Philosopher (era)
Position
Statement
Connection
Ptahhotep (Egypt, Fifth Dynasty, c. 2400 BC.)
Mixed
Pride of the heart leads away from the right order (Maat); one must order the inner self.
The feeling of superiority is already recognized as a gap that needs to be corrected.
Source : Enseignement de Ptahhotep (Maximes)
Rishi (Inde, c. 1500-1200 AD.)
Agreement
The manifesto gradually emerges from an undifferentiated One.
The sequence of births refers to a single background that precedes any envelope.
Source : Rig-Véda, X, 129 (Nasadiya Sukta)
Uddalaka Aruni (India, 9th-8th centuries BC.)
Agreement
The subtle self is the essence of all things: "you are that".
The third birth is the recognition of a self that is already there.
Source : Chandogya Upanishad, VI, 8, 7
Lao-Tseu (VIe p. of. J.-C.)
Agreement
The Dao gives birth to one, one to two, two to three, three to ten thousand beings.
A ternary generation from a formless principle.
Source : Daodejing, 42
Confucius (551-479 by J.-C.)
Mixed
Life unfolds in stages, each at its own age, until the heart aligns with the rule.
Births each have their moment, but without an absolute soul.
Source : Entretiens (Lunyu), II, 4
Bouddha (~Ve p. of. J.-C.)
Mixed
The body and aggregates are not the self; the pride of "I am" must be dissolved.
The egoic envelope is recognized as a construct, but without a pure and absolute soul.
Source : Anattalakkhana Sutta (Samyutta Nikaya), SN 22.59
Agreement
"I searched for myself"; the limits of the soul remain undiscovered.
The inner path transcends the body and the apparent self.
Source : Fragments (Diels-Kranz), DK 22 B101 ; B45
Socrate (v. 470-399 of. J.-C.)
Agreement
Taking care of the soul before riches and reputation.
The ego that believes itself superior is displaced towards the care of the soul.
Source : Platon, Apologie de Socrate, 29d-30b
Démocrite (v. 460-v. 370 of. J.-C.)
Disagreement
By convention, sensible qualities; in truth, atoms and void.
The soul itself is made of atoms; the third birth has no place.
Source : Fragments (Diels-Kranz), DK 68 B125
Platon (428-348 by J.-C.)
Agreement
Death is the separation of the soul and the body; the philosopher already detaches himself from it.
The body is the first envelope; the soul is what detaches itself from it.
Source : Phédon, 64c-67a
Aristote (384-322 by J.-C.)
Mixed
The soul has three powers (nutritive, sensitive, intellectual); the active intellect is separable.
A division into three, but the soul is the form of the body.
Source : De l'âme, II, 3, 414a-415a ; III, 5, 430a
Épicure (341-270 by J.-C.)
Disagreement
Death is nothing to us: the soul dissolves with the body.
The third birth theory has no basis.
Source : Lettre à Ménécée, §124-125
Bhagavad-Gîtâ (Inside, env. IIe p. of. J.-C.)
Agreement
The body goes through ages; the self is never born; the ego believes itself to be the agent.
Body, ego, and pure self are explicitly distinguished there.
Source : Bhagavad-Gîtâ, II, 13 ; II, 20 ; III, 27
Patañjali (IIe p. of. J.-C.-IVe p.)
Agreement
Selfishness (asmitā) is one of the five veils; the seer then remains in his own nature.
The egoic envelope is a veil between the body and the mind.
Source : Yoga-Sûtra, II, 3 ; II, 6
Lucrèce (v. 94-v. 55 of. J.-C.)
Disagreement
The soul is mortal: death is nothing to us.
Rejects the third birth.
Source : De rerum natura, III, 830
Évangile de Jean (Ier-IIe s.)
Agreement
We must be born from above, of water and of the Spirit.
A second birth, distinct from the birth of the flesh.
Source : Évangile selon Jean, III, 3-8
Agreement
The being is spirit, soul and body; the psychic body is succeeded by the spiritual body.
A division into three, with a spiritual level coming after the body.
Source : 1 Thessaloniciens ; 1 Corinthiens, 1 Th 5, 23 ; 1 Co 15, 44-49
Agreement
The human being is composed of three parts: body, breath, intelligence.
The same tripartite division, with the body as the first layer.
Source : Pensées pour moi-même, XII, 3
Valentiniens (IIe-IVe s.)
Agreement
Three kinds of beings: hylic, psychic, pneumatic.
Three levels of the human being, from the material to the spirit.
Source : Irénée, Contre les hérésies (rapportant les Valentiniens), I, 6, 1
Disagreement
The self is neither identical nor distinct from aggregates; we have taught self and non-self, then neither one nor the other.
Rejects the idea of a pure and absolute soul as a substance.
Source : Mūlamadhyamakakārikā, XVIII, 1 ; XVIII, 6
Agreement
Go within yourself and sculpt your own statue.
Spiritual birth is a work of returning inward.
Source : Ennéades, I, 6 [1], 9
Mixed
The manas, ego consciousness, is based on the receptacle consciousness (ālaya).
The ego is an intermediate layer of consciousness.
Source : Triṃśikā de Vasubandhu
Augustin d'Hippone (354-430)
Agreement
God is more internal than my innermost self.
The third birth is the discovery of an interior deeper than the self.
Source : Confessions, III, 6, 11
Agreement
The self and the non-self are superimposed; this superimposition is ignorance.
The egoic envelope is born from this superimposition.
Source : Commentaire aux Brahma-Sûtra, Introduction (adhyāsa-bhāṣya)
Thomas d'Aquin (1225-1274)
Mixed
The intellectual soul is the form of the body.
It binds the first and third layers tightly.
Source : Somme théologique, I, q. 76, a. 1
Maître Eckhart (~1260-1328)
Agreement
To be poor in spirit: to want nothing, to know nothing, to have nothing.
The shedding of the egoic envelope opens the way to inner birth.
Source : Sermons (éd. Quint), Sermon 52
René Descartes (1596-1650)
Mixed
The soul is truly distinct from the body.
It separates body and mind, without leaving room for an egoic layer.
Source : Méditations métaphysiques, Méditation VI
Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)
Agreement
Three orders: bodies, minds, charity, separated by an infinite distance.
Three hierarchical levels, the last of a different order than the first two.
Source : Pensées, Lafuma 308 (Brunschvicg 793)
Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677)
Mixed
We feel that we are eternal; three kinds of knowledge.
An eternal part of the spirit, but without a personal soul.
Source : Éthique, V, prop. 23, scolie ; II, prop. 40, scolie 2
Disagreement
The self is merely a collection of perceptions.
It calls into question the very notion of a subject who would carry the envelopes.
Source : Traité de la nature humaine, I, 4, 6
Emmanuel Kant (1724-1804)
Disagreement
The soul cannot be known as a simple substance.
It disputes that one can affirm a pure and absolute soul.
Source : Critique de la raison pure, Paralogismes, A341-405 / B399-432
Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855)
Agreement
Three stages of existence: aesthetic, ethical, religious.
Three successive stages, the last one a journey towards the absolute.
Source : Stades sur le chemin de la vie (1845)
Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa (1836-1886)
Agreement
The self is a veil; realization is about removing it.
The egoic shell is the last obstacle before the soul.
Source : Évangile de Sri Ramakrishna (Kathamrita de M.)
William James (1842-1910)
Agreement
There are "once-born" and "twice-born" people.
The second birth is an inner conversion.
Source : Les Variétés de l'expérience religieuse (1902)
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)
Mixed
Three metamorphoses of the spirit: camel, lion, child.
Three successive stages, without an absolute soul.
Source : Ainsi parlait Zarathoustra, I, « Des trois métamorphoses »
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)
Mixed
Three instances: the Id, the Ego, the Superego.
A tripartite division of the person, but entirely psychic.
Source : Le Moi et le Ça (1923)
Henri Bergson (1859-1941)
Agreement
A superficial self and a deep self.
Distinguishes the surface ego from a deeper self.
Source : Essai sur les données immédiates de la conscience, chap. II
Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902)
Agreement
Every soul is potentially divine; it is a matter of manifesting it.
The third birth is a manifestation of the divine already present.
Source : Raja-Yoga (1896)
Sri Aurobindo (1872-1950)
Agreement
The external being (physical, vital, mental) covers the psychic being.
The outer layers conceal a soul that is revealed.
Source : La Vie divine
Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961)
Agreement
The Self is greater than the ego; individuation is a path.
The ego is a layer, not the center.
Source : Aïon (1951)
Ramana Maharshi (1879-1950)
Agreement
To seek the source of the "I"; the "I am the body" is the ego.
The egoic shell dissolves in the search for the Self.
Source : Qui suis-je ? (Nan Yār?)
Agreement
Decreation: relinquishing the "I" to allow grace to flow through.
The feeling of superiority is what grace undoes.
Source : La Pesanteur et la grâce (1947)
Eckhart Tolle (born in 1948)
Agreement
The ego is an identification with form; Being is beyond.
The ego is a shell recognized by presence.
Source : Un nouveau monde (2005)