A Philosophical Look at Your "SELF"

            The concept of “Self” is a very broad topic that many people failed at explaining. But throughout history, two philosophers, Rene Descartes and David Hume, were able to successfully describe the concept of “Self”. Descartes thought an individual exists because we think, while Hume, who has the more accurate concept of “Self”, thought we temporarily exist since we are always changing. Through examining their different concepts of “Self”, I realized that Hume has a more accurate concept because we always change.

            “I think therefore I am” sums up everything that Descartes needs to explain about his concept of “Self”. This concept originated when Descartes needed a foundation of absolute certainty to build his system of knowledge on.  This foundation would allow him to explain how and why things are undoubtedly real. Descartes realized that in order to discover the foundation of absolute certainty, he had to doubt everything he knew until he came across something that was undoubtedly true. One idea that he doubted was the use of the five senses. Descartes realized that these senses are one’s own opinions, not fact. Optical illusions that can play tricks on one’s eyes demonstrates the inaccuracy of the five senses showing how one can not depend on one’s own senses when trying to distinguish fact from fiction. Another idea that Descartes questioned was mathematics. He knew basic concepts such as “3 +2 = 5” and “a square must have four equal sides” are true and can be proven. He thought these mathematical concepts were unquestionable until he factored in the idea of a supernatural being. Descartes thought of the possibility of a supernatural being that would try to deceive humans into thinking basic concepts, such as mathematics, were true and unquestionable. Descartes’ evil supernatural being whom he named Evil Genius existed only to deceive mankind into believing in the simplest concepts to be true when in reality they are false.

           After analyzing all the ideas that would not be considered true, Descartes eventually realized that the only reliable source of truth is his own thoughts. It was through this conclusion that he stated, “I think, therefore I am”.  Descartes stated that even when one doubts his own thoughts, he must think in order to start doubting his own thoughts. Since doubting is a type of thinking, Descartes was able to state that thinking is an absolute certainty. Now with a foundation of absolute certainty, Descartes proved that mathematics, which he previously thought was doubtful, is another absolute certainty.  By using St. Anselm’s “ontological argument”, Descartes proved that God did exist. God, being the “all benevolent” and “all-mighty” force, would destroy the Evil Genius, preventing him from deceiving mankind, who are God’s creation. Without the influence of an Evil Genius, Descartes proved that mathematics is also an absolute certainty. By using mathematics, he also proved that physical materials, such as trees and rocks, have shape and form and indeed, do exist. Everything that Descartes proved comes back to “Self, his foundation of absolute certainty. Without it, Descartes would not be able to prove the existence of God, the validity of mathematics, or the concrete presence of physical materials.

            Many years after Descartes’ concept of “Self” was introduced to the world; a new philosopher by the name of David Hume came into the scene. Like many other philosophers, Hume did not share the same views as Descartes, and decided to use a different procedure to discover his own concept of “Self”. His discovery began when Hume decided to place all thoughts and ideas into one of three categories: analytic, synthetic, and nonsense claims. Hume defined an analytical statement as a self-contradiction once it has been negated in which the claim is stated. Such statements would be self contradicting if it was turned into a negative statement and is proven to be true.  Hume defined a synthetic statement as an idea that can be traced back to past experiences or prior knowledge. Lastly, Hume decided that anything that was not analytical or synthetic was labeled as nonsense.

            One problem Hume came across when categorizing statements involved synthetic claims. He realized that a person’s prediction on a certain event is based on his past experiences and knowledge. This became a problem since a particular event would not always follow the pattern of previous events, no matter how many times it has occurred. This problem became known as the problem of induction. Since no analytical or synthetic claims can guarantee the results of a certain event, Hume concluded that there are no connections between any two events. It is with this idea that Hume arrived at his concept of “Self”. He found that “self” is a combination of different emotions, thoughts and perceptions. Incorporating his discovery of induction, Hume states that nothing will stay the same because the world is constantly changing. For instance, when a person sees a tree outside his classroom everyday, it does not seem to change. But according to Hume’s concept of “Self”, the tree looks different every time, whether it has lost a few branches or a couple of leaves. Hume thought the “Self” is always changing but we never notice it. We continue to have the same view of the person, although they have changed.

            Despite the fact they lived in different time periods, Descartes and Hume still showed similarities in their conclusions. They used the world, God, and “Self” in their experiments as “test subjects” to eventually find their concept of “Self”. Descartes started his experiment by doubting everything. He did not trust objects because he doubted their existence, and he did not trust God because he had no way to prove that God existed. Descartes concluded that the foundation of absolute truth is his thoughts. Hume went through a similar process to determine his concept of “Self”. When using God in his analytic/synthetic distinction method, Hume realized that the statement “God exists” is neither analytical nor synthetic. Since God can not be traced back to any root of origin, Hume concluded that God is nonsense, an idea that no one can prove. Once he discovered the problem of induction, Hume proved the world is nonsense. He stated that we think the events occurred the way they did based on our past experiences. However, it’s possible that events can be different from what we witnessed before. Hume proved that we are never sure of the world because there isn’t any connection between any two events. With this same idea, he found that “Self” is a combination of different emotions, thoughts, and perceptions. Therefore, Hume was able to conclude that a person is constantly changing. He couldn’t prove that “Self” didn’t exist because he would doubt his thinking which would in effect, doubt his conclusions. In addition, he couldn’t trace “Self” back to its origins because there is no actual data to trace it by. Hume also couldn’t call it nonsense because he knew there was a “Self”. He can’t think if the “Self” wasn’t there to provide him with the mind. Thus, he couldn’t classify “Self” in his analytic/synthetic distinction. Through both men had different point of views, Hume and Descartes used God, world, and “Self” to test how truthful their conclusions are.

            Descartes and Hume also have similarities when if comes to their concepts. Both of them could not doubt that the “SELF” was present and in fact, did exist. Descartes thought about doubting his “Self” but could not because he knew that without the “Self”, one can not think. Therefore, if one can’t think, then the individual don’t exist. Hume had similar concepts of self when he discovered that causality was false since it can’t be proven that the same conclusion would occur for a specific event that happens multiple times. Hume used this idea to establish his concept of “Self” by stating that a person is constantly changing whether it is the clothes they wear, their attitudes, or their personality.  Both Descartes and Hume discovered that there is a “Self” within them that prompted them to their conclusions. It is without doubting the existence of “Self” that both were able to rely on the rest of their conclusions. Without discovering the concept of “Self”, Descartes would have to find another foundation and Hume would have to discard his concept of categorizing analytic and synthetic ideas.

            Despite their numerous similarities, Descartes and Hume also had a lot of differences between their ideas. Hume’s idea of “Self” is constantly changing while Descartes’ idea of “Self” stays constant.  Through his statement, “I think therefore I am”, Descartes shows how an individual comes into existence and continues to be the same existing person.  As long as the individual is thinking, he or she will continue to exist. Just like any other thinking individual, Descartes states that all people are the same and there are not distinctions between two individuals. 

            Hume disagrees with this concept by arguing that this “Self” is never constant. He agreed that a “Self” does exist, but it will always be changing due to an individual’s own perceptions and actions. People may look alike physically but each person has their own emotions, thoughts, and moods that will distinct them from other individuals.

            Looking at the ideas and concepts of Descartes and Hume, and then comparing their concepts to my own experiences, I realize that I strongly agree with Hume’s concept. “You never meet the same person twice” is a saying that most closely identifies Hume’s ideas and most closely relates to my own opinions of the concept of “Self”. Through my own experiences interacting with others, I can see that Hume’s concept of “Self” is more accurate than Descartes’. Recently I have seen my friends come back home from college. When I see them, I know they are not the same as the last time I have seen them. Many have change their tastes in fashion by wearing different styles of clothing while others engage in new activities they have never thought of trying out in high school. Not only did my friends change in their appearance and physical activities, but they have also acquired more knowledge on certain topics, and have different opinions on certain issues through their every day experiences and encounters. Even though my friends do not notice the changes because they see themselves in the mirror every day and are constantly engaged with their own thoughts and opinions, it is undeniable that they have changed since the summer before they left for college. Through my friends, I see that Hume’s idea of changes of the “Self” is true. It is through long periods of time away that we are able to recognize changes in a person, but it is through the accumulation of small changes that a person changes. This idea can be seen in the tree illustration. No one sees the changes a tree goes through such as losing leaves or gaining bark. It is only after a long period of time that someone starts to notice the changes. Even though these changes were not recognized before, it does not mean that it was not constantly changing.