plato.stanford.edu. (14,000 words). (original) (raw)

Abstract

Referred to by some philosophers as “the knot of the universe,” investigations concerning human selfhood can help unravel questions of central contemporary relevance, such as what it is to be human in a globalized, secular world. This study seeks to provide a comprehensive overview of the major themes, questions, and debates concerning the concept of the self across different philosophical traditions—East and West. Despite hundreds of studies, philosophers seem to disagree about whether there is such a thing called the self, or whether the idea of the self might help or constrain our ethical and mental life. Added to all this is the fact that for many philosophers, understanding our “selves”—our natures, capabilities, and possibilities—is the most challenging of all questions because, in the final analysis, it cannot be attained through empirical research alone. That is, there are no scientific facts which can help us determine decisively whether our selves constitute parts of our bodies, or are incorporeal substances which somehow relate to our bodies, or are epiphenomena of our brains. However, there are philosophers who argue that science today is in a position to resolve the mystery of selfhood and consciousness. This study thus seeks to provide a survey of selfhood using the following taxonomy. Since philosophers have discussed the self in a wide variety of ways, this study first divides theories into “self” and “no-self” categories. Theories that affirm the self are further divided into “minimalist,” “maximalist,” and “in-between” conceptions. Under the “minimalist” category, I discuss phenomenological theories of the self (e.g., the minimal self), while under the “maximalist” category, I analyze metaphysical treatments of the self (i.e., Neoplatonism, Advaita Vedanta, Sufi metaphysics, Daoism, Native American thought, etc.). Moreover, I examine various “in-between” theories of the self, such as the substantialist view, the non-substantialist view, the narrative view, the ownership view, the embodied self, the selves view (pearl on a string), the eliminativist view, and the neuroscientific view. Furthermore, under the “no-self” category, I survey Buddhist theories of the self, the bundle theory (e.g., Hume), and postmodern conceptions of the self, while noting their nuances. In addition, I also survey recent theories of the self proposed by Jonardon Ganeri, Jay Garfield, Charles Taylor, Dan Zahavi, and Daniel Dennett. This study also devotes several small sections to issues such as selfhood and consciousness, selfhood and inwardness, and selfhood and human flourishing. Overall, this study discusses selfhood in relation to philosophers as diverse as Plato, Aristotle, Mencius, Vasubandhu, Dharmakīrti, Shankara, Śāntideva, Avicenna, Mullā Ṣadrā, Descartes, Locke, Kant, Heidegger, and Parfit.