To many, it may seem others play an important role in the formation of self. When we interact with others, make comparisons with others and live out our social roles we seem to be affected – so we assume that so is the formation of our “self”. In reality, it isn’t affected. With an idealist view of a non-physical self, that also possesses continuity and unity it can be exposed how flawed this view of self is, and how others play no role whatsoever in the formation of the self. However, our sensory knowledge which is deceptive, leads us to believe in an incorrect view of self, causing the illusion of the importance of the role of others in the formation of the self.
Initially, we must realise our view of self may be mistaken, so before looking at the role of others in its formation, we must know: what truly is the self? Generally speaking, there are three main theories concerning the composition of self and the nature of reality. Physicalism/Materialism argues that ultimately everything is composed of only matter and presents a physical material self (the brain and body). Hence, it claims that psychological events can be reduced to physical phenomena in the brain. In addition, it does not account for “qualia” that is the “what it is like” to be something, a materialist ignores the subjective experience of an organism and tries to explain it objectively which would seem impossible (Nagel, T 1979). To account for this, dualism makes dual commitments about the nature of existence as it relates to mind and matter, which are separate non-physical and physical entities (substantialist dualism); therefore the self is composed of both mind and matter. Whilst, dualism does explain the distinction between our mental and physical states it f...
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...w England Armidale: Published by Teaching and Learning Centre UNE Armidale. pp 1-20.
Nagel, T. 1979m “What is it like to be a Bat”, (extracts), in Mortal Questions, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 165 – 180
Dennet, Daniel C. 1981, “Where Am I?”, (extracts), in Brainstorms, Harvester Press, Sussex, pp 310 – 323
The Concept of Eternal Soul or Atman in Hinduism 2008 Available at http://www.hinduwebsite.com/atman.asp (Accessed 13/03/09-15/03/09)
Description of the Soul of Atman in the Bhagavad-Gita 2008 Available at http://www.hinduwebsite.com/soul.asp (Accessed 12/03/09 - 15/03/09)
Real Self and False Self by Dr. K. Sadananda 2009 Available at http://www.advaita.org.uk/discourses/sadananda/self_sadananda.htm (Accessed12/03/09 - 14/03/09)
Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy. 2008 Available at http://plato.stanford.edu/ (Accessed on 13/02/09)
Gould, Stephen Jay. The Mismeasure of Man. W.W. Norton & Company. New York, London. 1981.
This article, Life as a Maid’s Daughter by Mary Romero, takes the reader through the life a girl named Teresa. She lived a unique life, because she was able to see the differences ways in which different races and social classes of people live in America. Teresa and her mother Carmen are lower class Mexican-Americans, and the people that Carmen is a maid for are upper-middle class white Americans. Throughout her life Teresa learns about different aspects of herself (i.e. race, social class, gender, and family) through interactions with her biological family and the families of the employers.
American Literature 58.2 (May 1986): 181-202. Wright, Richard.
Nagel, Thomas. "What Is It Like to Be a Bat?" Exploring Philosophy. 4th ed. New York: Oxford UP, 2012. 138-141. Print.
The existence of the soul has perplexed man for ages. Islamic philosopher Avicenna believed that he had proved the existence of the soul with his flying man thought experiment. He claims that the soul is a separate part of the human body that we don’t access. He claims that the flying man lacks knowledge of anything due to his predicament and through this can find the soul. This lack of knowledge makes it impossible for the flying man to actually create an understanding of his own existence and is reliant upon the soul. But the soul proposes an understanding that existence that is either through the body or inconsistent with Avicenna’s own explanation of modern existence. To truly understand the soul man must have full access to all possible knowledge and will inevitably realize that their conscience is immaterial.
From society to family to media, external influences never seem to disappear from everyday life. These outward forces tend to leave a lasting impression on us for as long as we live. Because they are so prevalent in our daily lives, exterior factors will have a significant influence on us, specifically our sense of self and happiness. When defining our sense of self, it eventually comes down to how we interpret our individual self-image. In most cases, we do not truly know who we are from our own mindset. Therefore, we take into account the reactions that those around us have an influence on our actions and decisions. From these external effects, we create the persona of who we are. In his article, Immune to Reality, Daniel Gilbert explains
Accordingly, the model would be that a human person is a multi-level being in which there is a kind of ultra-powerful transcendental unity of both apprehension and life and that body is a real but lower appearance and effect of Unity. That Unity used to be called "soul".
All human beings have an immortal soul (atma) which is part of God and is on a journey to reunite with Him (Mukti).
Philosopher Julian Baggini offers an evaluation and personal theory of self in his book The Ego Trick. This paper will summarize key parts of the book and evaluate the soundness of its claims. I have divided my paper into three main parts. The first acts as a primer for later sections, and summarizes the first section of Baggini’s book. The second is a synopsis of Baggini’s main claims. And the third reflects upon the truth of Baggini’s claims.
Dualism is a broad term that can encompass many areas within philosophy itself. In aspect to metaphysics, it classifies the types of entities in the world into two subcategories, physical and non physical substance. While this may appear to be a very wide and ambiguous opinion, it becomes very specific in regards to our own existence. Paul Churchland puts it very explicitly in his book Matter and Consciousness, and defines dualism as the idea that, “the essential nature of conscious intelligence resides in something nonphysical” (Churchland 1). Though dualism is a highly regarded and popular view on the state of existence, its core arguments present an array of problems that detract from the credibility of its reality.
In Chapter 13 of Concerning the Soul, Avicenna argues that, because the soul is incorruptible, it does not die with the death of the body. He then presents two arguments to support the conclusion that, upon death, the soul does not die. It is my intent to explain the general structure of the “absolutely incorruptible” argument that Avicenna gives for the immortality of the soul, and to give a critical assessment of that argument.
All the six orthodox schools of Indian philosophy admit to thinking of the soul as not only immortal but also as endless. The reasoning of the materialists like Charvakas amounts to this that, however consciousness is unseen in external objects, it develops into manifest in these objects when they form an organism creature.... ... middle of paper ... ...
But, “human persons have an ‘inner’ dimension that is just as important as the ‘outer’ embodiment” (Cortez, 71). The “inner” element cannot be wholly explained by the “outer” embodiment, but it does give rise to inimitable facets of the human life, such as human dignity and personal identity. The mind-body problem entails two theories, dualism and physicalism. Dualism contends that distinct mental and physical realms exist, and they both must be taken into account. Its counterpart (weak) physicalism views the human as being completely bodily and physical, encompassing no non-physical, or spiritual, substances.
In the Gita, Brahman is the supreme and Atman is his spirit in man (Gita 8.3). It is eternal and never dies. As in chapter 2.12 Krishna tells Arjuna we all have been for all time and we all shall be for all time. The self in the Upanishads is very active since Brahman wins a victory for gods (Kena.3.1) and Atman is the charioteer of body (Katha3.3). In both of the texts self is always defined in terms of divine and is tightened to the whole universe...
The concept of the ‘self’ is regarded as an “entity which persists through time and change” (Grayling, pg. 540), in spite of other variations, albeit unnecessary ones, that occur in a person. Ones self is alleged to be the backbone of “thinking, perceiving, memory, and the like – the ultimate ‘bearers’ of our psychological properties.” (Grayling, pg. 540) The idea of ‘self’ is a topic of important philosophical debate, and one which Kant and Hume dexterously engage themselves in. This essay will begin by outlining Hume’s philosophical approach and his theory of self. Following that Kant’s theory of self will be looked at.