Ideal is a concept suggested by Plato and it was born from his view of the World. In his views, everything in this material world is but a mere imperfect copy of the ideal form that it takes. He calls these ideal forms The World of Forms, the place where reality resides, and in this world our soul also resides.

He also suggested that the human soul consists of three parts, the appetitive soul, where our bodily desires reside, the spiritual soul where our feeling and emotions lie, and the rational soul, where logic and reason is located. He believes that in order for one to become his/her ideal self, one must have the parts of the soul be regulated and managed by the rational soul, implying that to become the best version of yourself, you must put your mind above the rest

For Plato’s student however, Aristotle, he believes that not only is the World of Forms real, but the material world also. He suggests that the things that we are experiencing today are also real. He believes that everything is composed of matter and form, as such they are real. This concept was realized by Aristotle as a reaction of Plato’s idealistic conept. It was a way to keep the ideal concepts of Plato grounded to reality. This dynamic is such an important element in the journey of understanding the self because in the process of endlessly chasing the ideal self, we might get lost, that is why it is important to plant our feet in reality to avoid that.

Is a concept brought up by the Christian bishop, St. Augustine of Hippo, who is also widely regarded as the first Christian philosopher. To St. Augustine of Hippo, concepts such as darkness, evil, and coldness do not actually exist, and it is with the idea of privation that he aims to explain why. To him, darkness is but the privation of light, or the absence of light, coldness is the privation of warmth, and evil is but the privation of God, or the absence of God. He posits that everything under the heavens created by God, was created to be inherently good, it only becomes evil when goodness is absent within it.

Essence is the aspect of an object that can pinpoint accurately its nature. This concept which was conceived by Christian philosopher, St. Thomas Aquinas, follows Aristotle’s concept of substance. To define tangible objects is but a simple process of describing it but when it comes to defining an intangible thing such as a person’s essence, it becomes a task that requires one to explore the deep parts of oneself. Essence is a concept that asks one question that is, “What makes me ‘me’?”. When asked with that question, one is forced to look inward and learn about the different aspects that makes a person, a person, which may involve looking for one’s inherent purpose in life.

It becomes incredibly hard to find one’s essence when you do not have any knowledge about its reason for existing in the first place. To address this, St. Thomas Aquinas suggested the concept of purpose, which is simply the inherent reason for the existence of something. He suggested this concept after realizing that everything found in this world, in some way or form, has a purpose. To St. Thomas Aquinas, he believed that everything under the heavens exists for the ultimate purpose of glorifying God. 

Having developed the idea of purpose, St. Thomas Aquinas prompts everyone to ask themselves about their inherent purpose of being alive and what their mission is. Answering this question will no doubt get people closer to their very essence and understand the self better.

Proposed by Francis Bacon, induction method is a way of discovering truth through rigorous investigation and experimentation. This method was the start of the scientific approach on answering questions. The inductive method encourages people to find supporting evidence in order to prove something to be through. It teaches us to not jump to conclusions and to test ideas through observation and experimentation.

Like Francis Bacon, Rene Descartes also suggested a method to discover truth, and that is with doubt. To Descartes, the way to ascertain truth is always doubt everything. Using deductive reasoning and intuition, one can always find a way to doubt everything and eventually, during this process of endless doubting, you will find bits and pieces of information that you can say is the truth, and eventually you will arrive to the truth itself. It important to note that one must not doubt just for the sake of doubting, doubt with the intent to search for the truth. When you can never find anything to doubt then that is the time that you can only be certain about yourself.

As mentioned in the introduction, Renaissance philosophers weren’t just concerned about the truth but they were also concerned about the nature of man and how society was conceived. According to Thomas Hobbes, humans are inherently selfish, and he posits that in a hypothetical world where humans were in their “state of nature”, the world would be chaotic, solitary, barbaric, and brutal. The reason why such an outcome did not come to reality was because according to Thomas Hobbes, this situation was avoided ue to a social contract formed between people where everyone would relinquish a portion of their freedom to an authority in exchange for security and order. This concept of selfishness is helpful in the context of understanding the self because knowing tht you are inherently selfish will allow you to regulate this feeling and such allow you to be more aware of your actions and surroundings.

There are three different stages in our lives, outlined by Kierkegaard's philosophical approach to life. While the ethics stage concerns moral values and social responsibility, the aesthetics phase takes care of immediate pleasure and individual desires. In the faith stage, there is a major "leap of belief" going beyond ethical norms to establish deep and subjective relationships with God. These stages have provided a succinct framework which allows us to understand how people deal with life issues, and the challenges they face.

According to Søren Kierkegaard, there are three distinct stages in our lives. The aesthetic stage, ethical stage, and religious stage. While the ethical stage concerns moral values and social responsibility, the aesthetic stage takes care of immediate pleasure and individual desires. In the religious stage, there is a major "leap of faith" going beyond ethical norms to establish deep and subjective relationships with God. These stages have provided a succinct framework which allows us to understand how people deal with life issues, and the challenges they face.

Friedrich Nietzsche, in "Thus Spoke Zarathustra," advocates for authenticity by transcending conventional morality and striving to become an "Übermensch." The allegory of three metamorphoses outlines a journey from societal conformity (the camel) to the rejection of norms (the lion) and ultimately to self-affirmation and creativity (the child). Nietzsche's philosophy encourages surpassing societal expectations to achieve an authentic and self-defined existence. The Übermensch, according to Nietzsche, goes beyond traditional morality, creating personal values and embracing a path based on individual will and creativity. 

For Friedrich Nietzsche, authenticity must be achieved by transcending conventional morality and striving to become an “Übermensch,”, which means “overman” in German, to become something greater than man. He mentioned this in his book “Thus Spoke Zarathustra” where he also outlines the journey to become an Übermensch.  This journey starts from societal conformity (the camel) to the rejection of norms (the lion) and ultimately to self-affirmation and creativity (the child). Nietzsche's philosophy encourages surpassing societal expectations to achieve an authentic and self-defined existence. The Übermensch, according to Nietzsche, goes beyond traditional morality, beyond good and evil, creating personal values and embracing a path based on individual will and creativity.

Dasein, is a concept developed by Martin Heidegger. It is a concept that characterizes human existence as "being-in-the-world" and "being-thrown-in-the-world. He highlights the importance of embracing the circumstances beyond our control, referred to as "thrownness," while simultaneously acknowledging individuality and the necessity for personal choices. Heidegger emphasized the inevitability of death as a fundamental aspect of human existence. According to Heidegger, recognizing and confronting our mortality is essential for giving meaning to life. In his view, an awareness of the finitude of life contributes to a more authentic and intentional existence. By embracing the reality of death, individuals are prompted to make meaningful choices and live authentically in the face of life's uncertainties.

The teachings of Gautama Buddha provide a holistic approach to dealing with the universal truth of suffering. The Four Noble Truths, acknowledging the existence of suffering, identifying the cause of attachment and desire, recognizing the cessation of suffering, and proposing the Noble Eightfold Path as a guide to liberation, form the basis of this foundation. Ethical and mental principles, such as right understanding, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and concentration, form the basis of this path. The notion of impermanence is the essence of Buddha's philosophy, calling upon followers to leave desires and attachments behind in order to achieve true inner peace and enlightenment. A comprehensive framework for leading a life based on ethical and prudent principles, which leads to the end of suffering and liberation is laid down in the Eightfold Path.

Confucianism, is a philosophy developed by Chinese philosopher Confucius and it was conceived during China's Warring States period, focusing on the nurture of virtue in people through their families and seeking to address social issues. Confucius regarded it as beneficial to encourage these virtues, which included the concept of filial devotion and religious values, because they would help build proper citizens and thus a stronger nation. The Golden Rule is a fundamental principle, which explains the significance of introspection and empathy in shaping morality.