γνῶθι σεαυτόν transliterated: gnōthi seauton

Know thyself

The Ancient Greek aphorism "know thyself" were inscribed above the entrance to the temple of Apollo
at Delphi, site of the sacred oracle. It was said to have been inscribed along with the words μηδὲν ἄγαν
(transliterated as mēden agan, meaning “nothing to excess”) in the forecourt of the Temple of Apollo at Delph.
The maxim may be interpreted in numerous ways.
Prins (2014) mentions that:
You could think of it (know thyself) in terms of limitations, of understanding your various strengths and
weaknesses; what you are capable of and what you are not. You can look at it in terms of mortality, in
knowing and accepting that as a human you are not immortal and will die. You may see it in terms of
knowing your place, in your family, work, and social networks. You may interpret “know thyself” as
Socrates did, as a process of questioning and testing one’s most fundamental beliefs.
Kagan in an Open Yale Course interprets the two maxims as:
“Know your own limitations as a fallible mortal and then exercise moderation because you are not
divine, you are mortal.”
This has been a subject of myriad of interpretation by philosophers since then. However the interpretation
is, the maxim is generally believed to invite people of self-reflection – to discern. Gregory of Nissa suggests that
“turning one’s gaze inward is the only way to bring to light one’s real essence, while looking to the outside makes
such task impossible” (Berolini, 2018). By taking the opportunity to gain knowledge to take responsibility for our
actions and how we live life.
To know thyself is first an imperative and then a requirement. It being imperative means that it is
necessary and must not be avoided. It is imperative to know the limits of the self so that one knows what one
is capable of doing and what one is not. One who does not know his limitations and strengths only has least
power to make change in his actions and his life in general. Thus, we can also say that it a requirement.
To know one’s self is a requirement for self-moderation, prudence, good judgment, and excellence of
the soul (Ortiz de Landazuri,2014). “Anything excessive is not good. Thus, it is prudent to strike the balance of
things. Too much power might lead to abuse; too many friends might decrease the quality of relationships; too
many problems might bring about depression; too much knowledge might make one think, as in the ancient
rulers, that there is nothing else to know about (Villafuerte, et.al, 2019)”, too much generosity might make one
financially stable, too much kindness might be taken advantage by other people. The list goes on. To know one
self makes one capable of understanding whether he is need of moderation so that he is able to desire what is
good and avoid those that will bring him harm. Through moderation one is able to have better control and create
sound judgment in his life.

PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE SELF

SOCRATES
“The unexamined is life not worth living”

He is the first philosopher who ever engaged in a systematic questioning of

the self. According to him, the true task of the philosopher is to know oneself. He
affirmed that “the unexamined life is not worth living.”
According to Socrates, most people never consciously contemplate the
question: What is the way we ought to live? Instead the course of their lives is
largely determined by their cultural values and norms which they unquestionably
adhere to. One of the reasons why most them refuse to contemplate on this matter
is because one must strive after self-knowledge and such knowledge is most
difficult to obtain. It requires one to gaze inward to understand the nature of their
true self.
 An examined life is a life that is duty bound to develop self-knowledge and a self-dignified with values
and integrity. The unexamined life is no better than animal life, the worst that can happen to anyone: to live but
die inside. He distinguished the “examined life” as having the wisdom to distinguish right from wrong, only in
recognizing your ignorance can a person truly know oneself. Once we know ourselves we may learn how to care
for ourselves, but otherwise we never shall (Socrates)

This only means that when we become readily contented with the information we receive from the social
media, for example, and submit to how virtual reality defines life, develop needs and wants, classify morality,
delineate universal values, and mystify human reason, we are not better off than the dogs who become
contented with the crumbs provided by their “masters.”

THE EXAMINED LIFE: 7 QUESTIONS

But what does the statement “unexamined life is not worth living” mean for us today? In order to
facilitate our reflection, I want you to read the following questions provided by Taibbi (2018) and reflect on
your answers:

1. How is my life going?

On an average day, is it good enough that you want to live it over? If you had to pick one emotion to
describe your overall state of mind, your everyday mood, what would it be?
2. When I look over the past 6 months, year, what have I learned from my mistakes?
Successfully running your life is a process of elimination where mistakes are opportunities to learn a
lesson so you don’t make the same mistakes again.
3. What is my one conflict?
Everyone is essentially grabbling with one core issue that your life is trying to resolve, one problem
that your life is circling around. When you look back over past 5, 10, 20 years and the problems
you've faced, is there something that links them all together? If you were to see your past played out
as movie, what would the title of that movie be?
4. Does my life reflect my values?
Take some time to consider and write down what your values may be — defining what is important
in life and what it means to you to be a good human being. The next part is evaluating whether there
is a gap between your values and the way they are reflected in your everyday life.
5. Do I have integrity?
Integrity comes from the Latin, integritas, meaning unified, whole. Do you think that what you believe
and what you present to others are the same? Is there a gap between them? What do you need to
do bring them back in line?
6. Has my vision of the future changed?
Have your current priorities and goals changed since the last time you checked in? Time to upgrade
who you are and what you want?
7. What do you need to change in the next 6 months, next year, to make your life better, be who you
want to be, have the future you envision?
Begin to think in terms of concrete behavioral change — bad habits you want to give up, new ones
to develop, parts of your personality that have been pushed to the sideline of your life that you want
to reclaim or expand. It's time to come up with a plan to begin this process.

Taibbi, R. (2018), The Examined Life: 7 Questions, Psychology Today,

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/fixing-families/201806/the-examined-life-7-questions

DID YOU KNOW THAT…

Socrates is called the gadfly of the Athenian State?
A gadfly is a person who disrupts with the status quo of a society or community by posing novel, potentially upsetting
questions, usually directed at authorities. In this case, Socrates was a gadfly to the Athenian state because he wanted to
remind the people of Athens of their real duties and obligations and to focus on something greater than respite and comfort.

What is the nature of the true self?

He believed that every man is dualistic. This means that human person is composed of two important
aspects of his personhood. Body which refers to imperfect, impermanent aspect that is vulnerable to basic
emotions and actions, whereas soul refers to the perfect and permanent aspect that controls the body and
prevents it from falling into fallacy and inadequate behavior.
One’s true self according to Socrates is not to be identified with what we own, our social status or our
body. He maintained that our true self is our soul*. According to Socrates, the state of your soul refers to the
quality of our life thus it is only appropriate and necessary that we put considerable amount of time in making
our soul as good and beautiful as possible.
* the soul in the context of Ancient philosophers, as with Socrates did not have a religious connotation but rather
the thinking and willing subject

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT…

What do you think is good and what is considered to be evil?

But what is good and what is evil?

A typical person would say that wealth, popularity, status or social acceptance are considered good and
poverty, death, pain and social rejection as evil. Socrates disagreed with these answers and viewed these as
extremely harmful. It is natural that we aspire for happiness and everything that we do, we do because it will
make us happy. Thus, it follows that what we think will make us happy are considered good and those will make
us suffer are considered evil. So if we have a mistaken perception of what is good, then whatever we chase as
aspire will eventually not bring us happiness even if we attain them.
There is only one supreme good that will bring us happiness according to Socrates and that is virtue. A
virtuous person is one whose character is made up of the moral qualities accepted as virtues. In Ancient Greece
commonly accepted virtues included courage, temperance, prudence, and justice. Since virtue leads to
happiness, it is necessary that one arrives of the true definition of virtue.
Knowledge = Virtue = Happiness
The individual person can have a meaningful and happy life only if he becomes virtuous and knows the
value of himself that can be achieved through incessant soul-searching. Socratic-Method or “Introspection” – is
a method of carefully examining one’s thoughts and emotions – to gain self-knowledge.
If it is only by becoming virtuous that one can attain happiness, why has so much evil been committed
throughout history?

Evil is a result of ignorance. An individual who commits an evil act is one who is ignorant of the fact that
virtue alone is the one true good. Such an individual instead falsely assumes that wealth, power, and pleasure
are the greatest goods in life, and therefore if necessary will use evil means to attain these goods. In other
words, they are ignorant of the fact that by committing such evil acts they are tarnishing their soul and thus
condemning themselves to a perpetual unhappiness. As A.E. Taylor explains:
“Evil doing always rests upon a false estimate of goods. A man does the evil deed because he falsely
expects to gain good by it, to get wealth, or power, or enjoyment, and does not reckon with the fact that
the guilt of soul contracted immeasurably outweighs the supposed gains.” (Socrates, A.E. Taylor)

Let’s take a break:

After appreciating the core of knowing oneself as explained by Socrates in his philosophy or the concept
of virtue and knowledge, could you recognize the virtues you think you currently have or lack? How will your
knowledge of your won virtues affect your relationship with other people?

PLATO
“Self is an immortal soul”

He is a follower of Socrates who also believes that self is soul. His philosophy
focuses on a process of self-knowledge and purification of the soul. Plato devoted his
life to one goal: helping people to reach a state called:
εὐδαιμονία
eudaimonia

He 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. He
believes that it is the responsibility of Reason to sort things out and exert control,
restoring harmonious relationship among the three elements of our selves:

The appetitive soul also termed as “physical appetite” that is in charge of

effortless craving required to stay alive like eating, drinking, sleeping, and having sex
that is only intended for married couples and must be controlled as well. The spirited soul is in charge of basic
emotions such as love, anger, and empathy. It is also termed as “Spirit or passion” that produces desires that
love victory and honor. This means that it is a part of psyche or mind that is excited when given challenges, or
fights back when agitated, or fights for justice when unjust practices are evident. In a way for example, this is
the hot-blooded part of the psyche. The rational soul also known as “reason” is forged by reason and intellect,
has to govern the affairs of the human person. Plato emphasizes that justice in the human person can only be
attained if the three parts of the soul are harmoniously with one another.
He conceptualized Psyche as core of the self that is composed of three elements mentioned above.
Nous which means the conscious awareness of the self. It is the super power that controls the affairs of the self.
One has to develop the nous and fill it with the understanding of the limits of the self, and the correct ethical
standards.
To enrich these three ideas of Plato, we take as an example - college life. College students want to hang
out with their friends, spend time on computer games, eat the favorite food, do thrilling activities that will excite
the whole gang. These satisfy the appetitive element of the psyche. However, when professors throw challenging
projects and assignments that would require tremendous amount of time and effort, the spirited psyche kicks in
to face the challenges head on. All these are going on because the mind or the nous is orchestrating these
pursuits according to the quality of the nous a person has. In other words, in order to have a good life, one has
to develop the nous, and fill it with the understanding of the limits of the self, and the correct ethical standards.

Let’s have a break:

What experiences do you have in the past that you can relate to desire of the appetitive soul? Did reason
affect your attain or avoidance of the desire?

LESSONS FROM PLATO

1. Think Harder
Plato proposed that our lives go wrong in large part because we almost never give ourselves
time to think carefully and logically enough about our plans. And so we end up with the wrong
values, careers and relationships. Plato wanted to bring order and clarity to our minds.
2. Love More Wisely
In Plato’s eyes, love is in essence a kind of education: you couldn’t really love someone if
you didn’t want to be improved by them. Love should be two people trying to grow together – and
helping each other to do so. Which means you need to get together with the person who contains
a key missing bit of your evolution: the virtues you don’t have. A good relationship has to mean we
won’t love the other person exactly as they are. It means committing to helping them become a
better version of themselves – and to endure the stormy passages this inevitably involves – while
also not resisting their attempts to improve us.

3. The Importance of beauty

Plato had asked the key question: why do we like
beautiful things? He found a fascinating reason: we recognise
in them a part of ‘the good’. There are lots of good things we
aspire to be: kind, gentle, harmonious, balanced, peaceful,
strong, dignified. These are qualities in people. But they are
also qualities in objects. We get moved and excited when we
find in objects the qualities we need but are missing in our lives.
Beautiful objects therefore have a really important function. They invite us to evolve in their
direction, to become as they are. Beauty can educate our souls. Plato sees art as therapeutic: it is
the duty of poets and painters (and nowadays, novelists, television producers and designers) to
help us live good lives.

4. Changing society
Plato spent a lot of time thinking how the government and society should ideally be. He was
the world’s first utopian thinker.
In his book, The Republic, Plato identifies a number of changes that should be made:
a. We need new heroes.
Plato was not impressed with the pre-occupation of the society with rich and
other sports celebrities during their time. For him, it matters who we look up to and admire
because they influence our ideas, values and behaviour. Bad heroes model unfavourable
character.
 Plato therefore wanted to give Athens new celebrities who are wise and good
people he called Guardians: models for everyone’s development. These people would
be distinguished by their record of public service, their modesty and simple habits, their
dislike of the limelight and their wide and deep experience. They would be the most
honoured and admired people in society.

b. We need censorship
Today censorship makes us
anxious. But Plato was worried about
the wrong sort of freedom. Then,
crazy religious notions and sweet
sounding, but dangerous, ideas
sucked up mass enthusiasm and lead
Athens to disastrous governments
and misguided wars.
Plato thought that continuous
exposure to numerous bewildering
voices was detrimental for us, so he
wanted to limit the activities of public
orators and dangerous preachers. He
would – nowadays – have been very
sceptical about the power of mass media.

c. Better Education
Plato believed passionately in education, but wanted to refocus the curriculum.
The primary thing we need to learn is not just maths or spelling, but how to be good: we
need to learn about courage, self-control, reasonableness, independence and calm.

d. Better Childhoods
Plato thought that bringing up children well was one of the most difficult (and
most needed) skills. He was acutely sympathetic to the child who is held back by the
wrong home environment.
So he proposed that many children would in fact be better off if they could take
their vision of life not from their parents but from wise guardians, paid for by the state. He
proposed that a sizeable share of the next generation would be brought up by people
more qualified than their own parents.

School Of Life(n.d), Plato, https://www.theschooloflife.com/thebookoflife/the-great-philosophers-plato/

ST. AUGUSTINE
“You have made us for yourself., O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds rest in You.”

He believed that the development of the self is achieved through self-

presentation which leads to self-realization. Through his book, Confessions,
Augustine creates a literary character out of the self where he plays the lead role in
the story of his own life. By telling this tale he transforms himself into a metaphor of
the struggle of both body and soul to find happiness, which exists only in God’s love.
All autobiography needs an audience, and Augustine’s audience is not his readers,
but God. Augustine transforms himself into a literary character to present himself
to God. Augustine presents it to teach a very pertinent lesson: only in the presence
of the Omnipotent and the Omniscient can the self attain happiness and
completeness. The Confessions is a work of prayer and repentance as well as
praise.

Following the ancient view of Plato and infusing it with the newfound doctrine of Christianity, Augustine
agreed that man is of a bifurcated (split/branched) nature: body dwells in the world and is imperfect and
continuously yearns to be with the Divine; is bound to die on earth and the soul is capable of reaching
immortality. Augustine argues that the soul must be a reality because of its capacity to reason (freewill) He
believed that we are eternal and the body is not. The soul is immortal because God created them and intended
them to be immortal. It bears the very image of God.
 He believes that man’s goal is happiness, however, most people, during his time, focused on earthly
happiness. They believed in the power to master themselves and in their ability to control nature and plot for
their own happiness and satisfaction – with goal of being perfected. He also thought their view on social order
and justice was problematic because it held the notion that wealth shows a degree of inner virtue and fame and
popularity was deemed ideal.

Augustine distinguished between what he called two cities, the City of Men and the City of God. The
latter was an ideal, a heavenly paradise, where the good would finally dominate, where power would be properly
allied to justice and where virtue would reign. But men could never build such a city, and should never believe
themselves capable of doing so. They were condemned to dwell only in the City of Men, which was a pervasively
flawed society, where money could never accurately track virtue. In Augustine’s formulation: ‘True justice has
no existence save in that republic whose founder and ruler is Christ.’ That is, the fully fair distribution of reward
is not something we can or should expect on earth.

Human beings alone, without God, is bound to fail. Only in God can man attain true and eternal
happiness, made possible in his contemplation of the truth and divine wisdom that refers to God himself. The
goal of every human person therefore is to attain this communion and bliss with the Divine by living his life on
earth in virtue
**Note that St. Augustine’s concept is largely religious because it through his spiritual conversation from sinfulness
that he was able to formulate his understanding of the self.

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

“Experiencing that something exists doesn’t tell us what it is.”

Adapting some ideas from Aristotle, St. Aquinas contended man is

composed of two parts: matter comes from the Greek word “hyle” which means the
common stuff that makes up everything in the universe that includes man's body
while form come from the Greek word “morphe which means the essence of a
substance or thing that makes it what it is. In the case of the human person, the body
is something that he shares even with animals; what makes a human person a
human person is his soul, his essence.

It only means that the cells in man’s bod for example are more or less akin
to the cells of any other living, organic being in the world. However, what makes a
human person a human person and not a dog, or tiger for example is his soul, his
essence. For him, we don’t encounter ourselves as isolated minds or selves, but always an agent interacting
with our environment. Therefore, the soul is what animates the body, it is what makes us humans.

LET’S TAKE A BREAK:

What is it that you can never doubt?... It is the fact that you are thinking (doubting)…
I doubt therefore, I exist

RENE DESCARTES
“Cogito, Ergo Sum”

He is the father of Modern Philosophy, a rationalist (a person who bases his

opinions and actions on reason and knowledge not beliefs). He conceived of the
human person as having a body and a mind. In his famous treatise, The Meditations
of First Philosophy, he claims that there is so much that we should doubt.

The Act of thinking about the self- of being conscious – is in itself proof that
there is a self. If man reflects thoughtfully, he will realize that there are two
dimensions of human self: The self as Thinking Entity and The self as a physical
body.

“Cogito,ergo Sum” translated as “ I think therefore I am” or “ I doubt therefore I exist.” The discovery of
the cogito revolutionizes the way we view ourselves and the world around us. Human rationality which includes
the need of reason in order to evaluate our thoughts and actions. One should only believe that since which can
pass the test of doubt; if something is so clear and lucid as not to be even doubted, then that is the only time
when one should actually buy a proposition. According to him, everything must be subjected to doubts- our
existence, our world. The only thing that one cannot doubt is the existence of the self for even if one doubts
oneself, that only proves that there is a doubting self, a thing that thinks and therefore, that cannot be doubted.
He quoted: “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.”
The self, then, is also a combination of two distinct entities: the cogito refers to the thing that thinks,
which is the mind the extenza refers to the extension of the mind, which is the body. In Descartes view, the body
is nothing else but a machine that is attached to the mind; it is the mind that makes man a man.

The concept of Descartes will best explain through human rationality. For example, human being needs
a reason in order to evaluate his thoughts and actions.

If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far
as possible, all things. ~Rene Descartes

JOHN LOCKE
“Tabula Rasa”

Self is comparable to an empty space (tabula rasa) where everyday

experiences contribute to the pile of knowledge that is put forth on that empty
space. Experience is an important requirement to developing a sense of self

Arguing against both the Augustinian view of man as originally sinful and
the Cartesian position, which holds that man innately knows basic logical
propositions, Locke posits an “empty” mind, a tabula rasa, which is shaped by
experience, and sensations and reflections being the two sources of all our ideas.
Self- is compared to an empty space where everyday experiences contribute to the
pile of knowledge that is put forth on that empty space

Locke assets that “consciousness can be extended backwards to any past action or thought, so far
reaches the identity of that person; it is the same self now as it was then; and it is by the same self with this
present one that now reflects on it, that that action was done” (Locke). More explicitly stated, if one can remember
some experience, Locke’s says that one in fact had that experience. Personal identity is a matter of psychological
continuity requiring memory. It means that it is not in the brain that makes up the self, but in the consciousness.

This means to say that who you are now is largely based on your experiences and self-reflection. It
also implies that who you are is based on what you did in the past, regardless whether you are proud or you
cringe when you look back, and what you learned from that experience.

No man's knowledge here can go beyond his experience. ~John Locke

DAVID HUME
“The ego is a fictional idea”

He is an empiricist who believes that one can know only what

comes from the senses and experiences and argues that the self is nothing else
but a bundle of impressions. If one tries to examine his experiences, he finds that
they can all be categorized into two:
(1) impressions refers to the basic objects of our experience or sensation; they
form the core of our thoughts; they are the products of our direct experience
with the world, yet they are temporary while
(2) ideas refers to the copies of impressions and are thus not as lively and vivid
as our impressions.

He quoted: “Self is simply a bundle or collection of different perceptions, which succeeded

each other with an inconceivable rapidity, and are in a perpetual flux and movement." In short, he believes that
the self is nothing but a bundle of impressions and since impressions are subjective, temporary, provisional,
prejudicial and even skewed – then they cannot be persisting, thus, he claims, there is not self. The ego is merely
a fictional idea.

IMMANUEL KANT
“It is beyond a doubt that all our knowledge that begins with experience.”

Kant recognizes the veracity of Hume's account that everything

starts with perception and sensation of impressions; however, he believes that the
things that men perceive around them are not just randomly infused into the
human person without an organizing principle that regulates the relationship of
these impressions.
For him, there is necessarily a mind that organizes the impressions
that men get from the external world (e.g., time and space are ideas that one
cannot find in the world but is built in our minds). Kant calls this the apparatuses
of the mind.
Along with the apparatuses of the mind goes the "self". Without the
self, one cannot organize the different impressions that one gets in relation to his
own existence.

Kant therefore suggests that it is an actively engaged intelligence in man that synthesizes all knowledge
and experience Thus, the self is not just what gives one his personality; in addition, it is also the seat of
knowledge acquisition for all human persons Our rationality makes sense the perceptions we have in our
experiences. He also believes that perception does not belong to the world, but to the self.

It only means that our rationality unifies and makes sense the perceptions we have in our experiences
and make sensible ideas about ourselves and the world. For example, we have the capacity to solve the problem
of the ability of the self to perceive the world.

SIGMUND FREUD
“Early childhood experiences that create high levels of anxiety are repressed into unconscious, where they
may influence behavior, emotions, and attitudes for years.”
The psyche is structured into three parts (i.e., tripartite), the id, ego, and superego, all developing at
different stages in our lives (also known as three layers of the self). These are systems, not parts of the brain,
or in any way physical.
ID (Pleasure Principle) is the primitive and instinctive component of
personality consists of all the inherited (i.e., biological) components of personality
present at birth, including the sex (life) instinct – Eros (which contains the libido), and
the aggressive (death) instinct - Thanatos. It is the impulsive (and unconscious) part
of our psyche which responds directly and immediately to the instincts. It remains
infantile in its function throughout a person’s life and does not change with time or
experience, as it is not in touch with the external world; it is not affected by reality,
logic or the everyday world, as it operates within the unconscious part of the mind. It
operates on the pleasure principle which is the idea that every wishful impulse should
be satisfied immediately, regardless of the consequences. When the id achieves its
demands, we experience pleasure when it is denied we experience ‘unpleasure’ or
tension.
EGO (Reality Principle) refers to the part of the id which has been modified by the direct influence of
the external world. It develops to mediate between the unrealistic id and the external real world. It is the decision-
making component of personality, it operates according to the reality principle, working out realistic ways of
satisfying the id’s demands, often compromising or postponing satisfaction to avoid negative consequences of
society. The ego considers social realities and norms, etiquette and rules in deciding how to behave. Like the
id, the ego seeks pleasure (i.e., tension reduction) and avoids pain, but unlike the id, the ego is concerned with
devising a realistic strategy to obtain pleasure. The ego has no concept of right or wrong; something is good
simply if it achieves its end of satisfying without causing harm to itself or the id. If the ego fails in its attempt to
use the reality principle, and anxiety is experienced, unconscious defense mechanisms are employed, to help
ward off unpleasant feelings (i.e., anxiety) or make good things feel better for the individual. The ego engages
in secondary process thinking, which is rational, realistic, and orientated towards problem-solving. If a plan of
action does not work, then it is thought through again until a solution is found. This is known as reality testing
and enables the person to control their impulses and demonstrate self-control, via mastery of the ego.

SUPEREGO (Moral and Idealistic Principle) refers to the incorporation of the values and morals of
society which are learned from one's parents and others. It develops around the age of 3 – 5 during the phallic
stage of psychosexual development. Its function is to control the id's impulses, especially those which society
forbids, such as sex and aggression; it also has the function of persuading the ego to turn to moralistic goals
rather than simply realistic ones and to strive for perfection. It consists of two systems: conscience - can punish
the ego through causing feelings of guilt, ego-ideal - is an imaginary picture of how one ought to be, and
represents career aspirations, how to treat other people, and how to behave as a member of society. Behavior
which falls short of the ideal self may be punished by the superego through guilt. The super-ego can also reward
through the ideal self when one behaves ‘properly’ by making him feel proud.

We are certain about the many wrong things that may be bought about by our actions, but we never
understand why there is something somewhere inside us that makes many of us do what we know is wrong.

GILBERT RYLE
“Man need not to be degraded to a machine by being denied to be a ghost in a machine. He might, after all, be
a sort of animal, namely, a higher mammal.”
This means to solve the mind-body dichotomy that has been running for
a long time in the history of thought by blatantly denying the concept of an internal, non-
physical self. For him, what truly matters is the behavior that a person manifests in his
day-to-day life. Mind is not separated from the body (contradict with Descartes’ dualism)
mind-ghost in the machine. He suggests that the "self" is not an entity one can locate
and analyze but simply the convenient name that people use to refer to all the behaviors
that people make. It simply says that mental processes are merely intelligent acts. There
is no internal, non-physical self.
Ryle said that the “thinking I” will never be found because it is just a “ghost in
the machine”. The mind is never separate from the body. The physical actions or
behaviors are dispositions of the self. The mind is a disposition of the self.
This only means that all manifestation in physical activities or behavior for example are the dispositions
of the self, the basis of the statement; “I act therefore I am” or “You are what you do”.

PAUL AND PATRICIA CHURCHLAND

“Our behavior appears to have its basic cause in neural activity”

Paul and Patricia Churchland promoted the position called

“eliminative materialism” which bring forth neuroscience into the fore of
understanding the self. It simply means that Philosophy and Psychology
has failed to provide satisfactory position in understanding the self. They
tossed aside the concept of dualism and the brain and adhered to
materialism - the belief that nothing but matter exist, if it cannot be
recognized by the senses, then it is akin to a fairytale in his identity
theory, the minds are identical to a particular brain state. Our mind and
individuality are based upon unique neurological assemblies of one type
of brain function.

According to Churchland our behavior appears to have its basic cause in neural activity. It is not remotely
impossible that the folk psychology will be replaced by neurobiology. As the Churchland’s wanted to predict,
when people wanted to ask what is going on with themselves, they might as well go for MRI scan or CT scan to
understand the present condition of the brain and how it currently works.

Let’s take the idea that why should we believe in a mind when science is proving that mental health is
connected to the physical brain? For example, depression is strongly linked to irregular amounts of brain
chemicals. Yes, some people still say things like, 'She's lost her mind.' However, neuroscience says, No, it's a
physical problem and we aim to fix it.

Adding to this, Churchland challenges the concept of the mind by using the misfortune of traumatic brain
injury. With this, for example, eliminative materialism asks 'if the mind is the seat of self, why does brain injury
alter a person's personality?' If the mind was a real separate entity, wouldn't it retain a person's sense of self
despite damage to a physical organ? Since brain damage alters a person's personality, Churchland asserts that
the concept of self originates in the physical brain, not an invented mind.

MAURICE MERLEAU-PONTY
“The world and I are within one another”

A phenomenologist who asserts that the mind-body bifurcation is a

futile endeavor and an invalid problem. Unlike Ryle who simply denies the "self," he
instead says that the mind and body are intertwined that they cannot be separated
from one another.

For him, the living body, his thoughts, emotions, and experiences are all
one. He proposes treating perception as a causal process. It means that our
perceptions are caused by the intricate experiences the self, and processed
intellectually while distinguishing truthful perceptions from illusory. Therefore, the
self is taken as a phenomenon of the world. He also believes that perception does
not belong to the world, but to the self.
Here is a summary of the philosophers and their viewpoints:
PHILOSOPHICAL STANDPOINTS
PHILOSOPHER ORIENTATION PHILOSOPHY DESCRIPTION
Classical Antiquity
Socrates Idealism Socratic  Knowledge is the personation of good while ignorance is
Philosophy that of evil.
 Self-knowledge is the ultimate virtue. As the ultimate
virtue, it will lead to ultimate happiness.
Plato Idealism Dualism and  Moral virtue is rooted in the intellect and leads to
Idealism happiness.
 Wisdom and knowledge lead to virtue which will lead to
happiness.
Aristotle Empiricist Aristotelian  Ideal is found inside phenomena and the universals
Philosophy inside the particulars.
 Ideas are essence and phenomena is matter.
 Matter and essence need each other.
Middle Ages
St. Platonism Neo-platonism  All knowledge leads to God.
Augustine  Only the pure in hear can see God.
 Love of God, faith in him, and understanding of His
Gospel will ultimately lead to happiness
Renaissance
Rene Rationalist Mind-Body  I think, therefore, I am.
Descartes Dualism  The mind and soul can exist without the body.
 Establishing the distinction of soul from the body can
make people believe in the afterlife and the soul’s
immortality.
John Locke Empiricist Theory of  It is in consciousness along that identity exists, not in the
Personal Identity body and soul.
 There is a distinction between man and person.
 The soul may change, but consciousness remains intact.
David Hume Empiricist Skeptical  All knowledge passes through the senses.
Philosophy  Separate ideas can be joined in the mind.
 There is no self, only a bundle of perceptions.
Immanuel Rationalist/ Metaphysics of  Reason is the final authority of morality.
Kant Empiricist the Self  There is inner self and outer self.
 The inner self includes rational reasoning and
psychological state.
 The outer self includes the body and physical mind,
where representation occurs.
Modern Times
Gilbert Ryle Empiricist The Concept of  I act, therefore, I am.
Mind  The mind is not the seat of the self. It is not a separate
parallel thing to our physical body.
 The mind is a category mistake, brought about by
habitual use. The only way it can affect the other is
through the external world.
Patricia Empiricist Neurophilosophy  A fully matured neuroscience will eliminate the need for
Churchland beliefs since “they are not real.”
 The physical brain gives us a sense of self.
Maurice Existentialist/ Phenomenology  Both empiricism and intellectualism are flawed in nature.
Merleau- Empiricist of Perception  We are our bodies.
Ponty  Our bodily experiences of not detach the subject/object,
mind/body, rational/irrational.
From:
Macayan, J., Pinugu, J. and Castillo, C. (2018), Understanding the Self Outcome-Based Module, C & E Publishing,
Quezon City, Philippines
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