In many years of my existence, I have never realized what true self is.

All I know is that my true self is

being myself. But through identifying oneself it can enlighten what my perspectives are in the concept of
true self. The authenticity of oneself is being open, true, and transparent on true self, it encompasses self
awareness on true self. My true self is loving and putting others first ony list rather than myself. It makes
me more fulfilled and special in a way that I was able to make a positive note and impact them. Also, I
gain my knowledge through the power of sensory experiences. Another is the fulfillment of the obligation
for the world we live in and how we decide what is the better and right thing to do. Moreover, the
psychoanalysis and defense mechanisms that can help me to fully understand and appreciate what is the
significance and relationship with the experiences that happen in my life. Arriving with that realization is
not simple as it feels like, there you will assess and analyze yourself. Probing about yourself can be
difficult as you often don't understand your own. Through self-examination the authenticity of oneself can
develop a strong foundation of oneself. This makes us the real versions of ourselves that the world and
our society deserves. Now that we have these perspectives given by various philosophers with diverse and
different perspectives, it becomes our tool to arrive and understand what are the processes we can do in
order for us to fully understand what true self is. This are some of the philosophers that I think makes me
fully understand who really I am in this world.

“Who am I?” This question is one of the biggest questions in the world. All of us would answer it in
different ways based on our personal views and perception of who we are in terms of being a daughter or
son, sister or brother, a friend, being a student, and just being a human being in this world. But up to this
date, I'm still looking for my best answer on that question. Now, with the knowledge I have gained from
the discussion, I'm starting to understand and know myself. In this generation, multiple persons come up
with concepts for us to deepen our understanding of ourselves. What highlights for me is that our true self
is influenced by our beliefs, culture, society, family members and friends, and personal factors. Another,
through a thorough analysis about my personal pursuit of authenticity, by doing such things that can help
my personal understanding about myself. Knowing my strengths and weaknesses, understanding my own
emotions to have an empathic relationship among others, self-reflection, and knowing my own values in
life. And in some ways, I can correct things that I have been through all my life. Above all, philosophical
perspectives by philosophers are beneficial in understanding oneself.
First in the list is Immanuel Kant, a central figure of modern philosophy. I highly support his
perspective in the nature of self. All of us encounter many dilemmas in our lives wherein we decide what
we're gonna do, and with that we have to give up something in order for us to have the other, which is our
choice. He highlights that we have to act morally, which simply means that we have to do the right thing
regardless of our beliefs, culture, and other factors that affect our decisions. To illustrate, this is being
observed in some students that they will use cheat codes or they will copy answers from their classmates
in order to pass the exam, this deontological ethics is shown in that situation. They will cheat (cheating is
wrong) for them to pass the exam (good thing), as we all know passing an exam is a duty or role of a
student. Nevertheless we have to act morally not just because it's the right thing to do, but it is our good
will and obligation not just for ourselves but also amongst others. With Kant, we have to separate our
religion and morality for us to arrive with the truth we have to use reasons. With this, it's best to have our
good will and do what is morally right despite the consequences that you could face in different
situations.
 Moreover, being concerned about other people is also one of my personal traits. I tend to help and put
others first rather than myself, this makes me more fulfilled whenever I help them even in a small way,
because for me loving others is also loving myself. Just like the perspective of St. Augustine of Hippo, for
him, true self is the one that loves others. In my personal life, his philosophy is much suited for my true
self. Personally, there is a certain point of my life that I'm not aware that God is with me. But when I
realized what's the true meaning of life, I started to learn that He is always here and with that, it enables
me to love myself and other people. Because for me, loving God is a representation of loving others. This
perspective came from my own experiences, for instance, I experience to be hanging alone, no one else
beside me to ask if I'm doing fine, and being isolated in the corner of the room, it's painful to think that I
experience those things and that motivates me to be always here for those people I love for them not to
experience excruciating moments I have felt back then. With that, I try to make things right, simply by not
committing the actions that would hurt others, but rather do the things that would make them feel the
worth of their lives and love that they deserve in this place we live.
Another perspective is from John Locke. I can say that I'm an empiricist, considering that all
knowledge is from our own experiences in life. Because for Locke, all knowledge is obtained through the
product of our experience. We are all shaped from our experience because we are born without any
knowledge or the so called tabula rasa which means blank slates. As I've mentioned in the previous
perspective, it came from my own experiences that's why I don't want them to experience what I've been
through. Personally I have encountered bad experiences that I don't want to happen again in my life and
also for others. Life is meaningful in such ways that we can't imagine and explain, but through obtaining
knowledge and understanding what our experiences causes us, we will be enlightened that we can make a
better place to live in. With our experiences it is deepening our understanding with oneself, since you
have been through and encountered many things that drive who we are today.
Additionally, even though I don't agree with the whole perspective of Sigmund Freud, some of his
points make sense in my life, especially the psychoanalysis and defense mechanisms and understanding
the unconscious mind. There are some events in my childhood wherein it affects my life today as grown
up. When I was a kid, they used to lock me in a room that didn't have any light whenever I did something
bad and they locked and left me there alone crying. Now, I'm still afraid of the dark, especially when I'm
alone, it gives me panic attacks and triggers me. As a kid, this didn't matter to me at all, but when I
reached the peak of my existence, as I became aware of what happens in the real world, I found out the
truth. It was traumatic for me, it caused me to think and feel things that I should have not felt in the first
place. It's me being unconscious of what happens in my life those times. When I fully adopted the world
and saw the real one's, I realized that what happened to me when I was a kid reflects who I am today.
Since I know what it feels like to face those things, I told myself not to make other people experience
those things that happen. As time passes by, I try to forget what happened and do what makes me happy. I
ride bicycles, go to parks, write poems and prose, and sleep. This helps me to cope up at least whenever I
feel alone, I try to forget what happened and go somewhere else to find peace and happiness. With this I
have been enlightened by the actions I make, it becomes the therapy from those traumatic experiences I
experience from my childhood that shape my life as of today. Generally speaking, the perspective by
those philosophers that I've mentioned was helpful for me to understand my true self.
To sum up those ideas and perspectives that given by Immanuel Kant, St. Augustine of Hippo, John
Locke, and Sigmund Freud provide a rich and diverse understanding that helps to understand our true self
and arrive with self authenticity. Even though they have completely different views and stands in regards
to perspectives of self, they all have contributed to our understanding of nature, and the importance of our
experiences that shapes and helped us to arrive with our self authenticity. I appreciate it more than before
since now I have already understood what true self is in the nature of perspective on ourselves and its
connection with our beliefs, knowledge, consciousness and subjectivity, and our experiences. With the
help of those perspectives it connects our true essence of life, our pursuit in life. It enables our perception
of our own values, beliefs, culture, strengths, weaknesses, and many more factors that contribute to the
pursuit of our authenticity. By the perspective of Immanuel Kant, St. Augustine of Hippo, John Locke,
and Sigmund Freud it leaves me with significant pointers that definitely highlights and enlightens me with
what true self is. They serve to emphasize the importance of understanding oneself in order for us not just
to live in this world but also have a meaningful way of life in this world.

Arriving with all this realization through using different approaches and views from different
philosophers about the nature of self is not as easy as we think. We may assume that it's easy for each one
of us to know what true self is within ourselves, but it requires a lot of probing and searching from our
personal life, consciousness, relationships, and experiences. All these are helpful and considered as a way
to connect all things that drive our self authenticity. It empowers us to be true to ourselves and connect
with the world in a meaningful way and pursuit in life. It stands as our foundation in building our
perceptions and strong character to embrace each other and also ourselves. By the help of these
perspectives given by these philosophers, they certainly give us realization of complex points of view in
self. They all value the understanding of the nature of identity of humans and consciousness.
Understanding ourselves is indeed good for our own life. It is essential for our personal growth, especially
knowing what room we have to improve, what part of our life we need to sustain and maintain, what we
have to remove and change, what we have to value the most, and whatever would make us the best
version of ourselves. Self awareness drives us to a better role in this world, building a character that
would positively impact ourselves and develop resilience, compassion, and authenticity. Through
exploring different views and approaches it helps with deepening and understanding the world as a whole.
With no definite answers to questions, and may vary on different perspectives, but mainly the goal is to
deeply understand ourselves and our part in the world. The philosophical perspectives of those
philosophers help us to understand different ways to come up with the truth within ourselves, the
relationship we have between the world, and the meaning of our existence. Ultimately, knowing all this
and appreciating our self builds a strong foundation of fulfilling a meaningful life.