Hannah Lyn S.

Pabellano
BS Forestry

Multiple Choice. Write the letter of your answer in the space provided before each
number.
A 1. During this period, perspectives on understanding the self suggest that all
reality should be questioned and that people construct meanings into their lives.
a. Greek civilization c. Medieval period
b. Pre-modern period d. Post-modern period
__C__ 2. When you engage yourself in the process of carefully examining your own
thoughts and emotions, you are doing ___________.
a. self-discovery c. introspection
b. prayerful reflection d. phenomenology
B 3. If body is to physical realm; truth, goodness, and beauty is to _________
realm.
a. immortal c. imaginative
b. ideal d. rational
D 4. Plato’s three parts of the soul are reason, __________, and spirit or passion.
a. vegetative c. rational
b. appetitive d. form
B 5. For Aristotle, the rational function is located at the ________.
a. mind c. heart
b. soul d. self
D 6. Which of the following is not a function of the soul according to St.
Augustine?
a. memory c. intelligence
b. will d. reason
D 7. Which of the following pairs of philosophers have conflicting concept about
knowledge? One said that knowledge existed even before the actual experience, while
the other one argued that knowledge is acquired through experience.
a. Socrates and Plato c. Churchland and Hume
 b. Descartes and Aristotle d. Plato and Locke
C 8. Who said that “there is no self, only physical body”?
a. Churchland c. Hume
b. Ryle d. Socrates
C 9. Who among the following thinkers is a known phenomenologist?
a. Ryle c. Merleau-Ponty
b. Churchland d. Kant
B 10. He defined the self simply as bodily behaviors.
a. Socrates c. Hume
b. Ryle d. Kant

Assignment/ Activity
1. Look for a detailed biography of one of the philosophers discussed in this module
and make an analysis on how their life experiences influenced their concepts about
the self. Cite your sources or references.
Ever since, St. Augustine was exposed to Christianity. He's mother is a christian and he's
father is was a pagan, an adherent of the Roman civil religion, but despite of having a
christian mother, he grow up as a quite rebel. When he was sixteen, he was sent to the
university of Carthage; the largest city in the region and there he studied literature and
poertry. Sion aftet he was sent to the university his father died and leave him to be the
head of their household, and during this period he had read the book about spiritual
journey which inspired him to seek truth. After he finished his study, he went back to
Thagaste and teach, and there he became a succesful public speaker and teacher.
Eventually, he go to Rome but opportunity seems avoiding him, nevertheless Augustine
caught the Roman's official attention because of his talent. In later years, Augustine moved
to Milan where he heard Bishop Ambrose preaching and there he became attached to
Christianity. When St. Augustine became a bishop, he became well-known in
christian world.
Saint Augustine believed that one should detached worldy affairs, for true knowledge can
only attained through God. Through introspection, the soul could know what was true and
known by faith. The soul works like the Trinity of three functions: memory,
intelligence or understanding, and will. Still like the Trinity, which was a three-in-one,
the soul was a single unity not divisible into parts.The soul is the “spouse” of the
body; united and attached to one another. Saint Augustine is convinced that the self
is known only through knowing God.
 As a Christian, I can say that the understanding of the self of St. Augustine justify my
belief. I also believed that through God you will understand yourself more. Though, I also
believed that understanding the self can also achieve in experience,
Anonymous. (NA). Saint Augustine Biography. Retrieved from https://
www.cliffsnotes.com
Go-Monilla, M. J. A. & Ramirez, N. C. (2018). Understanding the self. Manila,
Philippines.
2. Complete the following matrix.
Philosopher Concept about the self
1. Socrates - known for his expression “an examined life is not worth living
or know thyself”
- He believed that the self is the soul and suggested that reality
has two dichotomous realms which is physical and ideal.
- He advised that we should rely on rational and introspection to
understand the self.
2. Plato - Presented the three parts of the soul; Reason, Physical
appetite, Spirit or Passion.
- Knowledge existed in the soul prior to any actual experience
3. Aristotle - He believed in the soul and presented its three function;
Vegetative, Appetitive, Rational.
- Also projected the four causes; Physical material, Formal
Cause, Efficient Cause and Final Cause.
- As well offered the concept of Potency and Act.
4. St. Augustine - Combined Greek Platonic and Christian thinking.
-Presented the method of introspection.
-The soul works like the Trinity of three functions; Memory,
Intelligence and Will.
- The self is known only through knowing God.
5. Descartes - According to Go-Manila & Ramirez (2018), the act of thinking
about the self or being self-conscious is in itself a solid basis that
there is self that exists.
- Proposed the idea of dualism and the concept of reflex action
which indicates that the mind the body interact.
- Mind is the spiritual entity while body is the material entity.
6. Locke - Introduced the idea that all experiences may be analyzed, also
known for his term “tabula rasa” meaning in blank sheet.
- All ideas came from experiences. The mind is passive and can
only do two things; receive experiences from outside world and
mind could reflect upon itself.
7. Hume - Believed that the mind is nothing but a heap of different
perceptions and unified together by certain relationships.
- The self is nothing but a physical body.
8. Kant - Human beings have the faculty called rational will, which is the
 capacity to act according to principles that we determine
ourselves (Bulaong et al., 2018)
-“Faculty” means inherent mental capacity.
9. Ryle - For him, what truly matters is the behavior that a person does.
Stated, to the self an entity no one can locate and analyze.
10. Merleau-Ponty - Proponent of existentialism and phenomenology in post-war
France.
- Declared that the mind-body issue that has been going on for a
long time is an invalid problem. Mind and body are intertwined
that they cannot be separated.
11. Churchland - Recognized for his work “eliminative materialism”, the view that
the mind is the brain. Thus, the self is inseparable from the brain
and the physiology of the body. For him, the physical brain and
not the imaginary mind gives people the sense of self. The mind
does not really exist since it cannot be experienced by the
senses (Go-Manila & Ramirez, 2018).