Lesson 1 Philosophy

• Philosophical perspectives discussed

  • Socrates
  • Plato
  • St. Augustine
  • Rene Descartes
  • John Locke
  • David Hume
  • Immanuel Kant
  • Sigmund Freud
  • Gilbert Ryle
  • Paul Churhland
  • Merleau-Ponty
• Possession of knowledge is a virtue and ignorance is a vice
• If you know who you are

  All basic issues and difficulties in life would be gone in a simple snap of a finger
• Socrates is known as the first martyr of education, knowledge, and philosophy
• One's True Self should not be identified with


  • What one owns
  • One’s social status
  • Reputation
  • One’s body
• Plato is the acknowledged author of the groundbreaking book “The Republic”
• St. Augustine follows the notion that everything is better if we devote ourselves to God
• Existence comes from a higher form of sense in which bodily senses may not perc
• St. Augustine developed the concept of the church being the city of god
• Socrates: 'THE UNEXAMINED LIFE IS NOT WORTH LIVING'
• Answers to Socrates' questions are subjective
• Philosophy


  • Study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence, especially as an academic discipline
• Socratic method


  Art of questioning continuously to understand strengths, weaknesses, likes, dislikes, and how one wants to be treated
• Plato


  • Believes in the division of body and soul into Appetitive Soul, Spirited Soul, and Rational Soul
• The state of the SOUL determines the quality of one’s life


  Discovery of ONE’S TRUE SELF is lived in accordance with knowledge, wisdom, and virtue
• Socrates: '“gnothi seauton”= “know thyself.”'
• St. Augustine is credited with the invention of the idea of “original sin”
• People need to establish their relationship with god through being virtuous
• Rene Descartes: 'COGITO ERGO SUM "I THINK THEREFORE I AM"'
• Rene Descartes defined the roles of the mind and body to the notion of one's existence and sense of self
• David Hume: 'REASON IS THE SLAVE OF PASSION'
• St. Augustine: 'The physical body is bound to die on earth while the soul is to anticipate living eternally in communion with God'
• The more one doubts and questions his life means that the person is actually living
• David Hume was a Scottish Philosopher who focused his work in the field of Empiricism, Skepticism, and naturalism
• Rene Descartes believed in modern dualism or the existence of body and mind and its implication to one's existence were presented with the evidences from experiments as well as philosophical reasoning
• Immanuel Kant posited that we are not only an object that perceives and reacts to whatever it is that we are experiencing, we also have the capabilities to understand beyond those experiences and be able to think and have a clear identification of who we are and establish a sense of self that is unique and distinct from others
• John Locke's work on the self is most represented by the concept "Tabula Rasa" which means a Blank Slate
• Sigmund Freud posited that sex and aggression with the unconscious mind as the platform
• Sigmund Freud defined Id as the pleasure principle, Ego as the reality principle, and Superego as the morality principle
• David Hume contended that there is a correlation between experience and rationality. You cannot have one without the other
• Sigmund Freud utilized introspection as a tool
• Gilbert Ryle had a behavioristic approach to self
• Gilbert Ryle believed that the self is an integrated whole made up of different parts and systems
• The process of the mind to absorb information and accumulate knowledge may imply that as a person to be able to be whom we want to be, with the right stimulations, enough experiences, as well as awareness that by primarily knowing nothing will enable one to be open to any kind of learning and does not limit any possibilities for growth
• Continuously questioning and finding the truth will we be able to find the best answer to who we are and what our role is in the world
• David Hume believed that the notion of self, one's identity and behavior does not exceed the physical realm and that the "Self" is only the accumulation of different impressions
• Existence comes from a higher form of sense in which bodily senses may not perceive or understand
• Rene Descartes was a proponent of the "Methodical Doubt" which simply meant of a continuous process of questioning what we perceive and accepting the fact that doubting, asking questions are a part of one's existence
• Rene Descartes is the father of modern philosophy because of his radical use of systematic and early scientific method to aid his ideas and assumptions
• Sigmund Freud believed that the present self or personality is greatly shaped by the person's past experiences