Philosophical Standpoints of Different Philosopher

Philosopher Orientation Philosophy Description

Classical Antiquity
 Knowledge is the personification of good while
ignorance is that of evil.
Socrates Idealism Socratic Philosophy  Self-knowledge is the ultimate virtue. As the ultimate
virtue, it will lead to ultimate happiness.
 Moral virtue is rooted in the intellect and leads to
Plato Idealism Dualism and Idealism happiness.
 Wisdom and knowledge lead to virtue which will lead to
happiness.
 Ideal is found inside the phenomena and the universals
inside the particulars.
 Ideals are ESSENCE and Phenomena is MATTER.
Aristotle Empiricist Aristotelian Philosophy  Matter has no form. Essence has no mass.
 Matter and essence need each other.
Middle Ages
 All knowledge leads to God.
 Only the pure in heart can see God.
St. Augustine Platonism Neoplatonism  Love of God, faith in Him, and understanding of his
Gospel will ultimately lead to happiness.
Renaissance
 “I think, therefore, I am”
 The mind and soul can exist without the body.
Rene Descartes Rationalist Mind-Body Dualism  Establishing the distinction of soul from the body can
make people believe in the afterlife and the soul’s
immortality.
 It is in consciousness alone that identity exists, not in the
body and soul.
John Locke Empiricist Theory of Personal  There is a distinction between man a person
Identity  The soul may change, but consciousness remains intact.
 All knowledge passes through the senses.
 Separate ideas can be joined in the mind.
David Hume Empiricist Skeptical Philosophy  There is no self, only a bundle of perceptions.
 Reason is the final authority of mortality.
Immanuel Kant Rationalist/ Metaphysics of the Self  There is inner self and outer self.
Empiricist  The inner self includes rational reasoning and
psychological state.
 The outer self includes the body and physical mind,
where representation occurs.
Modern Times
 “I act, therefore, I am”
 The mind is not the seat of self. It is not a separate,
Gilbert Ryle Empiricist The Concept of Mind 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.
 A fully matured neuroscience will eliminate the need for
Patricia Empiricist Neurophilosophy beliefs since “they are not real.”
Churchland  The physical brain gives us a sense of self.
 Both empiricism and intellectualism are flawed in
Maurice Existentialist Phenomenology of nature.
Merleau – Ponty Empiricist Perception  “We are our bodies”.
 Our bodily experiences do not detach the subject/object,
mind/body, rational/irrational.
This course explores the key concept, issues, and concerns regarding the self and identity to arrive at a better understanding of one’s self.
It strives to meet this goal by looking at a variety of explanations from different disciplinal perspectives such as philosophy, sociology,
anthropology, and psychology as well as from Eastern and Western concepts of self. The self is sometimes referred to as the SOUL,
EGO, PSYCHE, IDENTITY, I, Me, am or being. The self is the sense of who you are.