PHILOSOPHERS CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PHILOSOPHIES ABOUT SELF

WORLD
 SOCRATES  Argued that Athenians  The Socratic Method,
were wrong-headed in also known as method
their emphasis on of Elenchus, eclectic
families, careers, and method, or Socratic
politics at the expense debate, is a form of
of the welfare of their cooperative
souls; argumentative
 Is sometimes dialogue between
attributed the individuals, based on
statement “I know that asking and answering
I know nothing,” to questions to stimulate
denote an awareness critical thinking and to
of his ignorance, and draw out ideas and
in general, the underlying
limitations of human presuppositions.
knowledge;
 Believed misdeeds
were a consequence of
ignorance, that those
who engaged in no
virtuous behavior did
so because they didn’t
know any better.
 PLATO  Plato's main  The theory of Forms
contributions are in or theory of Ideas is a
philosophy, philosophical theory,
mathematics and concept, or world-
science. However, it is view, attributed to
not as easy as one Plato, that the physical
might expect to world is not as real or
discover Plato's true as timeless,
philosophical views. absolute,
The reason for this is unchangeable ideas.
that Plato wrote no According to this
systematic treatise theory, ideas in this
giving his views; sense, often
rather he wrote about capitalized and
30 dialogues written in translated as "Ideas"
the form of or "Forms", are the
conversations. Not non-physical essences
only are these of all things, of which
dialogues important objects and matter in
works of philosophy, the physical world are
but they are superb merely imitations.
 pieces of literature. Plato speaks of these
entities only through
 Through these the characters
dialogues, Plato (primarily Socrates) of
contributed to the his dialogues who
theory of art, in sometimes suggest
particular dance, that these Forms are
music, poetry, the only objects of
architecture, and study that can provide
drama. He discussed a knowledge. The
whole range of theory itself is
philosophical topics contested from within
including ethics, Plato's dialogues, and
metaphysics where it is a general point of
topics such as controversy in
immortality, man, philosophy. Whether
mind, and Realism are the theory represents
discussed. He Plato's own views is
discussed the held in doubt by
philosophy of modern scholarship.
mathematics, political However, the theory is
philosophy, and considered a classical
religious philosophy. solution to the
In his theory of Forms, problem of universals.
Plato rejected the
changeable, deceptive
world that we are
aware of through our
senses proposing
instead his world of
ideas which were
constant and true. In
his Republic, Plato
talks of geometrical
diagrams as imperfect
imitations of the
perfect mathematical
objects which they
represent. He also
contributed to logic
and legal philosophy,
including rhetoric.

 Established the First

University in Europe
 In 399 BC, after
 Socrates was
condemned to death,
Plato left Athens. It is
believed that he
traveled extensively
during this period and
returned 12 years later
in 387 BC. There is no
record of the specific
time that Plato’s
school was
established, but
research suggests that
it was around the mid-
380s BC.
 ST. AUGUSTINE  Theory of Time: In the The Confessions
Confessions Book 11 Summary
Augustine developed a  The Confessions is the
very provocative first autobiography in
concept of time. Western literature, but
Augustine meant it to
 Learning Language: be far more than
Augustine attempted simply an account of
to explain how small his life. He wrote it
children learn and during the first three
express language. years of his tenure as
bishop of Hippo. The
 Faith Seeking word confessions in
Understanding: In his the title implies not
Sermon 43.7, 9 only that the narrative
Augustine asserted: will reveal intimate
Crede, ut intelligas facts about the author
("Believe in order that but also that it will be
you may understand"). guided by a spirit of
remorse and the praise
 Ontological of God.
Argument: The
writings of Augustine  In book I, Augustine
also influenced the describes his early
subsequent years, from his
formulation by Saint childhood to the age
Anselm of the of fifteen. He admits
ontological argument that as a teenager he
for the existence of preferred hedonism to
God. studying. In book II he
speaks of his early
 Refutation of pursuit of sexual
Scepticism: The pleasure. Around the
statement of trench age of sixteen, he gave
philosopher, René up studying, chased
Descartes (1596- women, and even
1650), cogito ergo became a thief. He
sum ("I think, moves through three
therefore I am") is years in book III, to
derived from dubito the age of nineteen,
ergo sum ("I doubt, when he lives in
therefore I am") and si Carthage. He’s still
fallor sum ("If I am chasing women, but
deceived, I am") by he has also discovered
Augustine. the Manichean cult.
Over the nine years of
 Proof of the existence book IV, he finishes
of God from Eternal his studies and
Truths: Augustine becomes a published
argued that the human author; one of his
mind apprehends publications is a book
universal, objective, on Aristotle. In book
unchanging, and V, Augustine is
necessary truths that twenty-nine years old.
are superior to the He has given up on the
human mind itself. Manicheans and his
Thus an eternal God mistress, and he is in
exists to explain these Rome, where he has
eternal truths. found friendship with
Bishop Ambrose. In
 Response to the books VI and VII he
Problem of Evil: describes his spiritual
Augustine argued that journey, during which
while evil is real it is he seeks personal
not a substance happiness. He also
or”stuff." Rather, evil considers the nature of
is an absence of evil. He understands
goodness. God but does not
understand Jesus
 Divine Illumination: Christ.
Augustine developed
an epistemology
(theory of knowledge)
known as divine
illumination. Human
knowledge is thus
directly dependent
 upon God.

 Creation Ex Nihilo:
Augustine vigorously
argued that God
created the world ex
nihilo (creation "out of
nothing" or "from
nothing"). Certain
points of the thought
of Augustine 1,500
years ago are very
consistent with the
modern "big bang"
theory within
cosmology.

 10. The Examined

Self: In his
Confessions,
Augustine was one of
the first to write in
depth about the self,
particularly in relation
to God.
 RENE DESCARTES  René Descartes  Discards belief in all
invented analytical things that are not
geometry and absolutely certain,
introduced skepticism emphasizing the
as an essential part of understanding of that
the scientific method. which can be known
He is regarded as one for sure;
of the greatest  Is recognized as the
philosophers in father of analytical
history. geometry;
 Regarded as one of the
 His analytical leading influences in
geometry was a the Scientific
tremendous conceptual Revolution — a period
breakthrough, linking of intense discovery,
the previously separate revelation, and
fields of geometry and innovation that rippled
algebra. Descartes through Europe
showed that he could between the
solve previously Renaissance and
unsolvable problems Enlightenment eras
 in geometry by (roughly speaking,
converting them into 15th to 18th
simpler problems in centuries).
algebra. He
represented the
horizontal direction as
x and the vertical
direction as y. This
concept is now
indispensable in
mathematics and other
sciences.
 JOHN LOCKE  Coined the term tabula  Locke defines the self
rasa (blank slate) to as "that conscious
denote that the human thinking thing,
mind is born (whatever substance,
unformed, and that made up of whether
ideas and rules are spiritual, or material,
only enforced through simple, or
experience thereafter; compounded, it
 Established the matters not) which is
method of sensible, or conscious
introspection, focusing of pleasure and pain,
on one’s own capable of happiness
emotions and or misery, and so is
behaviors in search of concerned for itself, as
a better understanding far as that
of the self; consciousness
 Argued that in order to extends". He does not,
be true, something however, ignore
must be capable of "substance", writing
repeated testing, a that "the body too
view that girded his goes to the making the
ideology with the man."
intent of scientific  In his Essay, Locke
rigor. explains the gradual
unfolding of this
conscious mind.
Arguing against both
the Augustinian view
of man as originally
sinful and the
Cartesian position,
which holds that man
innately knows basic
logical propositions,
 Locke posits an
"empty" mind, a
tabula rasa, which is
shaped by experience;
sensations and
reflections being the
two sources of all our
ideas.
 Locke's Some
Thoughts Concerning
Education is an outline
on how to educate this
mind: he expresses the
belief that education
maketh the man, or,
more fundamentally,
that the mind is an
"empty cabinet", with
the statement, "I think
I may say that of all
the men we meet with,
nine parts of ten are
what they are, good or
evil, useful or not, by
their education."
 Locke also wrote that
"the little and almost
insensible impressions
on our tender infancies
have very important
and lasting
consequences." He
argued that the
"associations of ideas"
that one makes when
young are more
important than those
made later because
they are the
foundation of the self:
they are, put
differently, what first
mark the tabula rasa.
In his Essay, in which
both these concepts
are introduced, Locke
 warns against, for
example, letting "a
foolish maid"
convince a child that
"goblins and sprites"
are associated with the
night for "darkness
shall ever afterwards
bring with it those
frightful ideas, and
they shall be so joined,
that he can no more
bear the one than the
other."
 This theory came to be
called
"associationism", and
it strongly influenced
18th-century thought,
particularly
educational theory, as
nearly every
educational writer
warned parents not to
allow their children to
develop negative
associations. It also
led to the development
of psychology and
other new disciplines
with David Hartley's
attempt to discover a
biological mechanism
for associations in his
Observations on Man
(1749).
 DAVID HUME  Though better known  Hume’s approach to
for his treatments of the fundamental
philosophy, history, questions of
and politics, the philosophy, his
Scottish philosopher reformulation of
David Hume also skepticism and
made several essential approach to science of
contributions to human nature
economic thought. His dramatically
empirical argument influenced the future
 against British
mercantilism formed a
building block for
classical economics.
His essays on money
and international trade
published in Political
Discourses strongly
influenced his friend
and fellow
countryman adam
smith.
 British mercantilists
believed that
economic prosperity
could be realized by
limiting imports and
encouraging exports in
order to maximize the
amount of gold in the
home country. The
American colonies
facilitated this policy
by providing raw
materials that Britain
manufactured into
finished goods and
reexported back to the
colonial consumers in
America. Needless to
say, the arrangement
was short-lived.
 IMMANUEL KANT - Divided Knowledge into a  Kant’s philosophy is
priori (transcendental) and
empirical knowledge.
- Believed that there were
truths not based upon sensory
experience
- Believed in free will and an
innate moral
consciousness(the categorical
imperative)
- The Mind is:
course of Western
philosophy. The
Scottish philosopher
played an important
role in the
development of
critical philosophy by
Immanuel Kant and
Auguste Comte’s
positivism but he also
greatly influenced
Jeremy Bentham and
the school of
utilitarianism.
Ironically, the greatest
impact on history of
philosophy achieved
his first work, A
Treatise of Human
Nature that met a
disappointing response
from his
contemporaries.
often described as the
golden middle
between rationalism
and empiricism. He
didn’t accept either of
both views but he
gave credit to both.
While rationalists
argue that knowledge
is a product of reason,
empiricist’s claim that
all knowledge comes
from experience. Kant

- Active (Subjective
experience is not just the
passive processing of sensory
information.)
- governed by innate laws and
structures
- translates sensations into
ideas
- The dimensions of time and
space are perceptual forms
innate to the mind.
His impact on Psychology has
been felt in:
- cognitive development
- moral development
- structure of thought &
language
- Gestalt Psychology
- Perceptual organization
- idea of culture-free methods
of assessment
 SIGMUND FREUD  Regardless of the
perception of Sigmund
Freud’s theories, there
is no question that he
had an enormous
impact on the field of
psychology. His work
supported the belief
that not all mental
illnesses have
physiological causes
and he also offered
evidence that cultural
rejected yet adopted
both, arguing that
experience is purely
subjective if not first
processed by pure
reason. Using reason
while excluding
experience would
according to Kant
produce theoretical
illusion.
 German philosopher
published his first
work – Thoughts on
the True Estimation of
Living Forces in 1747.
Explaining the nature
of space, Kant rejected
post-Leibniz
rationalists, arguing
that metaphysic
methods can prove the
existence of essential
force. Afterwards,
Kant mainly focused
on philosophical
issues although he
continued to write on
science and similarly
as Leibnizian also
criticized Newton’s
views.
 Sigmund Freud ‘s
psychoanalytic theory
of personality argues
that human behavior is
the result of the
interactions among
three component parts
of the mind: the id,
ego, and superego.
 This “structural
theory” of personality
places great
importance on how
 differences have an conflicts among the
impact on psychology parts of the mind
and behavior. shape behavior and
personality. These
 His work and writings conflicts are mostly
contributed to our unconscious.
understanding of  According to Freud,
personality, clinical personality develops
psychology, human during childhood and
development, and is critically shaped
abnormal psychology. through a series of
five psychosexual
stages, which he
called his
psychosexual theory
of development.
 During each stage, a
child is presented with
a conflict between
biological drives and
social expectations;
successful navigation
of these internal
conflicts will lead to
mastery of each
developmental stage,
and ultimately to a
fully mature
personality.
 Freud’s ideas have
since been met with
criticism, in part
because of his singular
focus on sexuality as
the main driver of
human personality
development.
 GILBERT RYLE  In The Concept of  The concept of Mind,
Mind, Ryle argues that by Gilbert Ryle, is one
dualism involves of the most important
category mistakes and philosophy book of
philosophical the 20th century, aside
nonsense. Category of Being and Time by
mistakes and nonsense Heidegger or Being
as philosophical topics and Nothingness by
continued to inform Sartre. Ryle
 Ryle's work. Students revolutionnises our
in his 1967-8 Oxford conception of the
audience would be human conscious,
asked rhetorically etablished since
what was wrong with Descartes, Kant and
saying that there are Husserl.
three things in a field:
two cows and a pair of  Ryle’s project consists
cows. They were also in a sustained and
invited to ponder punishing
whether the bung-hole bombardment of the
of a beer barrel is part cartesian conception
of the barrel or not. of man,
characteristically
labelled “the dogma of
the ghost in the
machine“. Ryle is
trying to find how far
he could push
analytical
behaviorism, the
doctrine that
psychological notions
can be analyzed in
terms of actual or
possible behaviour.
 PAUL CHURCHLAND  From 1966 onward,  Along with his wife,
Churchland taught at Churchland is a major
different universities proponent of
in the U.S. and eliminative
Canada, and he materialism, the belief
became full professor that everyday mental
at the University of concepts such as
Manitoba in 1979. In beliefs, feelings, and
1984, he moved to desires are part of a
UC, San Diego, where "folk psychology" of
he has been Professor theoretical constructs
of Philosophy since. without coherent
Churchland is famous definition, destined to
for championing the simply be obviated by
thesis that our a thoroughly scientific
everyday, common- understanding of
sense, ‘folk’ human nature.
psychology, which  Just as modern science
seeks to explain has discarded such
human behavior in notions as legends or
terms of the beliefs witchcraft,
and desires of agents, Churchland maintains
is actually a deeply that a future, fully
flawed theory that matured neuroscience
must be eliminated in is likely to have no
favor of a mature need for "beliefs" (see
cognitive propositional
neuroscience. attitudes). In other
Churchland first words, he holds that
suggests this thesis in beliefs are not
his 1979 book ontologically real.
Scientific Realism and Such concepts will not
the Plasticity of Mind. merely be reduced to
The eliminativist more finely grained
thesis is perhaps most explanation and
explicitly formulated retained as useful
in his 1981, Journal of proximate levels of
Philosophy paper, description, but will
"Eliminative be strictly eliminated
Materialism and the as wholly lacking in
Propositional correspondence to
Attitudes." In the precise objective
1980s, Churchland phenomena, such as
began to champion a activation patterns
specific type of across neural
neurocomputational networks. He points
theory as a source of out that the history of
answers to traditional science has seen many
problems in the posits once considered
philosophy of mind real entities, such as
and of science. His phlogiston, caloric, the
book A luminiferous ether,
Neurocomputational and vital forces, thus
Perspective (1989) eliminated. In The
applies the insights of Engine of Reason, The
connectionist Seat of the Soul
neurocomputational Churchland
models to traditional hypothesizes that
philosophical consciousness might
problems, like the be explained in terms
problem of theory of a recurrent neural
change in science. His network with its hub
latest book, The in the intralaminar
Engine of Reason, The nucleus of the
Seat of the Soul thalamus and feedback
(1995), surveys new connections to all
 work in the
neurosciences that is
giving shape to a new
picture of the mind,
and discusses the
social and moral
dimensions of recent
experimental results
that assign
consciousness to all
but the very simplest
forms of animals.
 MAURICE MERLEAU  Merleau-Ponty (1908-  His most famous work
PONTY 1961) is best known
for his contributions to
phenomenology, in
particular to
phenomenological
approaches to the
body, perception, and
consciousness in
relation to nature. This
also leads him to
contributions in
aesthetics, ontology,
and the philosophy of
nature, philosophy of
science and
philosophy of
psychology. Through
critical engagement
with Marxism, in his
philosophical and
popular writings, he
also contributes to
social and political
philosophy. A called
contemporary and
colleague of figures
such as Sartre, de
Beauvoir, and Lacan,
he was a public
intellectual in France.
He was Chair of Child
parts of the cortex. He
says his proposal is
probably mistaken in
the neurological
details, but on the
right track in its use of
recurrent neural
networks to account
for consciousness.
This is notably a
reductionist rather
than eliminativist
account of
consciousness.
Phénoménologie de la
Perception (1945,
Phenomenology of
Perception)
established Merleau-
Ponty as the
philosopher of the
body. The body is the
centre of perceptions
and medium of
consciousness. By
this, he emphasized
the way in which our
experience does not
form a shut-off private
domain, but a way of
being-in-the world in
which the lived body
and the perceptible
world coexist
internally. It is
through this body-
world co-existence,
intersubjectivity, that
all meanings originate.
Merleau-Ponty thus
opposes purely
scientific thinking for
their explanation of
human experience,
Psychology and and all notions of
Pedagogy at the dualism such as the
Sorbonne from 1949- subject-object dualism
52, and was appointed of Cartesianism
Chair of Philosophy at associated with
the Collége de France Sartre’s existentialism,
in 1952. He passed and the separation of
away suddenly at the the mind into the
age of 53, leaving Freudian distinction of
behind a rich though the conscious and the
incomplete project in unconscious.
phenomenological  Merleau-Ponty also
ontology and an array has profound
of unpublished notes influence in the field
and lectures. of aesthetics and art
theory. His
philosophy of painting
rests on the three
essays: ‘Cézanne’s
Doubt’, ‘Indirect
Language and the
Voices of Silence’ and
‘Eye and Mind’. They
examine how art and
perception intertwine
and how art displays
the act of presenting
the world in a way that
is more truly
representative. In his
most famous essay,
‘Cézanne’s Doubt’,
Merleau-Ponty offered
an anti-formalist
phenomenological
interpretation of
Cézanne’s painting.
Whereas previous
critical analysis of the
artist tend to focus on
his use of geometry,
plane and form,
Merleau-Ponty praised
the artist for his use of
colours and his ability
to render visible a
 ‘lived’ prescientific
experience of the
world. Cezanne had
used colors in the way
that bring
voluminosity and
solidity to things since
colours bring us closer
to the world and get to
‘the heart of things’.

TORTOR, WINLY B. BIT-CT 1-J