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UNDERSTANDING THE SELF

Self in various perspective
Unit 1
P H I L O S O P H I C A L

 PHILOSOPHY wrongs that they observe. Spirited soul are very

 From the Greek word “Philo” and
“sophia” meaning “the love of
wisdom”
 It is the study of KNOWLEDGE, or
“thinking about thinking”
 Is the study of acquiring knowledge
through rational thinking and inquiries that
involves in answering questions regarding the
nature and existence of man and the world we
live in.
 Philosophy is done primarily through
reflection and does not tend to rely
on experiment.
 SELF ACCORDING TO
PHILOSOPHERS
1. Socrates (GREEK) - Emphasis on the
importance of “Knowing oneself”. “If
one knows oneself, one can achieve
true happines”. Knowledge is virtue,
Ignorance is depravity.
 Socratic Method – Asking questions and
knowing self by assuming the role of both
student and teacher.
2. Plato (ATHENIAN)- Student of Socrates.
Considered to be the “ Father of the
Academy”. Known for his works such
for governance and societal systems
(the “Republic”), and enlightenment
and knowledge. “Body” and “Soul” is
divided.
 Appetitive- Plato’s idea of the appetitive soul is
the part of the person that is driven by desire
and need to satisfy oneself. This satisfaction
both involves physical needs and pleasures and
desires. As long as the person find an object or
situation good or satisfying, the Appetitive soul
can drive the person to lean towards those
objects and situations.
 Spirited Soul – this part of the soul can be
Division of Consciousness
attributed to the courageous part of a person,
one who wants to do something or to right the
competitive and is very active, his
competitiveness drives one to expect positive
results and winning.
 Rational Soul – The last part of the soul could
be said is the driver of our lives, this is the part
that thinks and plan for the future “the
conscious mind” it decides what to do, when to
do it and the possible results one could have
depending on their actions.
3. St. Augustine (ROMAN, AFRICAN)- God
encompasses us all, also how we are
patterned to the likeness of God. He
believes that our notion of ourselves
and our idea of existence comes from a
higher form of sense in which bodily
senses may not perceive or
understand.
4. Rene Descartes (FRENCH)- Father of
modern philosophy. Modern dualism &
Methodical Doubt. “Cogito Ergo Sum”
meaning “I think therefore, I am”
5. John Locke (ENGLISH)- Doctor, Known
as Father of Liberalism. “Tabula Rasa”
which means a Blank Slate
6. David hume (SCOTTISH) - focused his
work in the field of Empiricism,
Skepticism, and naturalism. “Self” is
only the accumulation of different
impressions. there is no permanent
“self” because it changes on our current
perceptions and impressions
7. Immanuel Kant (GERMAN)- Empiricism
and Rationalism. Responded to
Hume’s work by trying to establish that
the collection of impressions and
different contents is what it only takes
to define a person “Transcendental
Apperception” .
8. Sigmund Freud (AUSTRIAN)- Father of
Psychoanalysis. Known for works on
Human nature and unconscious.
 CONSCIOUS
 PRE-CONSCIOUS
 UNCONSCIOUS
Aspects of Personality
 ID
 EGO
 SUPER EGO
9. Gilbert Ryle (BRITISH) -Behavioristic
Approach to Self. Self is the behaviour
presented by the person. Does not
believe on the division of mind and
body. HOLISTIC VIEW
10. Paul Churchland (CANADIAN)- He has
this idea that the “self” is defined by
the movements of our brain. Works
against “Folk” or “Common sense”
psychology. Philosophy of “eliminative
materialism”. This leads to his idea of
Neurophilosophy . “The Brain as the
Self”.
11. Maurice Jean Jacques Merleau-Ponty
(FRENCH)- that is known for his works
on existentialism and phenomenology.
Body and mind is one and the same.
 “Phenomenology of perception” – follows the
gestalt notion “ the whole is the sum of its
parts”
Divisions of Phenomenology of Perception
 THE BODY
 THE PERCEIVED WORLD
 THE PEOPLE AND THE WORLD
S O C I O L O G I C A L
 SOCIOLOGY
 Study of how human society is
established, its structure and how it
works, the people’s interaction with
each other and the effects they have to
one another is an aspect to consider
with regards to the development of a
person.
 GEORGE HERBERT MEAD
 American Sociologist.
 Father of American Pragmatism.
 Pioneer in the field of Social Psychology.
 Rejects the notion of biological
determination of the self.
 ME
 Are the characteristics, behaviors, and
or actions done by the person that
follows the “generalized others” that
person interacts with.
 I
 Is the reaction of the individual to that
attitude of others, as well as the
manifestation of the individuality of a
person.
 Is one’s response to the established
attitude and behavior that a persona
assumes in reference to their social
interactions.
 3 ROLE PLAYING STAGES OF
SELF-DEVELOPMENT
 PREPARATORY
 Birth to 2 years
 Simply imitates
 Mimicking what they observes
 PLAY STAGE
 2 to 6 years old
 Interact with others but with
rules
 “pretend play”
 GAME STAGE
 6- 9 years old
 They recognized rules
 Can identify roles already
ANTHROPOLOGICAL
 ANTHROPOLOGY
 The academic discipline of
anthropology, or “four-field”
anthropology, studies human species
and its immediate ancestors includes
four main sub disciplines or subfields -
sociocultural, archeological, biological
and linguistic anthropology. Each sub
discipline studies adaptation, the
process which organisms cope with the
environmental. Anthropology is a
systematic exploration of human
biological and cultural diversity.
 THE SUBDISCIPLINES OF ANTHROPOLOGY
1. Cultural Anthropology - Cultural
anthropology is the study of human
society and culture which describes,
analyzes, interprets and explains social
and cultural similarities and
differences. It explores the diversity of
the present and the past. Ethnography
and ethnology are two different
 activities which can study and interpret
cultural diversity.
 ETHNOGRAPHY- Based on field work
 ETHNOLOGY- Cross-cultural comparison
2. Archaeological Anthropology-
Archeological anthropology
reconstructs, describes and interprets
human behavior and cultural patterns
through material remains. These
materials remain such as plant, animal
and ancient garbage provides stories
about utilization and actions.
3. Biological, or Physical Anthropology-
Biological, or Physical Anthropology
focuses on these special interest,
human evolution as revealed by the
fossil, human genetics, human growth
and development, human biological
plasticity and the biology, evolution,
behavior and social life of monkeys,
apes and other nonhuman primates.
4. Linguistic Anthropology- Linguistic
anthropology studies language in its
social and cultural context across space
and over time. Universal features of
language are analyzed and association
between language and culture are
evaluated.. It also studies how speech
changes in social situations and over
time.
 CULTURE
 Culture refers to customary behavior
and beliefs that are passed on through
enculturation (Kottak, 2008), wherein
enculturation is the social process
which culture is learned and
transmitted.
 Culture is a social process that is
learned and passes from generation to
the next. Culture depends on images,
which have a specific significance and
incentive for individuals who share a
culture.
 Everybody is cultured. Social orders are
coordinated and designed through
predominant monetary powers, social
examples, key images and core values.
Cultural mean of adjustment have been
urgent in human evolution. Cultures
oblige people, yet the activities of
people can change cultures.
 Culture defined: Culture is shared,
symbolic, natural, learned, integrated,
encompassing and maladaptive and
adaptive.
 Csordas (1999) elaborated that the
human body is not essential for
anthropological study but the paradigm
of embodiment can be explored in the
understanding culture and the self. The
body is not an object to be studied in
relation to culture, but is to be
considered as the subject of culture, or
in other words as the existential ground
of culture.
 On the other hand, Geertz (1973)
described culture as "a system of
inherited conceptions expressed in
symbolic forms by means of which men
communicate, perpetuate, and develop
their knowledge about and attitudes
toward life" .
 The interpretation of the symbols in
each culture is essential which gives
meaning to one’s action. Each culture
has its own symbols and has its own
meaning; one must need to
comprehend those meanings keeping in
mind the end goal to understand the
culture. One must disconnect the
components of culture, discover the
relationship among those components,
and portray the entire framework in
some broad way.
P S Y C H O L O G I C A L
 PSYCHOLOGY
 Psychology has various ways of
understanding a person and the
therapist way of helping people
understand themselves. Self by
definition is a reference by an individual
to the same individual person. Having
its own or single character as a person,
referring to the person as same
individual.
 The psychology of studying self is about
either the cognitive and affective
representation of one's identity or the
 subject of experience. The earliest
formulation of the self in modern
psychology forms the distinction
between the self as I, the person
knower, and the self as Me, the person
that is known.
 THE SELF AND IT SELVES
 William James, a psychologist, has
introduced in his document The
Principles of Psychology (1890) a
numerous concepts and distinction of
self. For James, his main concepts of
self are the “me-self” and the “I-self”.
 The “me-self” is the
phenomenal self, the
experienced self or the self as
known. It is the self that has
experience the phenomena
and who had known the
situation.
 The “I-self” is the self-thought
or the self-knower. James had
claimed that the
understanding of Self can be
separated into three
categories: “1. Its
constituents; 2. The feeling
and emotions they arouse –
Self-feelings; 3. The actions to
which they prompt – Self-
seeking and self-preservation.
 SUB CATEGORIES OF THE SELF
 Material self- Is constituted by our
bodies, clothes, immediate family and
home. It is in this that we attached
more deeply into and therefore we are
most affected by because of the
investment we give to these things
 Social self- is based on our interactions
with society and the reaction of people
towards us. It is our social self that
thought to have multiple divergence or
different version of ourselves. It varies
as to how we present ourselves to a
particular social group.
 Spiritual self- The most intimate self, It
is the most intimate because it is more
satisfying for the person that they have
the ability to argue and discriminate
one’s moral sensibility, conscience and
indomitable will.
 CONCEPT OF THE SELF
 Carl Rogers, had come up with his
conception of self through the
intervention he used for his client, the
Person-centered therapy. It is a non-
directive intervention because it
believes that all people have the
potential to solve their own problems.
Rogers believe that people must be
fully honest with themselves in order
to have personal discovery on oneself.
In this concept of self, he had come up
with three sides of a triangle.
 The Perceived Self (Self worth -
how the person sees self &
others sees them)
 The Real Self (Self Image - How
the person really is)
 The Ideal Self (How the person
would like to be)
 CONCEPT OF UNIFIED AND MULTIPLE SELF
 As DanielCW (2016) wrote in his article
“Psychoanalysis vs Postmodern
Psychology” he has emphasized how
Freud percieved person as a unified
beings and Gergens concept of multiple
“selves”
 In Freud’s concept, he argued that mind
is divided into three connected but
distinct parts. The Id, Ego and Super
Ego. Id as the center of primitive,
animalistic impules (sex, food &
comfort) following the pleasure
principle. Superego as the center for
ethical imperative.
 The one that reminds the self of what is
right of wrong following morality
principle. And the Ego as the moderator
between these two which was driven
by rationality principle. And then also,
Freud has stated two important division
of mind, the conscious and
unconscious. Conscious are the
thoughts that we are aware of. And
Unconscious as thoughts that we are
not aware of. (DanielCW, 2016)
  Although, Freud has argued that self  Explain differences in people and/or
has a multiple parts, he still believed groups
that ultimately we are a Unified beings
 Collectivist Cultures: individual needs,
(Atleast, when we are healthy). Ego
desires, etc. are secondary to those of
remains at the helm of mind, guiding
the group (Asia)
the Id and Superego and staying at the
center. Thus Gergen argued that having  Individualistic Cultures: Higher value on
a flexible sense of self allows for the needs and accomplishments of the
multiple “selves”. That it is up to the individual rather than the group (United
the self to define himself as warm or States)
cold, dominant or submissive, sexy or
plain.  THE SELF: INDIVIDUALISM AND COLLECTIVISM
 According to Kenneth Gergen,  Individualist cultures value
proponent of Post modern Psychology, independence. They promote personal
The individual has many potential ideals, strengths, and goals, pursued in
selves. He carries within him the competition with others, leading to
capacity to identify himself, whether individual achievement and finding a
warm or cold, dominant or submissive, unique identity.
sexy or plain. How we bring ourselves in  Collectivist cultures value
every situation will held him get interdependence. They promote group
through for a day. Therefore, maybe it and societal goals and duties, and
is healthy to have many mask. Multiple blending in with group identity, with
selfhood is part of what it means to be achievement attributed to mutual
human, and forcing oneself to stick to support.
one self-concept maybe unhealthy.  INDIVIDUALIST AND COLLECTIVIST CULTURES
 TRUE SELF AND FAKE SELF COMPARED
 True Self, as rooted from early infancy is  Individualism
called the simple being. The sense of
self based on spontaneous authentic
experience and feeling of being alive,
having “real self”. Example, as a baby
we react base on our sense of reality.
The baby reacted spontaneously based
on our instinctual sense.
 Fake Self, is our defense facade.
Overlaying or contradicting the original
sense of self. Problem would be we
might build false set of relationship  Collectivism
through concealing a barren emptiness
behind an independent-seeming
façade.

SELF IN WESTERN AND EASTERN

PERSPECTIVE
THEORY: INDIVIDUALISM-COLLECTIVISM
MODEL

 Used to explain large amounts of

variation seen in human behavior, social
interaction, and personality
 ON DEVELOPING SELF
 People in individualist cultures might
raise children to be self-reliant and
independent.
 People in collectivist cultures might
raise children to be compliant,
obedient, and integrated into webs of
mutual support.
 People in Asian and African cultures
might raise children to be more
emotionally and physically close to
others than in western European
cultures
 WEST AND EAST
 Independence
 Interdependence
 “Conclusions about collectivist and
individualistic cultures shouldn’t be
overly sweeping and must be carefully
applied to selective, specific behaviors,
situations, and cultures. “
 CARL GUSTAV JUNG
 Nothing has a stronger influence
psychologically on their environment
and especially on their children than the
unlived life of the parent.
 NISHAN PANWAR
 “I may not be able to give my kids
everything they want but I give them
what they need. Love, time, and
attention. You can’t buy those things.”
 ERIK ERIKSON
 Life doesn't make any sense without
interdependence. We need each other,
and the sooner we learn that, the
better for us all.
 WESTERN VS EASTERN
 Western culture basically is about the
focus on oneself and personal needs;
Eastern culture is about focus on
others and the feeling of others.
 Western culture is predicated on
putting egoism first while Eastern
culture is about collectivism.
Conceptually, there is a vast of
difference between egoism and
collectivism. While egoism is focused
on oneself, collectivism is all about
focus on others.
 While the Western culture is inclined in
more acquisition of material things, the
Eastern culture is tilted towards less
assets (thus the mantra less is more).
Western culture is obsessed with being
successful, the eastern culture is more
inclined towards long life; for the
Eastern culture, long life is equated with
wealth.
 In the Eastern culture, wealth and
poverty is the result of fortune and
luck, for the Western culture, wealth
and poverty is the result of enterprise
and hard work.
 The Eastern culture values the wisdom
of years and seniority, while the
Western culture celebrates the youth
and being young. Philosophically, the
Eastern culture subscribe to concept of
reincarnation while Western culture
subscribe to the idea of evolution.
 Taken as a whole, these basic and
subtle differences between the Eastern
culture and the Western culture are
taking its toll on Filipinos on which
culture to adopt. The dilemma is
whether to follow and subscribe to the
 Western influences or subscribe to
Eastern ideas
 WESTERN
 Self is a social construction which is
symbolically and signally created
between and among social beings
 Phenomenological object which can be
productively studied through as series
of evanscent actionss, self is
multidimensional entity
 Self is an interpersonal unit
 Self takes form in communication
 Self is intimately connected to bodily
experience both ontogenetically and
here and now awareness
 Self acquires substance according to
semantic, syntactic and pragmatic
 EASTERN
 A gentleman by following the moral
way consisting of the virtues of love,
righteousness, wisdom, propriety and
loyalty in order to promote harmony in
society (Confucianism)
 Attainment of liberation in the
identification of Atman (the spiritual
essence of all individual human beings)
and Brahman (the spiritual essence of
the universe) through the Four Yogas
(Taoism)
 Concept of Kapwa, recognition of
shared identity, an inner self shared
with others; Two levels or modes of
social interaction – ibang-tao or
“outsider” and hindi ibang-tao or “one-
of-us” (Filipino Psychology).