Lesson 2

To Buy or Not to Buy?

That is the Question!
William James
Father of American Psychology
 a psychologist and philosopher who had
a major influence on the development
of psychology in the United States. Among
his many accomplishments, he was the
first to teach a psychology course in the
U.S.

6/28/2019
2 ADD A FOOTER
Three Components of the Empirical Self
William James used the term “the empirical self” to refer to all of the
various ways people answer the question “Who am I?”

Constituents Self-feelings Self-seeking & Self

Preservation
The feelings and The actions to which
emotions they aroused they prompt
3
 The Constituents
of the Self

Material Self Spiritual Self Social Self Pure Ego

4
 The material self, according to James primarily is
about our bodies, clothes, immediate family, and
home. We are deeply affected by these things
because we have put much investment of our self
to them.
5
 Material Self Investment Diagram
The Self
Body
Clothes
Immediate family
Home

6/28/2019
ADD A FOOTER
6
 Body
• Innermost part of our material self

• We are directly attached to this

commodity that we cannot live without.

• We strive hard to make sure that this

body functions well and good.

6/28/2019
7 ADD A FOOTER
 David Backham Mariah Carey

8 $70 million $1 Billion 6/28/2019

ADD A FOOTER
 Clothes
• “any time we bring an object into the surface of our
body, we invest that object into the consciousness
of our personal existence taking in its contours to
be our own and making it part of the self”
- Herman Lotze

• The fabric and the style of the clothes we wear

bring sensations to the body to which directly
affect our attitudes and behavior
6/28/2019
9 ADD A FOOTER
 6/28/2019
10 ADD A FOOTER
 Immediate family
• This includes our parents, siblings and other family
members. We view them as part of ourselves.

6/28/2019
11 ADD A FOOTER
 Home
• Home is where our heart is.

• It is the earliest nest of our selfhood.

• The home is and extension of self, because in it,

we can directly connect our self

6/28/2019
12 ADD A FOOTER
 “a man’s self is the sum total of all what
he can call his.”
-William James
6/28/2019
13 ADD A FOOTER
We are what we have
 “… we regard our possessions as part of
ourselves. We are what we have and what
we possess.”
-Russel Belk

6/28/2019
15 ADD A FOOTER
 As we grow older, putting importance to
material possession decreases. However,
material possession gains higher value in our
lifetime if we use material possession to find
happiness, associate these things with
significant events, accomplishments, and
people in our lives.
6/28/2019
16 ADD A FOOTER
 There are even times, when material
possession of a person that is closely identified
to the person, gains acknowledgement with
high regard even if the person already passed
away.

6/28/2019
17 ADD A FOOTER
 The possessions that we dearly have tell
something about who we are, our self-
concept, our past, and even our future.

6/28/2019
18 ADD A FOOTER
Thank you!