Understanding the Self

PLATO
(1) PHILOSOPHICAL VIEW OF THE SELF
“If we are ever to have pure
“Who am I?”- Not knowing this is the knowledge of anything,
greatest death to the Soul (one’s own we must get rid of the body and
self)! contemplate things
- Dada Bhagwan by themselves with the soul by
itself.”
Philosophy has always sought to answer  Human beings are composed of two
life's difficult questions and has things – body and soul.
relentlessly pursued answers to these  Soul is the true self- the
permanent unchanging self found in the
no matter how seemingly futile the
world of Ideas.
quest may be.  Body is what we see in the material
world- a mere replica of the true self
What is the Self? (that is
why it is changing).
Composed of self-perception as defined
 Soul was already existing even
by their self-concept, self-knowledge, before bodily death and thus, will
self-esteem and social self. survive even after
the body dies.
SOCRATES  Thus, the body becomes a prison of
the soul. To free us, we have to
contemplate.
 There is soul first before man’s
 Contemplation
body. Man first exists in the realm of
ideas and exists as a soul or pure
-born into aristocratic Athenian
mind.
 When man came to the material family-involved in the rule of 3
world, he forgot the ideas that he tyrants- founded academy (now the
knew, hence he became prototype of modern university)
ignorant. Ignorance causes problem to
man. - An important part of his philosophy
 Solution: Dialectic method/Socratic is the dichotomy of the ideal world or
method. the world of forms and the material
- Never wrote a book world.
- Most of the things we know about him
came from Zenophon and his prized ST. AGUSTIN
student - Plato. (reason why it is
“When I consider Thy heavens, the
difficult to differentiate Socrates'
work of Thy fingers,
idea from Plato's. the moon and the stars, which Thou
hast ordained;
"An unexamined life is not worth What is a man, that Thou art mindful
living." of him? And the
son of man, that Thou hast visited
- He directed philosophy's attention him?”
from the universe to an examination of -Psalm 8:3-4
our existence in the universe.  Highly influenced by Plato- the
permanent world is where God is and
Summary: Self existed even before we the material world is our world now.
existed into material world (an  Man is created out of God’s love
omniscient self) and also created in His image. He also
has an immortal soul whose goal is to
be with God eternally.
 The pursuit of happiness can be “What worries you, masters you.”
achieved in God alone.
 Moral law is also existing in man’s  The self is not locked in mind,
mind. Man’s rationality helps him body and soul only.
distinguish between what is right and  Memory is part of the definition of
wrong. the self.
 Memory theory- we are the same
- most popular Christian philosopher. person as we were in the past for as
long as we can remember something from
- abandoned early Christian fate that past.

- but also returned to Christianity - "Father of Classical Liberalism"

"But my sin was this, that I looked - 1st of Great British Empiricist
for pleasure, beauty, and truth not in philosopher (do not believe whatever
Him but in myself and His other is not sense by self e.g. eyes, touch,
creatures, and the search led me etc.)
instead to pain, confusion, and
error." - St. Augustine (Confessions) DAVID HUME
- Christianized the idea of Plato.
“Reason is, and ought only to be the
slave of the
RENE DESCARTES passions, and can never pretend to
any other office
“ I think, therefore, I am.” than to serve and obey them.”
(Cogito ergo sum)
 The mind is divided into two:
- Father of Modern Philosophy. Impressions and Ideas
 Impression: Things directly
- hired to tutor Queen Christina of perceived by the senses
Sweden but soon after, he died of  Ideas: things created in the mind.
pneumonia because his health couldn't Can be a combination of impressions.
 Hume: When he looks in the mind,
take the 5am start of lesson required
there is no impression that
by the queen. corresponds
to the self because the self
Man's essence - THINKING BEING constantly changes. Thus, the self is
merely the
 The essence of man is in being a
perception we have at the moment it is
purely thinking being. Thus, I think,
being perceived. Therefore, the
therefore; I am.
enduring Self is just a fiction. We
 The mind and body are separate but
cannot observe a permanent self, in
at the same time conjoined with one
short, THERE IS NO SELF.
another that they causally act upon
each other. (I cannot act without my - Born in Scotland, a lawyer
body)
 The self is Mind more than the - wrote book - History of England
Body.
 Difference: Body is structured but - Like Locke, he is an Empiricist.
the mind cannot be boxed- hence, the
study of the self requires a science Self is just an impression. Self-
of its own because mind pursues its changes every time.
own thoughts.

JOHN LOCKE IMMANUEL KANT

““All our knowledge begins with the -claimed that one of the proofs for
senses, proceeds the unconscious is "Slip of the
then to the understanding, and ends tougue"
with reason.
There is nothing higher than reason.” It is when instead of saying Shaun, we
blurted out Paolo. It is said that we
 Refuting Hume, he argued that it is
possible to find the essence of the are thinking of Paolo in our
self subconscious.
by using our reason.
 Man is gifted with reason and GILBERT RYLE
freewill, therefore man can organize
the “Minds are things, but different
different data gathered by the senses. sorts
From this, we can now have a good of things from bodies.”
idea of the self.
 Man has inherent dignity and should  The debate on the definition of the
be treated with respect as an end self is only a problem of language.
and not as a means.  For him, a talk of the mind is only
a talk of behavior. The mind is not
- one of the giants in philosophy distinct from the body but is part of
a certain aspects of our bodies.
-spurred into philosophical activism  Criticized Descartes and said
when he encountered Hume's skepticism Descartes made a category mistake.
and took it upon himself to refute it.  In a discourse, separation of mind,
body and soul is possible but not in
- argued that it is possible to practice. Thus, we can see how the
discover universal truth about the mind is working through his
world using our reason. behavior. The self can be known by the
behavior.
- it is possible to find the essence
of the Self.
PAUL CHURCHLAND
SIGMUND FREUD “We do have an organ for
understanding and
“The ego is not master in its own recognizing moral facts. It is called
house.” the brain.”

 Mas is a combination of his  Known for his Eliminative

biological structure and the influence Materialism- the idea which states
of that the
his socio cultural environment. mind is unreal, and the brain is real.
 He devised a tripartite division of  The self is the brain. The brain is
man- id, ego, superego. the essence of the self.
 Id represents the biological  The term mind, moods, emotions,
structure, superego represents the actions, and consciousness are
socio-cultural environment. deeply affected by the state of the
 The two are at battles against each brain.
other and whoever wins between  A new conceptual framework should
them is manifested in the ego. The ego be based on neuroscience.
being the Self.

-not a philosopher
MAURICE MERLEAU-PONTY
-father of psycho analysis “We know not through our intellect
but through our experience.” that man has many layers (ID, EGO,
SUPEREGO).
 An existentialist, he believes that
a person is defined by virtue of GILBERT RYLE - how one behaves is a
movement and expression. A person is factor in showing who man is. -
the sum of all that he does with
BEHAVIOUR
his body. Including his interpretation
of his past and his decisions. PAUL CHURCHLAND - brain is the essence
 The definition of self is all about
of the self.
one’s perception of one’s experience
and the interpretation of those
MAURICE MERLEAU-PONTY - rejected the
experiences.
 The self is grounded on the idea of mind & body dichotomy. For
experiences from the past, the him, man is all about how he sees
possibilities himself (an embodied subjectivity). -
for the future and the present EXPERIENCES
cognition.

SUMMARY

SOCRATES - man is essentially a soul,

this was seconded by PLATO.

AUGUSTINE - extends Plato's idea, man QUIZ

is an image in the likeness of God and
1. TRUE – Sigmund Freud believes in
he essentially a soul whose goal is to
the tripartite division of man’s
be with God.
mind-the id, ego and the superego.
RENE DESCARTES - non physical form of 2. TRUE – Augustine espoused that man
man, man is mind - a thinking being is created in the image of God.
separate from his body. But doesn't 3. FALSE – Locke explains that our
mean that we don't need our body, real world where there is
because the body is a necessity for permanence and infinity- that’s
the mind in order to act. the world where God is. AUGUSTINE
4. FALSE – Ponty suggests that the
JOHN LOCKE - self is a consciousness, self is grounded on the
as long as we have memories about who experiences from the past but not
we are and our identity, that tells us the future.
we are that same person. 5. TRUE - According to Ryle, the self
can be known by its behavior.
DAVID HUME - there is no permanent 6. TRUE – Locke explains that the
Self, self keeps changing. memory makes us aware of our
IMMANUEL KANT- refuted Hume. It is existence.
possible for us to construct our self. 7. FALSE – For Socrates, man’s
Since we are thinking being, we can existence was first in the world
organize our experiences so that we of forms.
can build an idea of who we are, hence 8. TRUE – According to Plato, what we
the Self is very much present. see in the material world is not
the real self but only a replica
SIGMUND FREUD - man is made up of 2 of our true self.
things: conscious & unconscious and 9. FALSE – The philosophical quest is
aimed at unraveling who man is and
 his nature by looking on the morals, law, customs, and any other
everyday goals of man, but not to capabilities and habits acquired by [a
determine what ultimately is man, human] as a member of society.
his goals and his essence.
10. FALSE – Kant suggests that the -Sir Edward B. Tylor, founder of
mind and the body are separate and cultural anthropology
very distinct from one another but Anthropology is the inclusive study of
also believes that the mind is the human race, its culture and
conjoined with the body in such an society, and its physical development
intimate way that they causally (Heacock, 2009).
act upon each other.
Sociology is the scientific study of
human life, social groups, whole
societies and the human world whose
subject matter is our own behavior as
social beings in relationship with
many other people (Giddens, A. &
Sutton, P. W., 2016).

Although material culture changes

overtime, non-material culture may or
may not change depending on the
influence of outside factors

(2) THE SELF AS A SOCIAL CONSTRUCT in the society, and the changes that
societal values go through.
“Culture is not just an ornament of
human existence but—the principal CULTURE AND THE SELF
basis of its specificity—an essential
condition for it.”-C. Geertz The self is clearly linked to his or
her culture. We can never understand
Knowing the self requires people apart from it since it is the
understanding our society and its very personality of the society
culture, and how it provokes us to (Rousseau, 2014). Consequently, the
make decisions which are culturally self mirrors this personality of
influenced and socially constructed. culture. In fact, our social
It is quite impossible to ultimately personality is a reflection of culture
know the self without comprehending itself.
the culture of our society.

As products of it, we mirror the

GEORGE HERBERT MEAD’S
values, traditions, and beliefs that THEORY OF THE SELF:
our society holds dear. These concepts
are embedded in the culture of our  An individual explains his actions
people- the impact of which permeates through the lens of his society, since
in the very soul of the social self. he belongs to a social structure, a
social order.
THE SELF AS EMBEDDED IN CULTURE
 The individual sees himself as the
Culture is that complex whole which focus of everything, until such time
includes knowledge, beliefs, arts, that the self emerges because of the
influence of those who play a
prominent role in their
THE SELF IN THE WESTERN
selfdevelopment. AND ORIENTAL THOUGHT
 The emergence of the self Since culture is very much relative,
becomes evident as the the behavior of the self is very much
individual goes through the dependent on its context. This
preparatory, play,and game relativism is very much evident in the
stages. Western and Eastern construction of
 At the very heart of social the self.
psychology is the effect that
the social group has in the WESTERN
self’s understanding of his
experiences and his actions. In the individualistic view of the
 The result of the last stage of self, people are autonomous and are
the developmental stages of the focused on achieving their personal
self is to be able to identify goals over the goals of their in-
other group members that has group.
expectations on how he should EASTERN
act and behave in different
situations. On the opposite side is the
interdependent view of the self, also
known as collectivism, which explains
that a person sees himself as an
integral part of the communal group,
be it his nuclear family, his friends,
ACCORDING TO CLIFFORD or even his coworkers.
GEERTZ (1973):
THE SELF AS A PRODUCT OF
 Culture should not be seen as a
complex behavioral pattern but as a THE MODERN WORLD
set of control mechanisms- engineered
programs in directing human behavior. Since the self has to keep up with
the ever-changing world, he needs to
 Man as an unfinished animal, always adjust, re-adjust, and re-align his
dependent on structures to control his actions with the seismic
behavior. transformation and evolution of the
society.
 It is necessary for man to look for,
and be governed by rules to guide him The fast paced world has made it more
in making sure that his actions will difficult to decipher the self, since
make him a better member of the the sources of our identities are no
society. longer stable and secure (Burkitt,
2008).
------
 The transformation of the social
The laws of the land provide the most world resulted further in the
comprehensive rules by which man is fragmentation of the self, as our
expected to abide. cultural values become fragmented as
well.
Gergen (as cited in Burkitt, 2008),
believes that ‘technologies of social
saturation’ has become vital in the
transformation of the social world,
ultimately giving a make-over of the
social self.

The diversity and variations of these

digital technologies in particular
forced us to confront the vast array
of our cultural traditions,
challenging our own belief systems
and values, and exposing the
strengths and weaknesses of our own
worldviews.

THE SELF(IE) GENERATION AS CULTURE

CREATORS

The effect of culture in today’s

younger generation must be highlighted
since the

Generation Z, also known as the

self(ie) generation, is not considered
as a passive user of culture. In fact,
they have become culture creators, who
practically live their lives and
present themselves in the virtual
world.

CONFUCIANISM
The teachings of Confucianism are the OTHER NOTES
very fabric of social relationships in
China, reflecting collectivism to its NON-MATERIAL CULTURE
core.
It is important to understand that
- Interdependent non-material culture could also
manifest in the material culture of
people.

Conservatism, as a social value, can

manifest in the kind of dress that
people wear. On the other hand, a very
exclusive group would not want to
accept any material object from their
outside world.
- inclusive of the intangible human Hidden Self – Information about you
creations that include beliefs, that you know but others don’t know.
values, norms, and symbols.
Unknown Self – Information about you
SELF-ACTUALIZATION - ultimate goal of that neither you nor others know.
every person of individualist
societies. Most of the times we are too hard on
ourselves because of our many
Language – cornerstone of culture expectations.

Gen Z, aka self(ie) generation – Questioning who we are or engaging in

active user of culture self-reflection to figure out and
understand why we behave in a certain
In collectivist societies, children way is normal (Weiten et al., 2014, p.
learn to think in terms of “we” 115) and is actually beneficial in
Norms – what dictates our behavior in increasing self-awareness.
the society. These disctate the
socially acceptable behavior of people SELF / SELF CONCEPT
in the society.
“organized, consistent set of
Culture – meeting point between perceptions of and beliefs about
anthropology and sociology. oneself” (Passer & Smith, 2007,
p.451).
The self, according to Confucius
entails the participation of the other these perceptions and beliefs that
members in the society. comprise our self-concept are called
self-schemas

SELF-SCHEMAS

• Formed by numerous factors that we

may be aware or unaware of.

WHAT ARE THESE FACTORS?

1. Past experiences
2. Personality traits
3. Abilities
4. Physical features
5. Values
(3) THE PSYCHOLOGICAL SELF: MY 6. Goals
FAVORITE MYSTERY 7. Social roles
8. Own observations
Johari Window.
9. Feedback from others
Open self – Information about you that
both you and others know. REAL AND IDEAL SELVES
Blind Self – Information about you Rogers asserted that we have 2
that you don’t know but others do selves:
know.
Ideal Self Real Self
 Person we want Who we actually "Selective perception" - tinatanggap
to be are lang ang magaganda. Denial
Idealized How I see me
version of Experiencing incongruence - seek
ourself counseling.
How I should be Also called
“actual self” The misalignment of the ideal and real
self leads to incongruence.

Our ideal self is essential in WORTH KNOWING

guiding and motivating us to behave
in a way that would lead us to the “It has been documented that there is
best version of who we want to be. a relationship between low self-esteem
and violence, school dropout rates,
POSSIBLE SELVES teenage pregnancy, suicide, and low
academic achievement.
- developed from past
experiences, current behavior, and Self-esteem refers to one’s overall
future expectations. assessment of one’s worth as a person
(Weiten et al., 2014, p. 118), one’s
- one’s conceptions about the
self-worth.
kind of persons one might become
in the near future.

- Sometimes, however, possible

selves are negative and represent
what you fear you might become.

In achieving the ideal self or any

goal, numerous studies emphasize the
importance of visual imagining
exercises.

How aligned are your ideal and real

selves?

According to Rogers, the congruence SELF-EFFICACY

or incongruence between the ideal and
real self has effects on our self- Self-efficacy is how one performs
esteem. (Coten, 2009).
Congruence – self-concept meshes well is directly correlated with self-
with actual experience (some esteem.
incongruence is probably unavoidable).
if self-efficacy improves/increases =
lead us to high self esteem + can lead to congruence of ideal and
confident, satisfied real self
Incongruence – self-concept does not However, an increase in self-esteem
mesh well with actual experience does not always lead to increase
self-efficacy (because of lack of
lead us to low self esteem = distress,
EFFORT)
anxious, defensive
Motivation is needed - a big factor Ideal does not have always to mean
PERFECT
For self-esteem and self-efficacy to
increase, we have to learn to give We should help ourselves. stop
unconditional positive regard to each comparing ourselves to other.
other.
"It is never too late to be what you
SELF-ESTEEM AND SELF- might have been" - George Eliot

EFFICACY We have to focus on the positive and

good. Our self-esteem made window as
Rogers presented the idea of a fully we are given a gift of life (we decide
functioning person: everyday)

“this means that the person is in Our psychological self is an aspect of

touch with the here and now, his or ourselves that has immense impact on
her subjective experiences and how we see ourselves, our entire
feelings, continually growing and being, present, future, relationships
changing or the society we are a member of.

 Some of the key characteristics of We have the ability to improve

a fully-functioning person include: ourselves.
1.
“openness to experience,
2.
a flexible self-concept,
3.
unconditional [positive] regard for
the self,
4.
the ability to live in harmony with
others” (Cherry, 2017, para. 16)

“If there’s one "program" we could all

start that would do wonders for our
self-esteem, it’s abolishing needless
self-criticism and punitive self-talk—
and that program, is free!

We are fortunate enough to have some

degree, a high one at that, to help
ourselves and make ourselves the ideal
self we can to become.

SELF-AWARENESS
“When you invest your time in
developing yourself personally and
professionally, you are role-playing
as a catalyst for self-growth. There
are myriad skill investment avenues.