Philosopher (era)
Position
Statement
Connection
Ptahhotep (Egypt, Fifth Dynasty, c. 2400 BC.)
Agreement
He denounces greed as an incurable evil that disrupts the balance of Ma'at
The desire to accumulate unbalances the individual and the common order, as the text states regarding the excess of possessions.
Source : Maximes
Mixed
Desire (kāma) appears as the first seed of the mind in the beginning.
Desire is at the origin of manifestation: it establishes the ego without being merely an excess to be subtracted.
Source : Rig-Véda, Nāsadīya Sūkta, X, 129, 4
Uddalaka Aruni (9th–8th centuries BC)
Mixed
Beneath the name and form, the true Self of being is "that which you are"
Behind the identified individual lies an identity deeper than the ego.
Source : Chāndogya Upaniṣad, VI, 8, 7
Thalès de Milet (624–546 AD.)
Mixed
The maxim "know thyself" is attributed to him.
Self-knowledge precedes all wisdom, without purification yet being conceived.
Source : Diogène Laërce, Vies et doctrines des philosophes illustres, I, 40
Agreement
Pythagorean tradition prescribes reviewing the past day before sleep
A daily cleansing of the soul, practiced every evening
Source : Vers d'or (attribués à Pythagore)
Lao-Tseu (VIe p. of. J.-C.)
Agreement
Reduce selfishness and diminish desires to rediscover simplicity
The sobriety of desire as a path to inner balance
Source : Tao-tö-king, Chap. 19
Bouddha (~Ve p. of. J.-C.)
Mixed
Thirst (taṇhā) is the cause of suffering; the self is not a substance (anattā)
He confirms desire as the source of evil, but disputes that the ego is a stable foundation.
Source : Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, Saṃyutta Nikāya LVI, 11
Agreement
Judge oneself daily (Zengzi) and overcome oneself in order to return to righteous conduct
Daily self-examination as a moral discipline
Source : Entretiens, I, 4 ; XII, 1
Agreement
He sought himself; self-knowledge is given to all; the common logos opposes particular thoughts
Between the public world and private perceptions, the work of self-awareness and lucidity
Source : Fragments, DK B101, B116
Mixed
Distinguish the path of truth from the opinion of mortals.
It reminds us of the distinction between collective appearance and reality.
Source : Poème, Fr. 1 (DK B1), v. 28–32
Leucippe (Ve p. of. J.-C.)
Disagreement
Everything is done by reason and necessity, starting from atoms and the void.
The self is merely an arrangement of atoms: no stable individual foundation
Source : Fragments (DK 67), B2
Socrate (verses 470–399 AD.)
Agreement
An unexamined life is not worth living; one must take care of one's soul.
The daily care of the soul, made up of repeated examination
Source : Platon, Apologie de Socrate, 38a
Agreement
Purification consists of detaching the soul as much as possible from the body and its passions.
The purification of the soul as an achievable work
Source : Phédon, 67a–c
Zhuangzi (IVe p. of J.-C.)
Mixed
Forget the self and practice fasting of the heart
Ego cleansing leads to its erasure rather than its balance
Source : Zhuangzi, Chap. 2 et 4
Mixed
Character is formed through habit and moderation.
Daily repetition shapes the being, without notion of veil or purification
Source : Éthique à Nicomaque, II, 1 ; II, 6
Agreement
Distinguish between necessary natural desires, unnecessary natural desires, and vain desires.
Unbridled desire breeds excess and disorder
Source : Lettre à Ménécée, § 127–132
Bhagavad-Gîtâ (Inside, env. IIe p. of. J.-C.)
Agreement
Desire is the enemy of the wise; the ego attributes to itself actions that nature performs; desire, anger, and greed are three gates of hell.
Closest text: desire, ego, and the need for constant effort
Source : Bhagavad-Gîtâ, III, 27 ; III, 37–43 ; XVI, 21
Patañjali (2nd century BC–4th century AD, dating uncertain)
Agreement
The feeling of ego (asmitā) is one of the causes of suffering; constant practice destroys impurities.
Cleansing through daily practice and detachment
Source : Yoga-Sūtra, I, 12 ; II, 3 ; II, 28
Lucrèce (v. 94–v. 55 of. J.-C.)
Agreement
Criticizes ambition and the accumulation of wealth as sources of concern.
Excessive wealth perpetuates the disorder
Source : De la nature des choses, II, 1–61
Agreement
Reports the examination that one does each evening of one's day
Daily cleansing, applied to passions
Source : De la colère, III, 36
Mixed
We must strip the "old man" and put covetousness to death.
Purification is possible, but it also requires a grace received.
Source : Épître aux Éphésiens ; Épître aux Colossiens, Éph 4, 22–24 ; Col 3, 5–10
Agreement
Distinguish what depends on us from what does not; redirect desire
Mastering desire and daily practice of attention
Source : Manuel, § 1
Agreement
Prepare for the day each morning; withdraw into oneself
Daily hygiene of the soul
Source : Pensées pour moi-même, II, 1 ; IV, 3
Disagreement
The self has no independent existence; examining the self dissolves its substance
It challenges the idea that the ego can be the foundation of anything.
Source : Stances du Milieu (Mūlamadhyamakakārikā), Chap. XVIII
Agreement
Keep sculpting your own statue to rediscover the beauty of the soul
The daily work of purification, compared to that of a sculptor
Source : Ennéades, I, 6, 9
Agreement
The manas, the spirit-ego, attaches itself to the consciousness-receptacle and considers it to be a self
The ego is constructed and laden with impressions that are deposited.
Source : Triṃśikā (Vasubandhu), Stances 5–7
Augustin d'Hippone (354–430)
Mixed
Analyzes lust; invites one to turn inward.
The heart is troubled by its desires, but healing also comes from elsewhere than from it.
Source : Confessions ; De la vraie religion, Conf. X, 30–41 ; Vera rel. XXXIX, 72
Agreement
The ego is a superimposition (adhyāsa) on the Self; Maya veils reality
Maya as a veil, and the ego as the point of attachment for error
Source : Commentaire des Brahma-Sūtra, Introduction (adhyāsa-bhāṣya)
Mixed
Maya is the power of Shiva that limits knowledge and action
Maya is here a divine power before it is a moral effect
Source : Tantrāloka
Disagreement
The world is not an illusion; the individual soul is real and depends on the Lord
Maya is not a veil to be lifted: the world is real
Source : Śrī-bhāṣya
Agreement
Discipline of the soul and purification of the heart from its vices
The purification of the heart is accomplished through daily practice
Source : Revivification des sciences de la religion (Iḥyā' ʿulūm al-dīn)
Maître Eckhart (~1260–1328)
Agreement
Detachment empties the soul of all possessions to make it available
The cleansing leads to the stripping away of the ego.
Source : Du détachement
Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)
Mixed
To study oneself as one is, without pretending to transform oneself
Individual self-knowledge, without the requirement of purification
Source : Essais, III, 2
Jean de la Croix (1542–1591)
Agreement
Purify appetites to enter the night of meaning
The purification of desire as a demanding but possible work
Source : Montée du Carmel, Livre I
René Descartes (1596–1650)
Agreement
The "I think" is the first certainty
Basing knowledge on ego: the most direct echo of the title
Source : Méditations métaphysiques, Seconde méditation
Blaise Pascal (1623–1662)
Mixed
The self is hateful, caught up in entertainment
Ego in tension with itself, but without healing through discipline alone
Source : Pensées, Br. 455 / Laf. 597
Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677)
Mixed
Every being strives to persevere; an emotion ceases to be a passion when one forms a clear idea of it.
Desire is essential to the ego, and understanding it liberates it.
Source : Éthique, III, 6–7 ; V, 3
Disagreement
The self is merely a collection of perceptions.
No stable ego can form the basis of consciousness
Source : Traité de la nature humaine, I, 4, 6
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778)
Agreement
Self-esteem, born from the gaze of others, corrupts self-love
The ego is built within the society that it, in turn, shapes.
Source : Discours sur l'origine de l'inégalité, Note XV
Emmanuel Kant (1724–1804)
Mixed
The phrase "I think" must be able to accompany all our representations.
A unity of the self, but transcendental, not individual
Source : Critique de la raison pure, B 131–132
Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762–1814)
Agreement
The Self posits itself as the principle of all knowledge
The self as the foundation of consciousness, thesis of the title
Source : Doctrine de la science (1794), § 1
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)
Agreement
Self-awareness is desire and is formed in relation to others.
Desire and society together shape consciousness
Source : Phénoménologie de l'esprit, IV, A
Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860)
Agreement
The world of representation is a veil of Maya; the will to live perpetuates suffering.
Brings Maya and desire closer together, as the text
Source : Le Monde comme volonté et comme représentation, § 3 ; § 63
Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855)
Mixed
The self is a relationship that relates to itself
The ego becomes a foundation through a relationship with itself that it must embrace.
Source : La Maladie à mort, I, A
Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa (1836–1886)
Agreement
Maya manifests itself through attachment to "woman and gold"; "me and mine" is at its core.
Excessive wealth, desire, and ego united in a single veil
Source : Évangile de Ramakrishna (Kathāmṛta)
William James (1842–1910)
Agreement
The self consists of an I that knows and a known Me, made up of possessions and relationships
Possessions and relationships are part of the definition of the self
Source : Principes de psychologie, Chap. X
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
Mixed
Moral values are historical constructs; the ascetic ideal is not innocent
Values shape society, but ascetic cleansing is being questioned
Source : Généalogie de la morale, III
Sigmund Freud (1856–1939)
Mixed
The self is not master in its own house
The ego is a partial foundation, not transparent to itself
Source : Une difficulté de la psychanalyse (1917)
Henri Bergson (1859–1941)
Agreement
The superficial, social self covers the deeper self
Society projects its habits onto the ego
Source : Essai sur les données immédiates de la conscience, Chap. III
Edmund Husserl (1859–1938)
Agreement
The transcendental self is the pole of all consciousness
Consciousness is based on the ego, understood as the pole of identity.
Source : Méditations cartésiennes, Quatrième méditation
Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902)
Agreement
Maya is a fact of experience rather than a mere illusion; the ego is purified through practice
Maya as a lived reality, and purification through discipline
Source : Jnana Yoga ; Karma Yoga
Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950)
Mixed
The ego is an instrument of nature, to be transcended and transformed
We need to go beyond just cleaning.
Source : La Vie divine ; Synthèse des Yoga
Carl Gustav Jung (1875–1961)
Mixed
The ego is the center of consciousness; the Self transcends it
The ego is the threshold, not the ultimate foundation
Source : Aïon, Chap. I–II
Ramana Maharshi (1879–1950)
Disagreement
The "I" (ego) is a thought; consciousness is the Self that precedes it.
This contradicts the thesis of the title: the ego is not seated but an appearance
Source : Qui suis-je ?
Martin Heidegger (1889–1976)
Agreement
The "one" (das Man) imposes on each person their own way of understanding themselves
Collective values structure the ego from within.
Source : Être et temps, § 27
Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895–1986)
Mixed
The ego is a movement of thought; no progressive method can dissolve it.
Denies daily practice as a path, while describing the same observation
Source : La Première et Dernière Liberté
Agreement
The "having" mode stifles the "being" mode
Excessive possessions imprison the ego
Source : Avoir ou être ?
Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980)
Disagreement
The ego is not in consciousness; it is an object to it.
Reverse the thesis of the title: consciousness is not based on the ego
Source : La Transcendance de l'Ego (1936)
Mixed
Undoing the self to make room for reality
Cleaning leads to decreation, which exceeds balance
Source : La Pesanteur et la Grâce
Agreement
Ancient philosophy is a practice of spiritual exercises.
Describes precisely the daily cleaning mentioned in the text
Source : Exercices spirituels et philosophie antique
Michel Foucault (1926–1984)
Mixed
Self-techniques shape the subject within a field of power
The individual works on themselves, but within the norms of society.
Source : L'Herméneutique du sujet (cours 1981–1982)
Jean Baudrillard (1929–2007)
Agreement
Consumption creates a system of signs that shapes desires.
Excess wealth as a social structure
Source : La Société de consommation (1970)
Daniel Dennett (1942–2024)
Disagreement
The self is a "narrative center of gravity"
The self is a useful fiction, not a foundation
Source : La Conscience expliquée (1991)
Disagreement
L'identité personnelle n'est pas ce qui compte
Relativise l'ego comme noyau de la conscience
Source : Raisons et personnes (1984), Troisième partie
Eckhart Tolle (born in 1948)
Agreement
L'ego est une identification aux formes et aux pensées, à observer chaque instant
La vigilance quotidienne face aux pensées éphémères
Source : Le Pouvoir du moment présent (1997)
Byung-Chul Han (né en 1959)
Agreement
La société de la performance produit un sujet épuisé par lui-même
Les valeurs sociales façonnent l'ego et le déséquilibrent
Source : La Société de la fatigue (2010)