SELF TERMSSELF TERMSTerms from the Chapter

“Men go abroad to wonder at the height of mountains, at the huge wave of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motions of the stars and they passed by themselves without ever wondering.” -Saint Augustine

“Nosce Teipsum.” “Know thyself, and know the universe.”

-Delphic Oracle

Essential Self/SoulEssential Self/Soul

Pg. 185: “[the belief that] there is within us a ‘real self,’ a self that does not vary from context to context.”

Question: Does the Essential Self exist?

Self-IdentitySelf-Identity

Pg. 186: “Self-identity is the way [a person] characterizes his or her self. This includes both a general characterization…or as a member of a group [Christian, Buddhist, Jew].”

Question: How much do [or should] physical traits play into your concept of self? Group association vs. Individual concept?

Thinking SelfThinking Self

Pg. 187: “The thinking self [is] the self that is aware of itself.”

-Rene Descartes believed the thinking self to be the essential self

Question: Do people that are in a coma have a self [at that moment]?

SolipsismSolipsism

Pg. 187: [We] can only begin to know one’s own mind; knowledge of anything outside our mind or anyone else’s mind cannot be known.

-David Hume was a skeptic who once argued never know anything but our own ideas and experiences.

Question: Is it ever possible to know someone?

Memory and the SelfMemory and the Self Pg. 188: “John Locke [argued] that the self

was not the whole of consciousness but a specific part of the mind –namely, our memory.”

-Locke believed the Self was the part of the mind that remembers its past.

Question: If someone were to lose their memory, are they the same self?

Emotional SelfEmotional Self

Pg. 190: “[Kierkegaard] defined the self in terms of the passions…one’s most important mission in life was to cultivate the self by cultivating one’s passions.”

-Nietzsche insisted that humans cultivate their aesthetic sensibilities (art, beauty, individuality)

-Aristotle and Confucius urged people to cultivate ethical sensibilities (virtues)

Freud’s Emotional SelfFreud’s Emotional Self Pg. 191: “Freud…located emotions in

the id as opposed to the ego, suggesting that they threatened the integrity of the self rather than being part of it. …Plato thought that the emotions were the spirited part of the soul that needed to be governed by reason.”

Question: Should emotions or reason be ‘in charge’ of the self? Do emotions have reason/logic?

What is an Emotion?What is an Emotion?

Pg. 192: In groups of 3-4 read the top of page 192 from “Nevertheless…” to the end of the third paragraph. [Stop at the bloc quote from William James] In your understanding, what exactly is an emotion?

Answer the following Define the following terms in your own words: Self-

Identity, Essential Self, Thinking Self, Emotional Self In your estimation, explain the role of emotions,

memory & impulses in shaping your essential self

QuestionsQuestions Answer the following on a separate sheet

of paper. Please answer in complete sentences. 1. Define the following terms in your own

words: Self-Identity, Essential Self, Thinking Self, Emotional Self

2. In your estimation, explain the role of emotions, memory & impulses in shaping your essential self

3. Explain whether emotions or actions are more significant in shaping yourself?