UTS

• Socrates: '"An unexamined life is not worth living"'
• Socrates


  • Classical Greek Philosopher and a pioneer of Western Moral Philosophy
  • Mentor of Plato
  • A stonemason
  • Was not a writer; his thoughts were known through Plato's The Dialogue
  • According to Plato, he was a brilliant debater and was idolized by many Athenians. This angered the Sophists (debaters in their time) who brought him to trial, and where finally he was sentenced to death
• Socratic Method


  1. One has to self-examine and discuss about the self as this is a duty to achieve what is the greatest good to a life

  2. The goal is to better the quality of human life through consistent self-examination
• Socrates' perspective on the self

  Self is synonymous to the soul
• Socrates' dichotomous realms


  • Physical realm (changeable, transient, and imperfect)
  • Ideal realm (unchanging, eternal, and immortal)
• Socrates' view on the soul

  • The soul strives for wisdom and perfection, and reason through question and answer is the soul's tool to achieve this exalted state
  • As long as the soul is tied to the body, the quest is inhibited by the physical imperfections
• Socrates' view on a meaningful life

  An individual can only be happy and have a meaningful life if s/he becomes virtuous and knows his/her value by means of soul-searching
• Socrates' key to virtuous life

  Constant self-examination/introspection
• Plato's real name was Aristocles and he was named Plato because of his physical build which means "wide/broad"
• Plato


  • A classical Greek philosopher; founder of The Academy in Athens (first institution of higher learning in the western world)
  • Mentor of Aristotle
  • Wrote twenty Dialogues with Socrates as protagonist in most of them
  • Has a Theory of Love and Becoming
  • Has a Theory of Forms
• Plato's three-part soul idea

  • Reason (think deeply, make wise choices, and achieve a true understanding of eternal truths)
  • Physical Appetite (basic biological needs such as hunger, thirst, and sexual desire)
  • Spirit/Passion (basic emotions such as love, anger, ambition, aggressiveness, and empathy)
• Plato's view on genuine happiness

  Can only be achieved by people who consistently make sure that their Reason is in control of their Spirits and Appetites
• Plato's Theory of Forms


  • World of Forms (Non-Physical Ideas): permanent and real
  • World of Sense (Reality): temporary and only a replica of the ideal world
• Plato's view on the soul

  Since the soul is regarded as something permanent, man should give more importance to it than the physical body which resides in the world of sense
• Plato's Theory of Love and Becoming

  • Love is the force that paves way for all beings to ascent to higher stages of self-realization and perfection
  • Love begins in the experience that there is something lacking. Then it drives that person to seek what is lacking. All thoughts and efforts are directed towards the pursuit of that which is lacking. The deeper the thought, the stronger the love
  • Love is way of knowing and realizing the truth. It is a process of seeking higher stages of being. The greater the love, the more intellectual component it will contain
  • Lifelong longing and pursuit seek even higher stages of love which lead to the possession of absolute beauty. It is this pursuit that motivates man and transforms people and societies
• According to Aristotle, the dead are more blessed and happier than the living, and to die is to return to one's real home
• Aristotle's view on the soul

  • Believes that the soul is merely a set of defining features and does not consider the body and soul as separate entities
  • Anything with life has a soul
  • Humans differ because of their rational capacity
• Aristotle's three kinds of soul

  • Vegetative soul (physical body that can grow)
  • Sentient soul (sensual desires, feelings, and emotions)
  • Rational soul (intellect that allows man to know and understand things)
• Aristotle's view on the self

  • The rational nature of the self, which can be attained in self-actualization, is to lead a good, flourishing and fulfilling life
  • The pursuit of happiness is a search for a good life that includes doing virtuous actions
  • The rational soul is characterized by moral virtues such as justice and courage
• St. Augustine


  • A Christian theologian and philosopher
  • Known for his writings: The City of God, On Christian Doctrine, and Confessions
  • Sin is the source of human unhappiness as sin impairs human free will
  • Developed the concept of individual identity: an idea of the self eventually achieves an identity
• St. Augustine's two processes

  Self-presentation leading to self-realization: One transforms as he struggles in both body and soul, to ultimately achieve happiness specifically found in God's love
• St. Augustine's view on the self

  • The mind is superior over the body
  • Understanding the self and the formation of identity is achieved through introspection
• St. Augustine's two realms of thoughts

  • God as the source of all reality and truth
  • The sinfulness of man
• St. Augustine's view on the human person

  • Humankind is created in the image and likeness of God. Everything God created is all good. Human person is always geared towards the good
  • The self is known only through knowing God
  • Self-knowledge is a consequence of knowledge of God
  • The truth refers to the truth of knowing God. God is transcendent (beyond physical human experience) and the self seeks to be united with God through faith and reason
• St. Augustine's fundamental concept of human person


  "I am doubting, therefore I am"
• St. Augustine's view on love

  • God is love and He created humans for them to also love. BUT problems arise because of the objects humans choose to love
  • Disordered love results when man loves the wrong things which he believes will give him happiness
  • Love of physical objects leads to the sin of greed
  • Love for people is not lasting and excessive love for them is the sin of jealousy
  • Love for the self leads to the sin of pride
  • Love for God is the supreme virtue and through loving God can man find real happiness
• St. Augustine's role of love explanation

  All things are worthy to love but they must be loved properly. If man loves God, first, and everything else to a lesser degree then all will fall into rightful place
• Rene Descartes


  • Father of modern western philosophy
  • French mathematician, thinker, and philosopher
  • Described the mind as "intellectual substance" that possesses a will
• Descartes' Cogito Ergo Sum

  The act of thinking about the self – of being self-conscious – is in itself proof that there is a self
• Descartes' view on the essence of human self

  A thinking entity that doubts, understands, analyzes, questions, and reasons
• Descartes' two dimensions of the self

  • The Self as Thinking Entity (nonmaterial, immortal, conscious being, independent of the physical laws of the universe)
  • The Self as a Physical Body (material, mortal, fully governed by the laws of nature)
• Descartes' Mind-Body Problem


  • The soul and the body can function without the other
  • Bodily processes are mechanical. The body is like a machine that is controlled by the will and aided by the mind
• John Locke


  • A prominent thinker during the "Age of Reason"
  • Father of Liberalism
  • Developed the concept of "tabula rasa" (at birth, the mind is a blank slate without innate ideas, and it is experience that provides us knowledge provided by sensory [hear, smell, taste, see, feel] experiences and reflections)
  • Personal identity is found in the consciousness
• Locke's view on personal identity

  A person may be judged for the acts of his body but the truth, according to him, is that one is liable only for the acts of which he is conscious
• Locke's two forms on processing knowledge

  • Sensation (wherein objects are experienced through the senses)
  • Reflection (the mind looks at the objects that were experienced to discover the relationships that may exists between them)
• Locke's view on morality

  • Morals, religious and political values must come from sense experiences
  • Morality has to do with choosing and willing the good
  • Moral good depends on conformity or non-conformity of a person's behavior towards some law (Law of Opinion, Civil Law, Divine Law)
• David Hume


  • A Scottish philosopher
  • Reader of Locke's views
  • Became cynical about almost everything except philosophy and general learning at the time he was enrolled at the University of Edinburgh
  • Passion rather than reason governs human behavior. Reason is only the slave of passion which implies that logic and intellect is basically superseded by an individual's passion, drive, and motivation
  • Against the existence of innate ideas; all human knowledge is founded solely in experience
  • Through the process of introspection, one will discover that there is no self, only a bundle of experiences and perceptions (Bundle Theory of the Self)
• Hume's two types of perceptions

  • Impressions (basic sensations such as hate, love, joy, grief, pain, cold and heat)
  • Ideas (thoughts and images from impressions, less lively and vivid)
• Passion


  Governs human behavior
• Reason


  Only the slave of passion which implies that logic and intellect is basically superseded by an individual's passion, drive, and motivation