UTS - Module 1 to 3

• The Philosophy of self refers to the qualities of identity that make an individual distinct from others, including traits, characteristics, and beliefs
• The concept of self may be examined in 5 ways: Self-Knowledge, Self-Activity, Self-Independent of the senses, Self-Identity, and Self-Image
• Self-knowledge refers to the knowledge and understanding of one’s character, beliefs, desires, and capabilities, including mental states
• Self-activity is the decision to make an action you have thought to yourself and not been told to do, it is an independent and self-determined action of a person
• Self-independent of the senses involves keeping a person distinct from others or self-contained, emphasizing innate qualities like abilities and natural intelligence
• Self-identity refers to the unique characteristics of the self that establish an individual's identity from others, affected by factors such as social identity and self-esteem
• Self-image is our personal view or mental picture of ourselves, influencing our feelings, interactions with others, and view of the outside world
• In Hinduism, Atman refers to the individual self or soul, eternal and beyond time, deeply connected to something greater than oneself
• Brahman in Hinduism represents the highest and most fundamental reality in the universe, timeless and unchanging, connecting all things together
• Buddha's teaching of self involves understanding the nature of self through Five Skandhas or The Five Heaps: Form, Sensation, Perception, Mental Formation, and Consciousness
• In Confucian Philosophy, the concept of self is determined by one’s place in the larger context, such as family and society, emphasizing service-above-self and true becoming
• In Confucianism, every person is born with four beginnings, which together may be called ‘pre-self’ or ‘potential-self’, including:

  • Heart of compassion leading to Jen
  • Heart of righteousness leading to Yi
  • Heart of propriety leading to Li
  • Heart of wisdom leading to Chih
• To become a person of Jen, one aims to become a person of love, relating the Confucian concept closer to the western concept of "Agape"
• Confucianism defines the human adult self as an ‘achieved state of moral excellence rather than a given human condition’, emphasizing the potential to become a human being through the practice of virtues
• In Confucianism, the self is never static; to be human means to develop and keep pursuing virtues, with the concept of ‘self’ closely linked to the virtues of Jen, Yi, Li, and Chih
• The Western philosophy of self includes views from European and American thinkers like Socrates, who emphasized self-understanding through the phrase "know thyself" and the Socratic method
• Aristotle's philosophy of self posits three kinds of soul:

  • The Vegetative Soul
  • The Sensitive Soul
  • The Rational Soul
• Aristotle placed the rational soul in the heart, believed to be the form of a living being, and divided sensation and thought, unique to humans
• Rene Descartes, the Father of Modern Philosophy, believed the self is a thinking being, famously stating "Cogito Ergo Sum" meaning "I think, therefore; I am"
• René Descartes believed the self is a thinking being that observes the world and makes us aware of it, emphasizing that the mind is capable of thinking, affirming, doubting, and more
• Descartes highlighted that the self is made of consciousness, which molds the way we think and guides our behavior, and his idea of self involves mind-body dualism, where a person is composed of a material body and a non-material mind
• David Hume viewed the self as just a mental perception based on past experiences, divided into impressions and ideas, and he introduced the Bundle Theory of Personal Identity, stating that the self is a collection of perceptions in constant flux
• John Locke, a British Empirical Philosopher, believed the self is consciousness, shaped by personal experiences and memories, with personal identity formed through continuity of consciousness connecting past and present
• Sigmund Freud's Drive Theory of Self includes the Id, Ego, and Superego, where the Id is instinctive, the Ego rational, and the Superego moral, all needing to be in harmony for a strong sense of self
• Virgilio Enriquez, the Father of Sikolohiyang Pilipino, viewed the self as the unity of "Self" and "Others" in Filipino, known as KAPWA, emphasizing sharing, caring, and treating others as oneself
• Form - This Heap is to understand the self through physical form, from head to toe.
• Sensation - This Heap contains all feelings, both physical or emotional as such it uses the 5 senses.
• Perception -This Heap is an understanding of self through thinking or perception towards something.
• Mental Formation - This Heaps includes habits, prejudices and predispositions.
• Consciousness - This Heap is an awareness of or sensitivity to an object.
• Western thinking of self seems self-oriented.
• "It is often said that the western conception of self is "individualistic",
• In Confucianism, one talks of the concept of "no-self".
• Hiroshi Minami, another writer on Confucian thought, notes that "[the concept of no-self] …is identical with the spirit of service-above-self.
• The predominant theme in this philosophy is anchored on finding an understanding for true becoming.
• In Confucianism, the quest for the human self is one of personality.
• A tabula rasa, as postulated by John Locke, upon which our experiences write what will become the individual personality.
• To become a person of Jen, one aims to become a person of love.
• A person of Jen is a compassionate human being, for whom rules and regulations are a means to an end, and not an end.
• Li follows the rules and laws of the nation he lives in and respects its customs.