Alinga, Jevie G.

BSN 1-A

January 21, 2019

Understanding the Self

SOCRATES

- He was a greek philosopher

-The father of western philosophy

- He studied music, gymnastics and grammar but then followed his father's profession as a sculptor

- born: c. 469/47 in Athens, Greece

- parents: Sophronicus (sculptor)

: Phaenerete (midwife)

- married to: Xanthippe

- children: Lamprocles

: Sophroniscus

: Menexenus

- death: death sentence by drinking a mixture of poison hemlock

PLATO

- He was an ancient greek philosopher

- born: 428/427 BCE in Athens, Ancient Greece

- founder of Academy

- student of Socrates

- best known for the author of philosophical works of unparalleled influence

- parents: Ariston

: Perictione
- died: 348/347 BCE in Athens, Ancient Greece

Said Reasons: He died in his bed while a young girl played a flute to him

: died at a wedding feast

: simply died in his sleep

ARISTOTLE

- born: 384 BCE in Stagira, Ancient Greece

- founder of Lyceum

- father: Nicomachus (physician)

- student of Plato

- frirst wife: Pythias

- daughter: Pythias

- died: 322 BCE in Chalcis, Greece because of stomach disease

SOCRATES' PERCEPTION OF THE SELF

Socrates believed that the self exists in two parts.

One part is the physical, tangible aspect of us. This is the part that is mortal and can be/is constantly
changing. Earth also belongs to this physical realm that our bodies belong in, because just as us in terms
of physicality, the Earth is constantly being modified.

Second part is the soul, which he believed to be immortal. The soul is the part that is unvarying accross
all realms (it is unchanging while it is attached to your body and thus in the physical realm, but is also
unmodified once you die and your soul leaves that body to travel to the ideal realm.

Socrates believed that when we are in the physical realm, we are alive and our body and our soul are
attached, therfore making both parts of our "self" present in the physical realm. When we die however,
our body stays in the physical realm while our soul travels to the ideal realm, therefore making our souls
immortal.

PLATO'S PERCEPTION OF THE SELF

Plato believed that humans could be broken down into 3 parts: the body, the mind and the soul. The
body is the physical part of the body that is only concerned with the material world, and through which
we are able to experience the world we live in. it wants to experience self-gratification. It is mortal, and
when it dies, it is truly dead. The mind is directed towards the heavenly realm of Ideas, and is immortal.
It is with our minds that we are able to understand the eternal world of the Forms. When it 'dies' it
returns to the realm of Ideas. The soul is the driving force of the body, that it is what gives us our
identity.

The body and the inclinations are mortal but transmigrate into animals, but the intellect is immortal. He
believes that the intellect represents the most divine part of the soul, and so after death it leaves the
inferior physical body to join the world of Ideas.

ARISTOTLE'S PERCEPTION OF THE SELF

Aristotle undeniably diverged from Plato in his view of what a human being most truly and
fundamentally is. Plato, at least in many of his dialogues, held that the true self of human beings is the
reason or the intellect that constitutes their soul and that is separable from their body. Aristotle, for his
part, insisted that the human being is a composite of body and soul and that the soul cannot be
separated from the body. Aristotle’s philosophy of self was constructed in terms of hylomorphism in
which the soul of a human being is the form or the structure of the human body or the human matter,
i.e., the functional organization in virtue of which human beings are able to perform their characteristic
activities of life, including growth, nutrition, reproduction, perception, imagination, desire, and thinking.

References:

Mark, J. (2009). Ancient History Encyclopedia. Socrates. Retrieved from: https://www-ancient-

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Biography (n/d). Socrates. Retrieved from: https://www-biography-

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Meinwald, C. (n/d). Britanica. Plato. Retrieved from: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Plato

Sivohla, J. (n/d). Aristotle on the individuality of the self. Retrieved from:

https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4020-8596-3_6