Understand the Self
St. Augustine
The African philosopher and regarded as a saint (St. Augustine of Hippo) in the Catholic
Church. He is one of the Latin Fathers of the church, one of the Doctors of the church, and one of
the most significant Christian thinkers.
He was restless until he found the rest in god. The destruction of the body age and appetites
are the reason of restlessness.
Famous Works
In his work, Confessions, Augustine describes that humankind is created in the image and
likeness of God. Everything created by God is all good is good. Therefore, the human person,
being a creation of God is always geared towards the good
For Saint Augustine “man consists of soul and body, a soul in the possession of a body”,
which does not constitute two person but one man.
The aspects of the self soul according to St. Augustine’s are:
• It is able to be aware of itself.
• It recognizes the self as a holistic one.
• It is aware of its unity.
Famous Words
“All knowledge leads to god”.
“Though man's thinking and willing we get a glimpse of who god is”.
“Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe”.
Rene Descartes (31 March 1596 – 11 February 1650)
A French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician, widely considered a seminal figure in
the emergence of modern philosophy and science.
A French philosopher, mathematician, and a scientist and considered as the father of
modern philosophy.
Famous Works
The Latin phrase Cogito Ergo Sum –“ I think therefore I am” is the keystone of Descartes’
concept of self. For him, the act of thinking about the self-of being self-conscious – I in it proof
, that there is a self. He asserted that everything perceived by the senses could not be used as proof
of existence because human senses could be fooled.
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 the time.
• The immaterial soul is the source of our identity.
The soul : Is unaffected by time. ; It is known only to itself (only you know your own
mental event and others correct your mental states). ; It is not made up of parts. It views the entirely
of itself with no hidden or separate compartments. It is both conscious and aware of itself at the
same time.
The body : It is a material substance that changes through time it can be doubted ; The
public can correct claims about the body. ; It is made up of physical, quantifiable, divisible parts.
Famous Words
“Only the mind not the body can arrive at clear and distinct ideas which cannot be doubted”. The
body and the senses cannot be trusted when it comes to finding the truth.
“There is one thing that cannot be doubted and it is definitely true and that is doubt itself”. Even
if you doubt that you are doubting the doubting is still clearly demonstrate that you are doubting.
“The search for the truth leads to a detachment from the material world outside of one's mind and
a focus on the inner world of consciousness and thinking”.
“Doubting is thinking , thinking is not doubting”. Not all doubting is thinking.
John Locke (29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704)
An English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of
Enlightenment thinkers and commonly known as the “father of liberalism”. Considered one of the
first of the British empiricists, following the tradition of Francis Bacon, Locke is equally important
to social contract theory.
Famous Works
An English philosopher and physician. For Locke, the human mind at birth is Tabula rasa
or a blank slate. He expanded the definition of the “self” that includes the memories of that thinking
thing. He feels that the “self or personal identity is basically constructed from the experiences –
like what people see, smell, taste, hear and feel.
He also interpreted that to mean the “self” – it must consist of memory; meaning the person
existing today is the same person yesterday. For Locke, the memories of a person provide the
St. Augustine
The African philosopher and regarded as a saint (St. Augustine of Hippo) in the Catholic
Church. He is one of the Latin Fathers of the church, one of the Doctors of the church, and one of
the most significant Christian thinkers.
He was restless until he found the rest in god. The destruction of the body age and appetites
are the reason of restlessness.
Famous Works
In his work, Confessions, Augustine describes that humankind is created in the image and
likeness of God. Everything created by God is all good is good. Therefore, the human person,
being a creation of God is always geared towards the good
For Saint Augustine “man consists of soul and body, a soul in the possession of a body”,
which does not constitute two person but one man.
The aspects of the self soul according to St. Augustine’s are:
• It is able to be aware of itself.
• It recognizes the self as a holistic one.
• It is aware of its unity.
Famous Words
“All knowledge leads to god”.
“Though man's thinking and willing we get a glimpse of who god is”.
“Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe”.
Rene Descartes (31 March 1596 – 11 February 1650)
A French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician, widely considered a seminal figure in
the emergence of modern philosophy and science.
A French philosopher, mathematician, and a scientist and considered as the father of
modern philosophy.
Famous Works
The Latin phrase Cogito Ergo Sum –“ I think therefore I am” is the keystone of Descartes’
concept of self. For him, the act of thinking about the self-of being self-conscious – I in it proof
, that there is a self. He asserted that everything perceived by the senses could not be used as proof
of existence because human senses could be fooled.
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 the time.
• The immaterial soul is the source of our identity.
The soul : Is unaffected by time. ; It is known only to itself (only you know your own
mental event and others correct your mental states). ; It is not made up of parts. It views the entirely
of itself with no hidden or separate compartments. It is both conscious and aware of itself at the
same time.
The body : It is a material substance that changes through time it can be doubted ; The
public can correct claims about the body. ; It is made up of physical, quantifiable, divisible parts.
Famous Words
“Only the mind not the body can arrive at clear and distinct ideas which cannot be doubted”. The
body and the senses cannot be trusted when it comes to finding the truth.
“There is one thing that cannot be doubted and it is definitely true and that is doubt itself”. Even
if you doubt that you are doubting the doubting is still clearly demonstrate that you are doubting.
“The search for the truth leads to a detachment from the material world outside of one's mind and
a focus on the inner world of consciousness and thinking”.
“Doubting is thinking , thinking is not doubting”. Not all doubting is thinking.
John Locke (29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704)
An English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of
Enlightenment thinkers and commonly known as the “father of liberalism”. Considered one of the
first of the British empiricists, following the tradition of Francis Bacon, Locke is equally important
to social contract theory.
Famous Works
An English philosopher and physician. For Locke, the human mind at birth is Tabula rasa
or a blank slate. He expanded the definition of the “self” that includes the memories of that thinking
thing. He feels that the “self or personal identity is basically constructed from the experiences –
like what people see, smell, taste, hear and feel.
He also interpreted that to mean the “self” – it must consist of memory; meaning the person
existing today is the same person yesterday. For Locke, the memories of a person provide the
