this means all individuals have an imperfect, impermanent aspect to him, and the body, while maintaining
that there is also a soul that is perfect and permanent.
He is widely considered the pivotal figure in the history of Ancient Greek and
Western philosophy, along with his teacher, Socrates, and his most famous student,
Aristotle
Plato, Socrates’s student, basically took off from his master and supported the idea that man is a dual nature of body
and soul. In addition to what Socrates earlier espoused, Plato added that there are three components of the soul:
the rational soul,
the spirited soul,
and the appetitive soul.
In his magnum opus, “The Republic” (Plato 2000), Plato emphasizes that justice in the human person can only be
attained if the three parts of the soul are working harmoniously with one another.
The rational soul forged by reason and intellect has to govern the affairs of the human person,
the spirited soul in charge of emotions should be kept at bay,
and the appetitive soul in charge of base desires like eating, drinking, sleeping, and having sex are controlled as well.
When this ideal state is attained, then the human person’s soul becomes just and virtuous.
Plato’s idea of truth about the human self was even more expounded and formalized by his prized student, Aristotle.
Aristotle suggested that the ideal is subsumed in the phenomena. Aristotle called the ideal as essence and the
phenomena as matter. He also emphasized that the two co-exist and are co-dependent; the essence provide meaning
and purpose to the matter and matter provide substance and solidity to essence.
The philosophy of the self has been defined through two distinct lens: empiricism and rationalism. For empiricism,
there is no such thing as innate knowledge; instead, knowledge is derived from experience either perceived with the five
senses or processed in the brain. On the other hand, rationalism argues that there is innate knowledge, from the
standpoint of what is “ideal” and “true”
Nota Bene:
EMPIRICISM Empiricists share the view that there is no such thing as innate knowledge, and that instead
knowledge is derived from experience (either sensed via the five senses or reasoned via the brain or mind).
RATIONALISM: Rationalists share the view that there is innate knowledge; they differ in that they choose
different objects of innate knowledge. Plato is a rationalist because he thinks that we have innate knowledge of the
Forms
Name: Lea V. Narvato Section: BEED 1B
EXERCISE 1
Instruction: if you think the statement is correct, write agree, otherwise, write disagree.
EXERCISE 2
Instruction: Read the different statements below and answer the succeeding question. In answering,
take note of the three discerning points between empiricism and rationalism.
Rationalism Empiricism
The primary and most superior source of knowledge The only source of genuine knowledge about the world is
about reality is reason sense experience
Sense experience is unreliable and in adequate to route Reason is unreliable and inadequate route to knowledge
knowledge unless it is grounded in the solid bedrock of sense
experience
The fundamental truths about the world can be known a There is no such thing as innate knowledge because
priori: either innate or self-evident to our minds knowledge is derived from experience. The mind before
experience is a tabula rasa, a blank slate
1. When you are studying or reviewing lessons, are you more likely to take rationalist viewpoint or empiricist
viewpoint? Why?
2. How do you apply empiricism and/or rationalism in studying your lessons? Be specific and concrete. Try to
remember your study habits and how you make sense of the lessons.
When I’m studying I am motivated because of many experiences I’d already faced. By doing
some things that you already knew what will be the outcome and it will be your guide for you
not to make mistakes again. So you will do what is right and as yourself proving that will have
a great outcome.