UNDERSTANDING THE SELF - USELF 111

PRE SOCRATIC PHILOSOPHERS EMMANUEL KANT

1. T - Thales Kant thinks that the things that men perceive

2. P - Pythagoras around them are not just randomly infused into
3. P - Parmenides the human person without an organizing
4. H - Heraclitus principle that regulates the relationship of all
5. E - Empedocles these impressions.
Without the self, one cannot organize the
SUMMARY OF PHILOSOPHERS BELIEF different impressions that one gets in relation
to his own existence.
SOCRATES
First philosopher who ever engage in a GILBERT RYLE
systematic questioning about the self. For Ryle, what truly matters is the behavior that
Every man is composed of BODY and SOUL person manifests in his day-to-day life.
Every person is DUALISTIC Self is not an entity one can locate and analyze
but simply the convenient name that people
PLATO user to refer to all the behaviors that people
Plato added three components of the soul make.
o R - Rational Soul
o S - Spirited Soul MERLEAU-PONTY
o A - Appetitive Soul He asserts that the mind-body bifurcation that
Plato emphasizes that justice in the human that has been going on for a long time is a futile
person can only be attained if the three parts of endeavor and an invalid problem
the soul are working harmoniously with one MIND and BODY are so INTERTWINED that they
another cannot be separated from one another

AUGUSTINE LESSON 2: THE SELF, SOCIETY AND CULTURE

Augustine agreed that man is of a BIFURCATED
NATURE.
An aspect of man dwells in the world and is
imperfect and continuously yearns to be with
the Divine and the other is capable of reaching
immortality on the realm of spiritual bliss in
communion with God.
Body can only thrive in the imperfect physical
reality that is world.
Whereas soul can also stay after death in an
eternal realm with all-transcendent God.
THOMAS AQUINAS
Man is composed of two (2) parts
o Matter (hyle)
o Form (morphe)
The SOUL is what animates the body, it is what
makes us human.
RENE DESCARTES
Combination of two distinct entities
o Cogito -the thing that thinks - mind
o Extenza - (extension of the mind) which
is the body
The body is nothing else but a machine that is
attached to the mind.
DAVID HUME
Self is nothing but a bundle of EXPRESSIONS
EMPIRICISM - is the school of thought that
espouses the idea that knowledge can only be
possible if it is sensed and experienced.
Man can only attain knowledge by experiencing
He finds that they can be all be categorized into
two:
o IMPRESSIONS
o IDEAS
SELF is commonly defined by the following
characteristics.
1. S - SEPARATE
it is meant that self is distinct from
other selves.
the self is always unique and has its
own identify
2. S - SELF-CONTAINED and INDEPEDENDENT
it does not require any other self for it
to exist
3. C - CONSISTENT
it is consistent because it has
personality that is enduring & therefore
can be expected to persists for quite
sometime.
4. U - UNITARY
Self is unitary in that it is the center of
all exp. and thoughts that run through a
certain person.
5. P - PRIVATE
Each person sorts out information,
feelings and emotions and thought
processes within the self.
SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONIST PERSPECTIVE
understanding the vibrant relationship
between the self and external reality.
SOCIAL CONJUNCTIVIST
argue that the self should not be seen
as a static entity that stays constant
through and through. Rather, the self
has to be seen as something that is in
unceasing flux in a constant struggle
with external reality and is malleable in
its dealings with the society.
 UNDERSTANDING THE SELF - USELF 111
THE SELF AND CULTURE
Acc. to MARCEL MAUSS
every elf has two faces: PERSONNE & MOI
MOI refers to a person's sense of who he is,
his body and his basic identity, his biological
givenness.
PERSONNE is composed of the social
concepts of what it means to be who he is.
The self is simply morphed according to the
circumstances and context.
o LANGUAGE is another interesting
social construction
o LANGUAGE is salient part of culture
and ultimately, has a tremendous
effect in our crafting of the self
o This might also be one of the
reason why cultural divide spells
out differences in how one regards
oneself.
we will have will certainly affect us as we go
through life.
Human beings are born virtually helpless and
the depending period of a human baby to its
parents for nurturing is relatively longer than
most other animals.
GENDER AND THE SELF
It is important to give one the leeway to find,
express, and live his identity
One maneuvers into the society and identifies
himself as who he is by also taking note of
gender identities.
NANCY CHODORON, a feminist, argues that
because mothers take the role of taking care of
children, there is a tendency for girls to imitate
the same and reproduce the same king of
mentality of women as care providers in the
family.

THE SELF AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE SOCIAL WORLD

More than his givenness (personality,

tendencies, and propensities, among others),
one is believed to be in active participation in
the shaping of the self.
Recent studies indicate that men and women in
their growth & development engage actively in
the shaping of the self.

MEADS AND VYGOTSKY

The way that human persons develop is with

the use of language acquisition and interaction
with others.
Those who deliberate about moral dilemmas
undergo this internal dialog.
Cognitive and Emotional development of a child
is always a mimicry of how it is done in social
world, in the external reality where he is in.
Both Vigotsky and Mead treat human mind as
something that is made, constituted through
language as experienced in the external world
and as encountered in dialogues with others.
A young child internalizes values, norms,
practices, and social beliefs and more through
exposure to these dialogs that will eventually
become part of his individual world.
For MEAD this takes place as a child assumes
the "other" through language and roleplay.
Acc. to MEADS, it is through this that a child
delineates the "I" from the rest.
VIGOTSKY, for his part, a child internalizes real-
life dialogue that he has had with others with
his family, his primary caregiver, or his
playmates.

SELF IN FAMILIES

The kind of family that we are born in, the

resources available to us (human, spiritual,
economic.) and the kind of development that