Chapter 1

The Self From Various Perspectives

“Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but

reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or
happy.”
―Norman Vincent Peale

INTRODUCTION

How well do you know yourself? Are you aware of your talents? Skills? Weaknesses?
Strengths?
The persistent question, “Who am I?” is rooted in the human need to understand
the basis of the experiences of the “self.” When people are asked to explain their
understanding of the word, the usual answers are: “It’s who I am.” “It’s me, my essence.”
“It’s what makes me unique and different from everyone else.”
For a more meaningful understanding of the “self,” numerous studies have been
conducted and various approaches have been developed from concepts about it.
Important philosophers from ancient to contemporary times sought to describe the
essential qualities that compose a person’s uniqueness. On the other hand, sociology
sees the “self” as a product of social interactions, developed over time through social
activities and experiences.
Anthropology views the “self” as a culturally shaped construct or idea. Anthropologists
assert that it is an autonomous participant in the society as much as it is submerged in
the community. Meanwhile, rather than giving a definition, psychology sees the “self” as
having characteristics or properties that can be used to describe it. Pioneers in the study
pointed out that the “self” is related to its physical and social environment, it is unique,
and it is necessary to its experiences.
Eastern and Western civilizations have always sought to understand the “self.” Their
views, however, stand on different perspectives. British philosopher Alan Watts (known
for his interpretations of Eastern philosophy and mythology) talked about the great

A Holistic Approach In Understanding The Self 1

“myths” of the Self. However, it should be noted that the term “myth” here is not used to
describe a false story, rather it is used as a means to interpret a reality.
According to Watts, the pervading myth in the West is that “the world is an artefact.”
This means there is a clear distinction between the creator and the creation. This
perspective indicates that the Western interpretation of the “self” possesses an internal
distinction from its external environment. That even though the “self” functions in the
world, the “self” is still its own. In the East however, the myth is that “the world is
a drama and all things are actors with specific parts to play.” There is no distinction
between the creator and the creation as all that exists is immersed in one and the same
existence. This perspective suggests that the “self” in Eastern traditions is seen through
the eyes of a community, rather than a detached, single entity. However, Watts further
clarified that his statements on the two great myths of the “self” is only a description of
what it is “like” in that civilization, and not a definition of what it “is.”
Learning the various fundamental concepts of the “self”is significant because these
ideas lay the foundation that will foster in you, the learner, a deep reflection and insight
into the continuous pursuit of self-discovery.

Chapter Overview
In this chapter, the student will understand the construct of the self from
various disciplinal perspectives. The student will also reflect on a concrete
experience on a holistic point of view.

I. Objective:
At the end of the chapter, students will be able demonstrate various
ways of understanding the self.

II. Learning Outcomes:

At the end of the course, students will be able to:
1. Discuss the different representations and conceptualizations of the self
from various disciplinal perspectives;
2. Compare and contrast how the self has been represented across
different disciplines and perspectives;
3. Examine the different influences, factors, and forces that shape the
self; and
4. Demonstrate critical and reflective thought in analyzing the
development of one’s self and identity by developing a theory of the
self.

2 A Holistic Approach In Understanding The Self

 Diagnostic Exercise
How Do You View Yourself?

Write nine adjectives that describe you in these post-its. Then make sentences
using these adjectives and write about yourself on the next page. There are a few
adjectives listed on some post-its to give you ideas.

A Holistic Approach In Understanding The Self 3

 About Myself.. . .

4 A Holistic Approach In Understanding The Self

Introductory Discussion
“If you feel lost, disappointed, hesitant, or weak, return to yourself, to who
you are, here and now and when you get there, you will discover yourself, like
a lotus flower in full bloom, even in a muddy pond, beautiful and strong.”
―Masaru Emoto, Secret Life of Water

How did ancient thinkers view a human being? Who were those curious enough
to study how human beings perceive themselves? One aspect that makes us humans
different from all other creatures on earth is our capacity to build on knowledge. We
learn, we apply it in our lives, and we use acquired ideas to create.
Philosophical musings have produced some of the most important original ideas over
the centuries. Their contributions to all areas of learning are inestimable. Some views
may be more popular, others a bit unknown, but humanity’s development is founded
on the views of our ancient thinkers. What is philosophy? Philosophy is from the Greek
words philo- (loving) and Sophia (knowledge, wisdom). At its simplest, philosophy means
“loving knowledge” or “loving wisdom.” The term philosophy as originally used by the
Greeks meant “the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake.”
Naturally, the need to understand the “self” did not escape the philosopher’s curious
mind. Hence, here are the most relevant philosophical views that will give you a historical
framework in your quest of understanding yourself.

DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES IN THE EXPLANATION OF SELF

How do you define “self”? Do you have the same definitions of self in philosophical
and psychological perspectives?
Let’s find out how the philosophers define or describe self during the early and
modern times. But before going into the details of their significant contributions in the
understanding of the self, let’s have an exercise first.

A Holistic Approach In Understanding The Self 5

 Activity 1
“PHILOSOPHER’S GALLERY WALK”

Roam around, and let your classmates answer each box. After each has answered
orally, let him/her sign in the box being answered.

He believes that the

A philosopher who states Explain this statement,
human mind at birth is a
that “I act, therefore I am” “I think, therefore I am.”
“tabula rasa.”

Knows the philosophy Discuss the philosophy Recite the three kinds
of Immanuel Kant. of Hume. of being by Plato.

Explain this phrase,

Give an example/personal
Explain the physical body is an
experience of the phrase
“Socratic method.” important part
“I act, therefore I am.”
of the self.

Differentiate between
Know the life of John Discuss the statement,
Descartes’ and Gilbert
Locke. “I sense, therefore I am.”
Ryle’s views about the “self.”

This philosopher states

Give the background of
Tell who Augustine is. that reason is the final
Descartes.
authority of morality.

6 A Holistic Approach In Understanding The Self

 Philosophy

Socrates
Socrates was a Greek philosopher and one of the
very few individuals who shaped Western thought
(Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2017). However,
unlike the other philosophers during his time,
Socrates never wrote anything. Knowledge about
Socrates is through second-hand information from
the writings of his student Plato (another of the
most influential Western thinkers) and historian
Xenophon (The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy,
2017).
Socrates was known for his method of inquiry “I Know That I Don’t Know”
in testing an idea. This is called the Socratic Method
Source: https://www.biography.com/
whereby an idea was tested by asking a series of people/socrates-9488126
questions to determine underlying beliefs and the
extent of knowledge to guide the person toward
better understanding (Maxwell, 2015). Socrates was described to have gone about in
Athens questioning everyday views and popular Athenian beliefs. This apparently
offended the leaders in his time. He was then accused of impiety or lack of reverence
for the gods and for corrupting the minds of the youth. At 70 years old, Socrates was
sentenced to death by drinking a cup of poison hemlock (Brickhouse & Smith, 2002).
Some of Socrates’ ideas were:
• The soul is immortal.
• The care of the soul is the task of philosophy.
• Virtue is necessary to attain happiness
Socrates believed that philosophy had a very important role to play in the lives of
the people. One of his most-quoted phrases is, “The unexamined life is not worth living.”
According to Socrates, self-knowledge or the examination of one’s self, as well as the
question about how one ought to live one’s life, are very important concerns because only
by knowing yourself can you hope to improve your life (Rappe, 1995). Socrates believed
that you as a person should consciously contemplate, turn your gaze inward, and analyze
the true nature and values that are guiding your life.
He added self-knowledge would open your eyes to your true nature; which contrary
to pop culture, is not about what you own, how many “Likes” you get in your social media
posts, or how successful you are in your career. In fact, your real self is not even your
body. According to Socrates, the state of your inner being (soul/self) determines the
quality of your life.

A Holistic Approach In Understanding The Self 7

 Socrates said existence is of two kinds:
1. The visible, and
2. The invisible.
The visible existence changes while the invisible existence remains constant
(Connolly, 2017). According to Socrates, this is the state of the human being. The body,
which is visible, changes; the other part, the kind that is invisible to humans yet sensed
and understood by the mind remains constant. In the Socratic Dialogue, Plato wrote
what Socrates said about the body and the soul: “When the soul and body are together
nature assigns our body to be a slave and to be ruled and the soul to be ruler and master”
(Hamilton et al., 1961; Organ, 1986). However, Socrates said that the body was a
reluctant slave, and the soul gets dragged toward what is always changing. This would
leave the soul confused (Organ, 1986).
Socrates also believed that the goal of life is to be happy. How does one become
happy? According to Socrates, the virtuous man is a happy man, and that virtue alone
is the one and only supreme good that will secure his/her happiness. Virtue is defined as
moral excellence, and an individual is considered virtuous if his/her character is made up
of the moral qualities that are accepted as virtues, i.e., courage, temperance, prudence,
and justice (The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2017). According to Socrates, even
death is a trivial matter for the truly virtuous because he/she has realized that the most
important thing in life is the state of his/her soul and the acts taken from taking care of
the soul through self-knowledge.

Plato

“Good actions give strength to

ourselves and inspire good actions in
others.”
—Plato

Plato was the student of Socrates. He

wrote the Socratic Dialogue where Socrates
was the main character and speaker. Plato’s
philosophical method was what he identified
Balance between mind and body as “collection and division” (Phaedrus, 265e;
Smith, 2017). In this method, the philosopher
Plato - From Raphael’s School of Athens (1509).
Public Domain. Courtesy of Wikipedia. would “collect” all the generic ideas that
seemed to have common characteristics and
then divided them into different kinds until the subdivision of ideas became specific. He
is best known for his Theory of Forms that asserted the physical world is not really the
“real” world because the ultimate reality exists beyond the physical world.

8 A Holistic Approach In Understanding The Self

 Plato is perhaps the single most important influence of the Western concept of
“self.” According to Plato, the “soul” is indeed the most divine aspect of the human
being. However, his concept of the divine is not a spiritual being but rather one that has
an intellectual connotation. The self/soul/mind according to Plato is the aspect of the
human beings by which the Forms (ideas) are known.

The Three parts of the soul according to Plato are:

• The appetitive (sensual)
The element that enjoys sensual experiences, such as food, drink, and sex

• The rational (reasoning)

The element that forbids the person to enjoy the sensual experiences; the part
that loves truth, hence, should rule over the other parts of the soul through the
use of reason

• The spirited (feeling)

The element that is inclined toward reason but understands the demands of
passion; the part that loves honor and victory

St. Augustine
Saint Augustine, also called Saint Augustine of
Hippo, is one of the Latin Fathers of the Church, one
of the Doctors of the Church, and one of the most
significant Christian thinkers. His philosophical
approach to Christian thinking is the most
influential theological system. His written works
are among the foundations of medieval and modern
Christian thought (Encyclopædia Britannica, 2017).
Saint Augustine was deeply influenced by
Plato’s ideas. Not surprisingly, he adopted Plato’s
view that the “self” is an immaterial (but rational) All knowledge leads to God.
soul. Giving the Theory of Forms a Christian
perspective, Augustine asserted that these Forms were concepts existing within the
perfect and eternal God (The Catholic University of America Press, 1982) where the soul
belonged. Saint Augustine held that the soul held the Truth and was capable of scientific
thinking. Saint Augustine’s concept of the “self” was an inner, immaterial “I” that had
self-knowledge and self-awareness. He believed that the human being was both a soul
and body, and the body possessed senses, such as imagination, memory, reason, and
mind through which the soul experienced the world.
He also reasoned that human beings through the senses could sense the material,
temporal objects as we interacted with the material world; the immaterial but intelligible

A Holistic Approach In Understanding The Self 9

(def. able to be understood only by the intellect, not by the senses) God would only be
clear or obvious to the mind if one tune into his/her immaterial self/soul.
The aspects of the self/soul according to Saint Augustine’s are:
• It is able to be aware of itself.
• It recognizes itself as a holistic one.
• It is aware of its unity.

Saint Augustine believed that the human being who is both soul and body is meant
to tend to higher, divine, and heavenly matters because of his/her our capacity to ascend
and comprehend truths through the mind. He connected the ascension of the soul with
his assertion that everything related to the physical world belongs to the physical body,
and if a person concerns himself/herself with this physical world then he/she will not
be any different from animals. Saint Augustine pointed out that a person is similar to
God as regards to the mind and its ability; that by ignoring to use his/her mind (or the
incorrect use of the mind) he/she would lose his/her possibility to reach real and lasting
happiness (The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2017; Mendelson, 206).

Rene Descartes
René Descartes was a French philosopher,
mathematician, and scientist. He is considered the
father of modern Western philosophy. Descartes is
often regarded as the first thinker to emphasize the
use of reason to describe, predict, and understand
natural phenomena based on observational and
empirical evidence (Bertrand, 2004; Grosholz, 1991).
Descartes proposed that doubt was a principal
tool of disciplined inquiry. His method was called
hyperbolical/metaphysical doubt, also sometimes
“I Think, Therefore I Am.” referred to as methodological skepticism. It is a
systematic process of being skeptical about the truth
of one’s beliefs in order to determine which beliefs could be ascertained as true (Roger,
1994; Philosophy Glossary University of Houston).
René Descartes’ famous line “Cogito ergo sum” translated as “I think, therefore I
am” became a fundamental element of Western philosophy as it secured the foundation
for knowledge in the face of radical doubt. He asserted that everything perceived by the
senses could not be used as proof of existence because human senses could be fooled.
He added that there was only one thing we could be sure of in this world, and that was
everything could be doubted. In turn, by doubting his own existence, Descartes proved
that there is a thinking entity that is doing the act of doubting.

10 A Holistic Approach In Understanding The Self

 Descartes’ claims about the “self” are:
• It is constant; it is not prone to change; and it is not affected by time.
• Only the immaterial soul remains the same throughout time.
• The immaterial soul is the source of our identity.

He further asserted that this thinking entity could exist without the body because
it is an immaterial substance. Nevertheless, this immaterial substance (self) possesses a
body and is so intimately bound/joined by it that the “self” forms a union with its body.
Despite this body-soul union, Descartes reasoned that the soul is still distinct from the
body.
Some distinctions between the soul and body as pointed out by Descartes are:
THE SOUL THE BODY
It is a conscious, thinking substance that is It is a material substance that changes
unaffected by time. through time.

It is known only to itself (only you know It can be doubted; The public can correct
your own mental event and others cannot claims about the body.
correct your mental states).

It is not made up of parts. It views the It is made up of physical, quantifiable,

entirety of itself with no hidden or separate divisible parts.
compartments. It is both conscious and
aware of itself at the same time.

John Locke
John Lock was a philosopher and physician and was one
of the most influential Enlightenment thinkers. The Age
of Enlightenment or the Age of Reason was an intellectual
and philosophical movement that dominated the ideas in
Europe during the 18th century.
If Descartes described the “self” as a thinking thing,
Locke expanded this definition of “self” to include the
memories of that thinking thing. Locke believed that
the “self” is identified with consciousness and this “self”
consists of sameness of consciousness. This is usually
Human mind at birth is a
interpreted to mean that the “self” consists of memory;
tabula rasa, which means
that the person existing now is the same person yesterday
that knowledge is derived
because he/she remembers the thoughts, experiences, or
from experience
actions of the earlier self (Natsoulas, 1994; Fuchs, 2017).
For Locke, a person’s memories provide a continuity of experience that allows him/
her to identify himself/herself as the same person over time. This theory of personal
identity allows Locke to justify a defense of accountability (Winkler, 1991). According

A Holistic Approach In Understanding The Self 11

to Locke since the person is the same “self” in the passing of time, he/she can be held
accountable for past behaviors. However, Locke insisted that a person could only be held
accountable for behaviors he/she can remember. Locke believed that punishing someone
for behaviors he/she has no recollection of doing is equivalent to punishing him/her for
actions that was never performed. He asserted that the state of the person who cannot
remember his/her behavior is the same as the state of the person who never committed
the act, which meant the person was ignorant.

David Hume
David Hume (1711 - 1776) was a Scottish philosopher,
economist, and historian during the Age of Enlightenment.
He was a fierce opponent of Descartes’ Rationalism.
Rationalism is the theory that reason, rather than
experience, is the foundation of all knowledge. Hume,
along with John Locke and Bishop George Berkeley, was
one of the three main figureheads of the influential British
Empiricism movement. Empiricism is the idea that the
origin of all knowledge is sense experience. It emphasized
the role of experience and evidence (especially sensory
All knowledge is derived
perception) in forming concepts, while discounting the
from human senses.
notion of innate ideas (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy,
2017).
Hume is identified with the bundle theory wherein he described the “self” or
person (which Hume assumed to be the “mind”) as a bundle or a collection of different
perceptions that are moving in a very fast and successive manner; therefore, it is in a
“perpetual flux.” Hume’s theory began by denying Descartes’ view of the immaterial
soul and of its experiences. Empiricists like Hume believed that human intellect and
experiences are limited; therefore, it is impossible to attribute it to an independent
persisting entity (i.e., soul). David Hume concluded that the “self” is merely made up of
successive impressions (Pike, 1967; Seigel, 2005).
Hume divided the mind’s perceptions into two groups stating that the difference
between the two “consists in the degrees of force and liveliness with which they strike
upon the mind” (Hume, p. 10):
1. Impressions. These are the perceptions that are the most strong. They enter the
senses with most force. These are directly experienced; they result from inward
and outward sentiments.
2. Ideas. These are the less forcible and less lively counterparts of impressions.
These are mechanisms that copy and reproduce sense data formulated based
upon the previously perceived impressions.

12 A Holistic Approach In Understanding The Self

 Hume asserted that the notion of the “self” could not be verified through observation.
He argued that if you can directly know, then what you know are mere objects of what
your senses are experiencing. With this idea, he believed there is no logical justification
for the existence of anything other than what your senses experienced. For Hume, the
“self” was nothing but a series of incoherent impressions received by the senses. This
description of experience revealed, according to Hume, no permanently subsisting self
(Montgomery, 1889).
Hume compared the “self” to a nation; whereby a nation retains its “being a nation”
not by some single core or identity but by being composed of different, constantly
changing elements, such as people, systems, culture, and beliefs. In the same manner,
the “self” according to Hume is not just one impression but a mix and a loose cohesion
of various personal experiences. Hume insisted that there is no one constant impression
that endures throughout your life.
Hume did not believe on the existence of the “self.” He stressed that your perceptions
are only active for as long as you are conscious. According to Hume, should your perception
be “removed” for any time (such as when you are sleeping), and you can no longer sense
yourself then you also cease to exist. In this line, Hume seemed to reduce the “self” as a
light bulb that may be switched on or off.
Hume’s “self” is a passive observer similar to watching one’s life pass before the eyes
like a play or on a screen; whereby the total annihilation of the “self” comes at death.

Immanuel Kant
Philosopher Immanuel Kant is a central figure in
modern philosophy. His contributions to metaphysics,
epistemology, ethics, and aesthetics have had a profound
impact on almost every philosophical movement that
followed him. Among other ideas that Kant proposed was
that, the human mind creates the structure of human
experience.
Kant’s view of the “self” is transcendental, which
means the “self” is related to a spiritual or nonphysical
realm. For Kant, the self is not in the body. The self is REASON is the final
outside the body, and it does not have the qualities of the authority of morality.
body. Despite being transcendental, Kant stressed that the
Morality is achieved only
body and its qualities are rooted to the “self.” He proposed
when there is absence of
that it is knowledge that bridges the “self” and the material
war because of the result
things together (Boeree, 1999; Brook, 2004).
of enlightenment

A Holistic Approach In Understanding The Self 13

 Two kinds of consciousness of self (rationality):
1. Consciousness of oneself and one’s psychological states in inner sense, and
2. Consciousness of oneself and one’s states by performing acts of apperception.

Apperception is the mental process by which a person makes sense of an idea by

assimilating it to the body of ideas he or she already possesses.
Kant’s point is that what truly exist are your ideas and your knowledge of your ideas;
that you perceive the outside world through the self with your ideas. Kant pointed out
that the material world is not just an extension, and that you are merely seeing objects.
He insisted that you perceive the outside world because there is already an idea residing
within you. These ideas are what connect you to the external world. He defended the
diverse quality or state of the body and soul (self) presenting that “bodies are objects of
outer sense; souls are objects of inner sense” (Carpenter, 2004).
Two components of the “self”:
1. Inner self. The “self” by which you are aware of alterations in your own state.
This includes your rational intellect and your psychological state, such as moods,
feelings, and sensations, pleasure, and pain.
2. Outer self. It includes your senses and the physical world. It is the common
boundary between the external world and the inner self. It gathers information
from the external world through the senses, which the inner self interprets and
coherently expresses.

Kant proposed that the “self” organizes information in three ways:

1. Raw perceptual input,
2. Recognizing the concept, and
3. Reproducing in the imagination.

Kant’s “self” has a unified point of self-reference. You are

conscious of yourself as the subject, and you are conscious of
yourself as a common subject of different representations.
Here Kant confirms that the impressions you perceive point
to one single common fact – the “self” is the subject of these
experiences.

“Wish fulfillment is the
road to the unconscious.”
Sigmund Freud
Philosopher, physiologist, and psychologist Sigmund
Freud was one of the most influential thinkers of the 20th
century. His most important contribution, particularly in
psychology, was psychoanalysis, a practice devised to treat
those who are mentally ill through dialogue.

14 A Holistic Approach In Understanding The Self

 The vast majority of European philosophers before Freud (from Plato and Aristotle
to Kant and Descartes) regarded human beings as having an “essence” to which the
self/soul is ascribed. The “self” was an entity in itself characterized as the subject (the
focal point: the topic and doer of the action) of the physical and mental actions and
experiences. The notion is that the self is essence and subject points to the idea of an
entity that is unified, single, undivided, and unaffected by time.
Freud, however, did not accept the existence of any single entity that could be put
forward as the notion of “self.” His work in the field of psychoanalysis was groundbreaking
because it answered questions about the human psyche in a way that no one else had
before him. In psychology, the psyche is the totality of the human mind, both conscious
and unconscious. (Watson, 2014).
In his earlier structural division of the psyche, Freud distinguished three levels of
consciousness:
1. Conscious, which deals with awareness of present perceptions, feelings,
thoughts, memories, and fantasies at any particular moment;
2. Pre-conscious/subconscious, which is related to data that can readily be
brought to consciousness; and
3. Unconscious, which refers to data retained but not easily available to the
individual’s conscious awareness or scrutiny.

Central to Freud’s psychoanalytic theory was the proposed existence of the

unconscious as:
1. A repository for traumatic repressed memories; and
2. The source of anxiety-provoking drives that is socially or ethically unacceptable
to the individual.

Psychoanalytic Theory is a personality theory

based on the notion that an individual gets motivated
by unseen forces, controlled by the conscious and
the rational thought. Sigmund Freud did not exactly
create the notion of the conscious versus unconscious
mind, but he certainly was responsible for making it
popular, and this was one of his main contributions
to psychology (McLeod, 2008).
To explain his model, Freud used the analogy of
an iceberg to describe the three levels of the mind.

A Holistic Approach In Understanding The Self 15

 Freud further structured the psyche/mind into three parts:
1. Id. It operates on the pleasure principle. Every wishful impulse should be satisfied
immediately, regardless of the consequences. When the id achieves its demands,
you experience pleasure; when it is denied, you experience “unpleasure” or
tension.
2. Ego. It operates according to the reality principle. It works out realistic ways of
satisfying the id’s demands (often compromising or postponing satisfaction to
avoid negative consequences of society). The ego considers social realities and
norms, etiquette, and rules in deciding how to behave. If the ego fails to use the
reality principle, anxiety is experienced, and unconscious defense mechanisms
are employed to help ward off unpleasant feelings.
3. Superego. It incorporates the values and morals of society. The superego’s
function is to control the id’s impulses. It persuades the ego to choose moralistic
goals and to strive for perfection rather than simply realistic ones.

The superego consists of two systems:

1. Conscience. If the ego gives in to the id’s demands,
the superego may make the person feel bad through
guilt.
2. Ideal self. It is an imaginary picture of how you
ought to be. It represents career aspirations; how to
treat other people; and how to behave as a member
of society.
According to Freud’s structure of the mind, the ego and
the superego function in different levels of consciousness.
There is a constant movement of memories and impulses from one level to another. The
id, on the other hand, is unaffected by reality, logic, or the everyday world as it operates
within the unconscious part of the mind.

Gilbert Ryle
Philosopher and professor, Gilbert Ryle produced a
critique on Descartes’ idea that the mind is distinct from
the body. He wrote The Concept of Mind (1949) where he
rejected the notion that mental states are separable from
physical states. Ryle called the distinction between mind
and matter a “category-mistake” because of its attempt to
analyze the relation between “mind” and “body” as if the
two were terms of the same categories (Nath, 2013).
“I Act, therefore I Am”

16 A Holistic Approach In Understanding The Self

 Ryle’s points against Descartes’ theory are:
• The relation between mind and body are not isolated processes.
• Mental processes are intelligent acts, and are not distinct from each other.
• The operation of the mind is itself an intelligent act.
According to Ryle, the rationalist view that mental acts are distinct from physical
acts and that there is a mental world distinct from the physical world is a misconception.
Ryle described this distinction between mind and body as “the dogma of the ghost in the
machine” where he explained there is no hidden entity or ghost called “soul” (also
understood as mind or self) inside a machine called “body” (Ryle, 1992).
Ryle criticized the theory that the mind is a place where mental images are
apprehended, perceived, or remembered. He asserted that sensations, thoughts, and
feelings do not belong to a mental world separate from the physical world. Knowledge,
memory, imagination, and any other abilities or dispositions do not reside “within” the
mind as if the mind were a space in which these could be stored or located.
If Ryle believed that the concept of a distinct “self” is not real, where do we get our
sense of self? Ryle asserted that it is from our behaviors and actions. For example, you
think of yourself as a kind person because of your acts of kindness. In Ryle’s view, your
actions define your own concept of “self” (who you are).

Paul Churchland
Philosopher and professor Paul Churchland is known for
his studies in neurophilosophy and the philosophy of mind.
His philosophy stands on a materialistic view or the belief
that nothing but matter exists. In other words, if something
can be seen, felt, heard, touched, or tasted, then it exists.
There is nothing beyond the sensory experience.
Thus, in Churchland’s view the immaterial, unchanging
soul/self does not exist because it cannot be experienced by
the senses (1989).
Churchland insisted that the idea of a mind or soul is not
in consonance with the physical changes that have occurred
in the hereditary characteristics of the human species “The physical brain and
over successive generations. Specifically, Churchland’s NOT the imaginary
idea is called eliminative materialism or the claim that mind gives us our sense
people’s common-sense understanding of the mind (or folk of self ”
psychology) is false, and that certain classes of mental states
which most people believe in do not exist (Churchland,
1989; Baker, 1995).

A Holistic Approach In Understanding The Self 17

 To prove his point, Churchland pointed out that in mental conditions, such as
depression, it is technically wrong to say that the person is “out of his mind” because
neuroscientists have found that brain activity, and even brain shape, appears to be
associated with severe mood disorders. Moreover, he pointed out that in a severe head
injury, the victim’s personality changes occur. He pointed out that if the mind were a
separate entity, then the victim should have retained his/her personality despite the
damage to the brain. Thus, Churchland asserted the sense of “self” originated from the
brain itself, and that this “self” is a product of electrochemical signals produced by the
brain.

Maurice Merleau-Ponty
Maurice Merleau-Ponty was a philosopher and author.
Emphasizing the body as the primary site of knowing the
world, Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s idea of “self” is an embodied
subjectivity. The term “embodied” is a verb that means to
give a body to (usually an immaterial substance like a soul).
Subjectivity, in philosophy, is the state of being a subject
– an entity that possesses conscious experiences, such
as perspectives, feelings, beliefs, and desires. Moreover,
a subject acts upon or affects some other entity, which in
philosophy is called the object. A subject, therefore, is
something that exists, can take action, and can cause real
“Physical body is an effects (on an object).
important part of the Merleau-Ponty rejected the Cartesian mind-body
self ” dualism and insisted that the mind and body are
intrinsically connected. By emphasizing the primacy of the
body in an experience, he also veered away from the established notion that the center
of consciousness is the mind (Thompson, 2004).
He asserted that human beings are embodied subjectivities, and that the
understanding of the “self” should begin from this fundamental fact. He added that
the body is not a mere “house” where the mind resides. Rather it is through the lived
experience of the body that you perceive; are informed; and interact with the world
(Varela, Thompson, & Rosch, 2017).
Merleau-Ponty argued that the body is part of the mind, and the mind is part of the
body; that although there could be a stand-alone mental faculty that perceives what the
senses experience, it needs the body to receive these experiences, act on its perceptions,
and communicate with the external world. According to Merleau-Ponty, the body acts
what the mind perceives as a unified one.

18 A Holistic Approach In Understanding The Self