CHRIST THE KING COLLEGE DE MARANDING, Inc. MODULE 1 WEEK NO.

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Maranding, Lala, Lanao del Norte
ckcm_maranding@yahoo.com

DEPARTMENT OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

GEC 001: Understanding the Self

1st Semester of A.Y. 2020-2021

Welcome Note 

To our dear students,

Praised be Jesus and Mary. Now and Forever. Amen.

I would like to welcome you all here in Christ the King College de Maranding, Inc. for this
Academic Year 2020-2021 especially in this course GEC 001 with the descriptive title
Understanding the Self.
COURSE MODULE

To begin with, Understanding the self is a fundamental course in the General Education
curriculum for tertiary education. It is designed to help the students understand the nature of
identity including factors that influence and shape personal identity. Today, issues of self and
identity are very critical to adolescents. This module was conceptualized to aid undergraduate
students develop a more critical and reflective attitude in exploring the issues and concerns of the
self- identity for a better and proper way of understanding one’s self. It emphasizes the
integration of personal daily experience of the student with their learning experiences inside the
classroom to encourage them to improve themselves for a better quality of life.

This course has three major parts. The first chapter enables the students to understand
the construct of the self from various disciplinal perspectives: Philosophy, Sociology,
Anthropology, and Psychology including the more traditional division between the East and the
West. The second chapter deals with some of the various aspects that make up the self like the
biological self, material self, the political self, the spiritual self, and the digital self. The third and
final chapter provides a discussion on some issues of concern for young students these days,
which are learning, goal setting, and stress

This module provides opportunities for students to gain new skills for practical application
of the concepts learned that aim to help them become better and significant individuals of our
society. Propelled by a deep sense of mission to empower the Filipino youth, the authors
embarked on writing this module as a humble contribution in building a great nation.

Dear students I know this is not easy for all of us to have this kind of learning process
due to COVID-19 pandemic. But I do believe that if we have the collaborative learning access
UNITeverything
1. (Title)
will be fine and continue achieving our lessons.

Module 1.#(Topic)
We learn as one
# We educate as one

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Introduction 

Before we even had to be in any formal institution of learning, among the many things that we
were first taught as kids is to articulate and write our names. Growing up, we were told to refer back to
this name when talking about ourselves.
Intended Learning Outcomes 

At the end of this module, you should be able to:

a) ILO 1 Explain why it is essential to understand the self;
b) ILO 2 Describe and discuss the different notions of the self from the points of-view of the various
Philosophers across time and place.
c) ILO 3 Compare and contrast how the self has been presented in different philosophical schools;
And
d) ILO 4 Examine one’s self against the different views of self that were discussed in class.

Rationale 

The different perspectives and views on the self can be seen and understood by revisiting its
prime movers and identify the most important conjectures made by philosophers from the ancient
COURSE MODULE

times to the contemporary period.

Pre-activities 

Before the class discussion, there will be a pre-test quiz just to comprehend your prior
knowledge about this course and please proceed to EDMODO class 4ndnjj for the quiz at 10:15
am.

Discussions 

Unit 1 The Self From Various Perspectives

Module 1: Philosophical Perspective
Socrates (469/470-399 BCE)
 One of the most famous philosophers
 Was a Greek philosopher and is considered the father of western philosophy. Plato was his
most famous student and would teach Aristotle who would then tutor Alexander the Great. By
this progression, Greek philosophy, as first developed by Socrates, was spread throughout the
known world during Alexander's conquests.
 He is the first philosopher who ever engaged in a systematic questioning about the self.
 It became his life-long mission; the true task of the philosopher is to know oneself.
 He affirmed by Plato in his dialogues, that the unexamined life is not worth living.
For Socrates, every man is composed of body and soul. This means that every human person is
dualistic, that is, he is composed of two important aspects of his personhood.
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This means all individuals have an imperfect, impermanent aspect, the body, while maintaining that
there is also a soul that is perfect and permanent.

Plato (427-347 BC)

 Preserved and perpetuated the work of Socrates
 Most important source of info on Socrates
 Founded the Academy
 Wrote dialogues
 Universal Forms was a recurring theme
 The Republic-most important dialogue
 Plato, Socrates’ student basically took off from his master and supported the idea that man is a
dual nature of body and soul. Plato added that there are parts or three components to the soul:
 The rational soul, (reason and intellect)
 The spirited soul, (emotions)
 Appetitive soul ( Basic needs)

Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)

 Most famous student of Plato
COURSE MODULE

 Most famous teacher of Alexander the Great

 Developed Logic as a field of study
 Devised a complex system of classification
*used in Biology
 Views on Government
 3 Good Governments:
*Monarchy *Aristocracy *Democracy
Monarchy is a country that is ruled by a monarch, and monarchy is this system or
form of government. A monarch, such as a king or queen, rules a kingdom or
empire.
Aristocracy is a kind of government that puts power in the hands of a small,
privileged ruling class. In Ancient Greek, the word aristocracy means the rule of the
best, but it has come to be linked with rule by royal families. The people were called
aristocrats and often had titles such as duke, duchess, baron, and baroness.
Democracy is a form of government in which the people have the authority to
choose their governing legislation. Who people are and how authority is shared
among them are core issues for democratic theory, development and constitution.
 3 Bad Governments:
*Tyranny *Oligarchy * Mob Rule
Tyranny is a cruel, harsh, and unfair government in which a person or small group
of people have power over everyone else.
Oligarchy is a form of power structure in which power rests with a small number
of people. These people may be distinguished by nobility, wealth, education,
corporate, religious, political, or military control.
Mob Rule (Ochlocracy) is the rule of government by a mob or mass of people and
the intimidation of legitimate authorities.

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Augustine (354—430 C.E.)
 St. Augustine is a fourth century philosopher whose ground breaking philosophy infused
Christian doctrine with Neo-Platonism. He is famous for being an inimitable Catholic
theologian and for his agnostic contributions to Western philosophy.
 Augustine’s view of the human person reflects the entire spirit of the medieval world when it
comes to man.
 Following the ancient view of Plato and infusing it with the newfound doctrine of Christianity.
 Augustine agreed that man is of a bifurcated nature. There is an aspect of man, which dwells in
the world that is imperfect and continuously yearns to be with the Divine while the other is
capable of reaching immortality.

St. Thomas Aquinas (AKA Thomas of Aquin or Aquino) (c. 1225 - 1274)
 was an Italian philosopher and theologian of the Medieval period. He was the foremost
classical proponent of natural theology at the peak of Scholasticism in Europe, and the founder
of the Thomistic school of philosophy and theology.
 He appended to the Christian View. Adopting some ideas from Aristotle. He said that, indeed,
man is composed of two parts: matter and form.
 Matter or Hyle (Greek)
COURSE MODULE

 Refers to the common stuff that makes up everything in the universe. Man’s body is
part of this matter.
 Form or Morphe (Greek)
 Refers to the essence of substance or thing

René Descartes (1596 - 1650)

 was a French philosopher, mathematician, scientist and writer of the Age of Reason. He has
been called the "Father of Modern Philosophy", and much of subsequent Western philosophy
can be seen as a response to his writings. He is responsible for one of the best-known
quotations in philosophy: "Cogito, ergo sum" ("I think, therefore I am").
 He conceived that the human person as having a body and a mind.
 Descartes thought that the only thing that one cannot doubt is the existence of the self. For
even if one doubts oneself, that only proves that there is a doubting self, a thing that thinks and
therefore, that cannot be doubted.
 The Self then for Descartes is also a combination of two distinct entities:
Cogito or the thing that thinks, which is the mind
Extenza or extension of the mind, which is the body
 In Descartes' view the body is nothing else but a machine that is attached to the mind. The
human person has it but it is not what makes man a man. If at all, that is the mind. Descartes
says, “But what then, am I? A thinking thing. It has been said. But what is thinking thing? It is a
thing that doubts, understand, (conceives), affirms, denies, wills, refuses; that imagines also,
and perceives”

David Hume (1711 - 1776)

 was a Scottish philosopher, economist and historian of the Age of Enlightenment. He was an
important figure in the Scottish Enlightenment and, along with John Locke and Bishop George
Berkeley, one of the three main figureheads of the influential British Empiricism movement.
 He has a very unique way of looking at man

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 As an empiricist who believes that one can know only what comes from the senses and
experience.
 Empiricism is the school of thought that espouses the idea that knowledge can only be
possible if it is sensed and experiences. Men can only attain knowledge by experiencing.
 According to Hume, the self is nothing else but a bundle of impressions.
 Experiences categorized into two: Impression and Ideas.
 Impressions are the basic object of our experience or sensation. Therefore, form
the core of our thoughts. Impressions are the product of our direct
experience in the world.
 Ideas are copies of impressions
 Self for Hume is simply “a bundle or collection of different perceptions”

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)

 is one of the most influential philosophers in the history of Western philosophy. His
contributions to metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and aesthetics have had a profound impact
on almost every philosophical movement that followed him.
 Kant recognizes the veracity in Hume’s account that everything starts with perception and
sensation of impressions.
COURSE MODULE

 However, Kant thinks that the things that men perceive around them are not just randomly
infused into the human person without an organizing principle that regulates the relationship
of all these impressions.
 Suggests that “self” is an actively engaged intelligence in man that synthesizes all knowledge
and experience

Gilbert Ryle (1900-1976)

 He was best known for his criticism of what he called the "Official Doctrine" of "Cartesian
Dualism" as a theory of mind.
 He said that the truly matter is the behaviours that a person manifests in his day-to-day life.
 To understand a self as it really exists is like visiting your friend’s university and looking for
the “university”.
 Self is not an entity one can locate and analyse but simply the convenient name that people use
to refer to all the behaviours that people make.

Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908—1961)

 Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s work is commonly associated with the philosophical movement
called existentialism and its intention to begin with an analysis of the concrete experiences,
perceptions, and difficulties, of human existence.
 He said that the mind and body are so intertwined that they cannot be separated from one
another.
 One cannot find any experience that is not an embodied experience. All experience is
embodied.
 One’s body is his opening toward his existence to the world. Because of these bodies, men are
in the world.

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Activities 

Activity # 1 Individual Essay of the different philosophical quotes.

Assessments 

 Essay Rubrics
 Quizzes

Reflections 

 Pick one of the philosophical quotes that you like the most and you can find it at the
EDMODO class and then,
 Try to reflect it into the real life experiences.

Resources and Additional Resources 

 Beilharz, Peter, and Trevor Hogan. 2002. Social Self, Global Culture: An Introduction to
COURSE MODULE

Sociological Ideas. New York: Oxford University Press.

 Chaffee, John. 2015. The Philosopher’s Way: Thinking Critically about Profound Ideas.
5th Ed. Boston: Pearson.
 David, Randolph. 2002. Nation, Self, and Citizenship: An Invitation to Philippine
Sociology, College of Social Sciences and Philosophy, University of the
Philippines.

Glossary 
Aesthetics - done or made to improve a person’s appearance or to correct defects in a
person’s appearance
Agnostic - a person who holds the view that any ultimate reality (such as God) is
unknown and probably mystery.
Bifurcated - divided into two branches or parts
Epistemology - the study or a theory of the nature and grounds of knowledge especially with
reference to its limits and validity.

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