Lesson in Understanding the Self

1. Prepared by:
Orlando A. Pistan, MAEd
Psychology Instructor

2. The different views on the
self can be best seen and
understood by revisiting its
prime movers and identify
the most important
conjectures made by
philosophers from the
ancient times to the
contemporary period.

3.  Concerned with the
problem of the self.
 The first philosopher who
ever engaged in a
systematic questioning
about the self
 For him- all individuals
have imperfect and
impermanent aspect, the
body; and there is also a
soul- that is perfect and
permanent

4.  According to him, there are 3
components of the soul: the
rational soul, the spirited
soul and the appetitive soul.
 Rational soul – forged by
reason and intellect, governs
the affairs of the human
 Spirited soul – in charge of
emotions
 Appetitive soul – in charge
of desires like eating,
drinking, sleeping and
having sex

5.  Man is of a divided nature.
 Man has a material body
and a spirit soul
 The body is bound to die on
Earth
 The soul is anticipated to
live eternally with God
 The goal of every human is
to live in virtue to attain
salvation.

6.  Man is composed of 2 parts:
matter and form
 Matter, or hyle in Greek,
refers to the “common stuff
that makes up everything I
the universe”.
 Form, or morphe in Greek,
refers to the “essence of a
substance or thing”.
 The soul is what makes us
human.

7.  Father of Modern Philosophy
 His famous treatise is “The
Meditations of First
Philosophy
 He claims that much of what
we think and believe is not
infallible; they may turn out to
be false.
 The self is a combination of 2
entities: Cogito and Extenza
 Cogito- the thing that thinks,
which is the mind
 Extenza- is the body, which is
the extension of the mind

8.  An empiricist who believes
that knowledge can only be
possible if it is sensed and
experienced.
 The self is nothing else but a
collection of impressions.
 Impression- the basic objects
of our experience or
sensation.
 Ideas- the not so vivid copy of
impression
 Rejected other philosophers’
idea of the self which is
unified and coherent.

9.  The self is a seat of
knowledge acquisition and
not just a collection of
impression.
 The mind organizes all
experiences and sensations
to create a concept of the
self.

10.  “What truly matters is the
behaviour that a person
manifests in his daily day-
to-day life.”
 The “self” is not an entity
one can locate and analyse
but simply the convenient
name that people use to
refer to all the behaviors
that people make.

11.  The mind and the body are
so intertwined that they
cannot be separated from
one another.
 The living body, the
thoughts, emotions and
experiences are all one –
the SELF.

12. Make your own
definition of the
“self” and determine
its compatibility
with the pioneers of
the discipline.

14. Thank you
for paying
attention.