 Concerned with the

problem of the self.

 The unexamined life is
not worth living.
 Underwent a trial for
corrupting the minds of
the youth.
 Succeeded and made
people think about
WHO they are!

SOCRATES
470 BCE - 399 BCE “The true task of the
philosopher is to know
oneself”
  MAN = MATTER +
FORM
 MATTER (hyle) –
common stuff that
makes up everything in
the universe
 FORM (morphe) –
essence of a substance
or thing (what makes
it, what it is)
 “There is so much that
we should doubt”
ST. THOMAS
AQUINAS “The soul is what
(1225–1274)
makes us humans”

 Human Person = body +

mind
 The only thing one
cannot doubt is the
existence of the self.
 “Cogito ergo sum” (I
think therefore I am)
 Self = cogito + extenza
 The body is a machine
attached to the mind
(Father of Modern  It is the mind that makes
the man
Philosophy)
“I am a thinking thing… A
RENE thing that doubts, understands,
DESCARTES affirms, denies, wills, refuses,
(1596 – 1650) imagines, perceives.”
 IMPERFECT

BODY

TEMPORAL

MAN or
INDIVIDUAL

PERFECT

SOUL

PERMANENT

BIOLOGICAL SOUL

HEAD RATIONAL
HEART SPIRITUAL
LIVER APPETITIVE

PSYCHOLOGICAL VIRTUE
REASON WISDOM
EMOTIONS COURAGE
DESIRES TEMPERANCE

When the above mentioned are attained, the

human person becomes just and virtuous.
BODY Dies on earth

Lives eternally in
SOUL spiritual bliss with God
  The soul is immortal

 Reason (divine
essence), spirit or
passion (basic
motions), and physical
appetite (basic
biological needs)

“If human beings do not

live in accordance to their
nature/function, the result
PLATO will be injustice.”
(C. 470–399 BCE)

 Following the views

of Plato but adds
Christianity
 Man is of a bifurcated
nature
 Part of man dwells in
the world (imperfect)
and yearns to be with
the divine.

ST. AUGUSTINE “Spirit of Man”

OF HIPPO
(354 - 430 AD)