Teresia Smith
PH201-I01
September 25, 2015
Hume and the Self Hume felt we should know why we believe what we believe and not just blindly accept that which has been assumed. Because he could not tangibly see or touch it, Hume believed that self did not exist but that our minds were merely a product of our impressions, which he defined as a product of our experiences and also ideas, which he termed copies of our impressions. He believed that every idea we have actually comes from some impression we have experienced. Hume thought that humans believed things out of habit and not with scientific proof. Because we have no proof, Hume believed that there is no self. Hume alleged that in lieu of self, we are basically just a menagerie of our …show more content…
Though Hume thought our minds conformed to what we observed, Kant believed we actually fashion our world through the impressions and ideas we experience and that allows us to gain knowledge and wisdom. Instead of our experiences controlling our minds, our minds use our experiences to enhance our understanding of the world around us. On page 129, Chafee explains Kant’s view as, “Metaphorically, our self is the weaver, who, using the loom of the mind, weaves together the fabric of experience into a unified whole so that it becomes my experience, my world, my universe. Without our self to perform this synthesizing function, our experience would be unknowable, a chaotic collection of sensations without coherence or significance.” Kant calls it a “unity of consciousness”, a phrase Kant coined to explain how our thoughts, perceptions, ideas and impressions are all connected together in one consciousness that makes your world make sense to you. This is how multiple people can see or experience an event but each comes away with their own perspective on what happened. Many times at a crime scene, multiple witnesses give varying accounts of the same crime. Each person’s consciousness controls the impressions they experienced and their …show more content…
According to Freud, “The unconscious contains basic instinctual drives including sexuality, aggressiveness, and self-destruction; traumatic memories; unfulfilled wishes and childhood fantasies; thoughts and feelings that would be considered socially taboo.”(p. 139). Our unconscious exists and operates but we cannot observe it and it only shows itself in uncontrollable ways such as a dream or a Freudian slip. Our conscious self reigns in our behaviors. This part of our self works to achieve our goals but within socially acceptable boundaries. So, ultimately, our conscious self works to control our unconscious self and keep us in check. According to Freud, “we can never simply accept our conscious thoughts and overt behavior at face value – there is always the possibility that there are hidden unconscious meanings and motivations causing and influencing them.”
PH201-I01
September 25, 2015
Hume and the Self Hume felt we should know why we believe what we believe and not just blindly accept that which has been assumed. Because he could not tangibly see or touch it, Hume believed that self did not exist but that our minds were merely a product of our impressions, which he defined as a product of our experiences and also ideas, which he termed copies of our impressions. He believed that every idea we have actually comes from some impression we have experienced. Hume thought that humans believed things out of habit and not with scientific proof. Because we have no proof, Hume believed that there is no self. Hume alleged that in lieu of self, we are basically just a menagerie of our …show more content…
Though Hume thought our minds conformed to what we observed, Kant believed we actually fashion our world through the impressions and ideas we experience and that allows us to gain knowledge and wisdom. Instead of our experiences controlling our minds, our minds use our experiences to enhance our understanding of the world around us. On page 129, Chafee explains Kant’s view as, “Metaphorically, our self is the weaver, who, using the loom of the mind, weaves together the fabric of experience into a unified whole so that it becomes my experience, my world, my universe. Without our self to perform this synthesizing function, our experience would be unknowable, a chaotic collection of sensations without coherence or significance.” Kant calls it a “unity of consciousness”, a phrase Kant coined to explain how our thoughts, perceptions, ideas and impressions are all connected together in one consciousness that makes your world make sense to you. This is how multiple people can see or experience an event but each comes away with their own perspective on what happened. Many times at a crime scene, multiple witnesses give varying accounts of the same crime. Each person’s consciousness controls the impressions they experienced and their …show more content…
According to Freud, “The unconscious contains basic instinctual drives including sexuality, aggressiveness, and self-destruction; traumatic memories; unfulfilled wishes and childhood fantasies; thoughts and feelings that would be considered socially taboo.”(p. 139). Our unconscious exists and operates but we cannot observe it and it only shows itself in uncontrollable ways such as a dream or a Freudian slip. Our conscious self reigns in our behaviors. This part of our self works to achieve our goals but within socially acceptable boundaries. So, ultimately, our conscious self works to control our unconscious self and keep us in check. According to Freud, “we can never simply accept our conscious thoughts and overt behavior at face value – there is always the possibility that there are hidden unconscious meanings and motivations causing and influencing them.”