How did Socrates, Plato, Descartes, Hume, Kant, Gilbert, Ryle, and Merleau-Ponty describe the self, and conceived the self?
Introduction
Describing self is a broad topic that most people overlook. Plato, Socrates, Hume, Descartes, Kant, Gilbert, Ryle, and Merleau-Ponty had varying ideas about the self. While some viewed self as a division made up of the mind and body some argue that the self is one. Others believe we create self through our thoughts, perceptions, and behaviors.
Self
Plato and Socrates believe that self is made up of body and soul. The body is mortal and changes over time. However, the soul is immortal, indissoluble and remains constant. Plato went ahead and broke down the soul. According to him, the soul consists of three parts, spirit, reason, and appetite. Rene Descartes agreed with Plato that reasoning is part of the self. He came up with the cogito ergo sum principle which states. I think therefore I am. If you are not aware of the mental and perceiving processes you engage in then you cannot discover self.
David Hume had a peculiar observation. According to him, there is no self. He argues that self is not found among the changing sensations of our lives and thus it does not exist. He further states that our mind is made of ideas and impressions that we have no control over. Unlike Hume, Kant argues that we construct the self. The mind thinks and perceives objects, ideas and relationships organize them in the process of creating an intelligible world.
Gilbert Ryle views the self as to how we behave. He argues that an individual is made of the physical and non-physical entities. The physical is the body but the non-physical is the mind. Merleau-Ponty views the self as one there is no division between the mind and the body. He developed phenomenology, an approach that states that all knowledge about ourselves is based on the environment.
Conclusion
According to Plato and Socrates, the self is made up of body and soul, the soul is immortal and does not change while the body is mortal and changes over time. Merleau Ponty views the self as one, there is no division between the mind and soul. David Hume goes ahead to state that there is no self. Unlike Hume, Kant suggests that we create self through perceiving and creating our world using our minds. Ryle views the self as to how we behave and Rene Descartes says that we discover ourselves through clear thinking to develop well-grounded beliefs.
References
Romdenh-Romluc, K. (2010). Routledge philosophy guidebook to Merleau-Ponty and phenomenology of perception. Routledge.
Smith, D. W. (2006). Phenomenology. Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science.
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