Understanding The Self  Theory of Love and Becoming

LESSON 1: FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF  Allegory of the Cave

PHILOSOPHY  Theory of Being
Philosophy - love of wisdom  Love – a way of by which a person can move
 Started in Athens of Ancient Greece, approximately from a state of imperfect knowledge and
600 BCE ignorance to a state of perfection and true
 Came from the words “philos” and “sophia” knowledge
 Questions centered on the universe and what St. Augustine of Hippo
possible role man may play in it  Christian Philosopher from Hippo, Africa
 Greek philosophers in Miletus chose to seek natural  initially rejected Christianity because it cannot
explanations to events and phenomena around him. provide him the answers to question that interested
 Idea of permanence him.
Socrates - “the unexamined life is not worth living”  moral evil and sufferings in the world
 One of the “Big three” (Socrates, Plato, and  His thoughts focused on two realms:
Aristotle)  God as the source of all reality and truth
 He wanted to discover the essential nature of  The sinfulness of man
knowledge, justice, beauty, and goodness.  The Role of Love - God is love and he created
 Socratic/Dialectic Method – search for the humans for them to also love.
correct/proper definition of a thing that cannot be  However, problems may arise if we choose to
refuted. love the things which we believe that gives us
 True Self = Soul happiness.
 Plato - “knowledge lies within the person’s soul”  Love of physical objects — sin of greed
 Aristocles – real name  Love for other is not lasting and
 Plato – wide/broad excessive love — sin of jealousy
 The Academy  Love for the self — sin of pride
 The Dialogues – contains writings where Socrates  Love for God — happiness
as protagonist on most of them. Rene Descartes - “I think, therefore I am”
 Theory of Forms  Father of Modern Philosophy
 Forms refers to what are real  Rationalist Philosopher
 Forms are ageless and therefore are  Cartesian method and analytic geometry
eternal.  “is there anything I can know with certainty?”
 Forms are unchanging and therefore  Descartes’ System
permanent.  The powers of the human mind
 Forms are unmoving and indivisible  Intuition – ability to apprehend direction
 Plato’ Dualism of certain truths
 The Realm of the Shadows – imperfect and  Deduction – power to discover what is
flawed not known by progressing in an orderly
 The Realm of Forms – source of all reality and way from what is already known.
true knowledge  The Mind-Body Problem – the soul/mind (also the
 Three Components of the Soul (Chariot’s self) as a substance that is separate from the body.
Allegory/Tripartite Soul)  John Locke - “nothing exists in the mind that was
 The Reason – motivation for goodness and not first in the senses”
truth  born in Wrington, England
 The Spirited – will or the drive toward action  son of a Puritan lawyer
 The Appetite – lean towards the desire for  acquisition of knowledge
pleasures of the body  “a posteriori”
 “people are intrinsically good”  Tabula Rasa

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 Moral good depends on conformity or  The Concept of the Mind
non-conformity of a person’s behavior towards  Freewill
some law.  Types of Knowledge
 Law of Opinion  knowing-that
 Civil Law  knowing-how
 Divine Law Patricia and Paul Churchland
David Hume  Neurology – study of the nervous system, its
 born in Edinburgh, Scotland structure, physiology, and aberrations
 philosophical empiricism and skepticism  Neurophilosophy
 he relied on scientific method to explain human  Brain is responsible for the identity known as the
nature and the workings of the mind self
 Perceptions  Normal Brain = acceptable social behavior
 Impressions  Compromised Brain = aberrant behavior patterns
 Ideas Maurice Merleau-Pinty
 Principles of Association  French Phenomenological Philosopher
 Resemblance  Influenced by Edmund Husserl and Martin
 Contiguity Heidegger
 Cause and Effect  Body-Subject
 The Self  The Phenomenology of Perception
Immanuel Kant  Philosopher of the Body
 Lived in Konisberg, East Prussia
 Greatly influenced by the philosophy of David Hume
 German Idealism
 Books:
 Critique of Pure Reason
 Critique of Practical Reason
 Critique of Judgment
 Knowledge is the result of human understanding
applied to sense experience
 Transcendental apperception
 God is within man
Sigmund Freud
 Austrian neurologist
 One of the pioneering figures in the field of
Psychology
 Psychodynamic Theory
 Unconscious Mind
 Hysteria
 Free Association and Dream Analysis
 Structures of the Mind
 Id – pleasure principle
 Ego – reality principle
 Superego – morality principle
 Eros – life instinct
 Thanatos – death instinct
Gilbert Ryle
 English Philosopher

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LESSON 2: THE PERSPECTIVE OF SOCIOLOGY  Mead gave a specific age for this stage. Here the
Sociology child is about 8-9 years of age and now does more
 One of the disciplines in the social sciences which than just role-take.
aims to discover the ways by which the social  The child begins to consider several tasks and
surrounding/ environment influences people’s various types of relationships simultaneously.
thoughts, feelings and behavior.  The term generalized other was what Mead used
 Be able to be aware of social processes to see to explain the behavior of the person when he
themselves better when they realize how the social sees/considers other people in the course of his
world impacts on their existence. actions.
George Herbert Mead  This is also the Final stage of self-development
 Born February 1863 in Massachusetts, USA according to Mead.
 Graduated and taught grade school at the Oberlin Mead’s Theory of Self
College.  The self is not present at birth but begins as a
 He enrolled at Harvard University where his main central character in a child’s world. Children see
interests were Philosophy and Psychology in 1887. themselves alone and they are having a hard time
 He wrote many articles and book reviews but with understanding people around them. As they grow
the help of his students, they put together his and mature, there is a change in the self. They
numerous writings and edited them for publication. begin to see other people concerns and reactions.
 He died of heart failure in 1931. People around them, particularly their family, has a
Mead’s Social Self major role in the formation of the self. They are the
 SOCIAL BEHAVIORISM - approach Mead used to significant others who strongly influence their
describe the power of the environment in shaping development. (Schaefer, 2012)
human behavior. The ‘I’ and ‘Me’
 “Dimension of personality that is made-up of the  Mead explained that the person’s capacity to see
individual’s self-awareness and self-image” the self through others implies that the self is
(Macionis, 2012). composed of two parts, the I self and the ME self:
 Also, self cannot be separated from the society. In  I SELF - when the person initiates or performs
this, he explained a set of stages which the person a social action, the self functions as a subject.
undergoes in the course of his development.  ME SELF - when the person takes the role of
The Preparatory Stage the other, the self functions as an object.
 He believed that a self did not exist at birth. Charles Horton Cooley (1864-1929)
 Thus, self developed overtime.  American sociologist who made use of the
 Self-development is dependent on social interaction Sociopsychological Approach to understanding how
and social experience. societies work.
 Children’s behavior are primarily based on  Cooley stated that people learn who they are
imitation. through social interaction with other people.
The Play Stage  He called this the looking-glass self or the self
 Skills at knowing and understanding the symbols of that is a product of social interaction.
communication is important for this constitutes the Erving Goffman (1922-1982)
basis for socialization.  Canadian-American sociologist known for his role in
 Through communication, social relationships are the development of Modern American Sociology.
formed.  His popular work was the The Presentation of the
 Children’s behavior begin to role play and pretend to Self in Everyday Life. In this, he wrote how he
be other people. observed that people early in their social
 This stage is very significant in the development of interactions learned to slant their presentation of
the self. themselves in order to create preferred
The Game Stage appearances and satisfy particular people.

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 He referred to this process of altering how the
person presents himself to others as impression
management.

In summary, the discussions and observations of

the sociologists in this discussion represented a
progression on how the self developed through social
interaction and how a person manages
self-presentation in order for him to be accepted by
others.

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LESSON 3: THE SELF FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF lot more similarities among them than there are
ANTHROPOLOGY differences.
Anthropology - field of social science that focuses on  Human beings at present still share the same
the study of man biological strength and vulnerabilities
 Does not pertain only to one aspect of man but  For example, eating the right balance of food
rather on the totality of what it means to be human and intake of minerals is beneficial to all to
 Physical characteristics human beings while what may be
 Social Relationships lethal/poisonous for one person will most
 Influence of his culture from the dawn of likely have the same effect on others.
civilization up to the present  Biological characteristics human being share may
Archaeology earn for them complete dominion over all earth
 Archaeologist - a scientist who studies artifacts creatures and at the same time be the cause of their
(tools and objects past people have made) in order extinction.
to discover how these people lived their life. Linguistic Anthropology
 Archaeologists’ focus is the past and how it  Human survival is primarily linked to their ability to
may how it may contributed to the present ways communicate.
of how people conduct their daily lives.  The brain comes equipped with specialized areas
 Archaeological data suggest that in many places specifically for the purpose of communication.
around the world, the species homo sapiens did not  Language is an essential part of human
become extinct because of their ability to think, use communication.
tools and learn from experience.  Language identifies a group of people.
 This discoveries of archaeologist made people  The words, sounds, symbols, writings and
realize the most important aspect of human nature, signs that are used are reflection of a group’s
which is survival. culture.
 According to School of Functionalism, human  Linguistic anthropologists - their interest focuses
behavior continues to adapt in order to survive. on using language as a means to discover a group’s
 In this aspect human beings are similar however the manner of social interaction and his worldview.
manner they choose to survive differs.  They want to discover how language is used to
 Some men would use power and strength, declare create and share meanings, to form ideas and
wars, conquers and even try to annihilate races, concepts and to promote social change.
 While others would offer their services, knowledge,  They also study how language and modes of
resources and even their lives just to ensure that communication change over time.
few deserving human being would survive.  In the contemporary society, other form of
Biological Anthropology languages have evolved which represent subculture
 Study the biological aspect of man. of a particular group. (example, the language of the
 Focus primarily on how human body adapts to the LGBTs)
different earth environment.  Language adapt to the existing condition in the
 They look at the probable causes of disease, society.
physical mutation and death. Cultural Anthropology
 They also want to know how human beings  Culture is described as a group of people’s way of
might have evolved from their early forms life
(based on discovered fossilized remains)  It includes their behavior, beliefs, values, and
 They also do comparative studies on human symbols that they accept (usually
beings both dead and living and other primates unconsciously) that are socially transmitted
(apes and monkeys). through communication from generation to
 They discovered that while human beings do vary in generation.
their biological make- up and behavior, there are a  Cultural Anthropologist - interested in knowing

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 what makes one group’s manner of living particular In Summary, the field of Anthropology is yet another way
to that group and forms an essential part of by which a person can view himself.
members’ personal and social identity
 Theory of Cultural Determinism - human nature is
determined by the ideas, meanings, beliefs and
values learned as members of a society
 The positive implication of the theory suggest
that human beings can be shaped/formed to
have the kind of life they prefer.
 On the negative, Cultural Determinism may
mean that people have no control over what
they learn.
 They blindly accept the learning their
cultures expose them to.
 Human beings are seen as helpless and
do only what their culture instruct them to
do
 Cultural diversities are manifested in different ways
and different levels of depth.
The following are the ways in which culture may manifest
itself in people:
 Symbols - words, gestures, pictures or objects that
have a recognized/accepted meaning in a particular
cultures who find them also fitting for their own
culture.
 Heroes - persons from the past or present who
have characteristics that are important in a culture.
They may be real or fictitious are models for
behavior.
 Real - Jose Rizal
 Fictitious - Darna
 Rituals - activities ( may be religious or social)
participated in by group of people for the fulfillment
of desired objectives and are considered and are
considered to be socially essential
 Religious ceremonies like baptism and
weddings
 Social ceremonies like birthdays and
graduations.
 Values - considered to be the core of every culture.
 Unconscious and can neither be discussed nor
be directly observed but can only be inferred
from the way people act and react to
circumstances and situations.
 It involves human tendencies/preferences
towards good or bad, right or wrong.

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LESSON 4: THE SELF FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF belongs to.
PSYCHOLOGY  Examples: person’s body, his family, clothes,
Psychology - field of the social sciences that deals with books and even his money.
the description, explanation, prediction and control of  The Social Self – refers to who the person is in a
behavior (Ciccarelli and Meyer, 2006) particular social situation. The person chooses the
William James (1842 – 1910) self that would smoothly adapt to the social situation
 American Philosopher and Psychologist. He was a in order for him to fit in.
professor of psychology and philosophy at Harvard  Example: A person changes how he
University and was known for being one of the great represents himself when he is at home, in
pragmatists. school or with his friends.
 Pragmatism - branch of philosophy in which we  The Spiritual Self – self that is more concrete or
assess truth in terms of effect, outcome, and permanent when compared to the material and
practicality. social selves. This self is more subjective and
 “Father of American Psychology” intimate part of the self. It includes aspects like the
 He is known for his Theory of the Self. individual’s personality, values, and morals that are
 He wrote many articles on both philosophy and usually stable and constant. The spiritual self is
psychology and published several books, one of always engaging in the process of “introspection”.
which is The Principles of Psychology in 1890 OTHER SELVES IN PSYCHOLOGY
wherein his theory of self is explained.  Global Self – represents the overall value that a
 Five (5) Characteristics of Thoughts: person places upon himself. It is the product of all
1. All human thoughts are owned by some experiences that he had in the society which
personal self. accounts for the kind of person he presently is.
2. All thoughts are constantly changing or are  Differentiated Self – This concept came from
never static. Murray Bowen an American Psychiatrist and a
3. There is a continuity of thoughts as its focus Professor of Psychiatry. He was among those who
shifts from one object to another. developed Family Therapy and Sytematic Therapy.
4. Thoughts deal with objects that are different In his theory, he observed togetherness that there
from and independent of consciousness itself. are two forces affecting the person; the first is and
5. Consciousness can focus on particular objects the second is individuality.
and not other.  Carl Rogers (1902 - 1987), an American
TWO PARTS OF THE SELF psychologists who proposed the personality theory
 THE “ME” self (EMPIRICAL ME) known as “Person Centered Theory”. He coined the
Considered as a separate object or individual that the term, “Self- Concept”. According to him, there are
person refers to when discussing or describing their two types of self-concept:
personal experiences.  Real Self-concept – refers to all information
Example: and perception the person has about himself.
The gifts were sent to ME. This is who he actually is and answers the
The person is smiling at ME. question, “Who am I?”
 THE “I” self (PURE EGO/ THINKING SELF)  Ideal Self-concept – model version the person
The self that knows and recognizes who they are and has of himself. This is what the person aims for
what they have done. himself to be. “Who do I want to be?”
Example:  Rogers stated that there should be congruence
I borrowed the book from the library. (sameness, equality) between the real self and
I won the game. ideal self in order to be happy and satisfied with
THREE COMPONENTS OF THE ME SELF life. If the real self is very different from ideal
 The Material Self - Consist of the things or objects self then the person will experience
that belong to the person or entities that a person dissatisfaction and may see himself as a failure

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 or a loser (Feist & Feist, 2008).  Forethought – person’s anticipation of likely
 The Self – Discrepancy Theory of Higgins (1987) outcomes of his behavior. This allow a person to
- stated that people use internalized standards to select from a repertoire of behaviors and determine
which they compare themselves are called which one will most likely lead to a positive
self-guides which provides directions for how the outcome.
person should present himself .  Self – reactiveness – process in which the person
MULTIPLE AND UNIFIED SELVES is motivated and regulates his behavior as he
 The Multiple Selves Theory suggests that there observes his progress in achieving his goals.
exists in the individual different aspects of the self. It  Self- reflectiveness – person looking inward and
makes sense that the self is a whole made up of evaluating his motivations, values, life goals and
parts. In this theory, a psychologically healthy other people’s effect on him. An important aspect of
individual, however is a person who is able to make self-reflectiveness is self- efficacy which is his belief
sense of the sometimes confusing and conflicting that he is capable of behavior that will produce the
aspects of themselves and integrate them into desired positive results.
single, unified self. SELF - REGULATION
TRUE AND FALSE SELVES  It is exhibit by a person when he reactively attempts
 True Self – is one in which the self is seen as to minimize the discrepancies between what he has
creative, spontaneously experiencing each day of already accomplished and what he still wants to
their lives, appreciating being alive, real, integrated achieve.
and connected to the whole existence.  It allows the person to set goals that are better and
 False Self – may be manifested in a form of higher than the former, challenging his capabilities
defense. It lacks spontaneity, is dead and empty. It and making him a wiser and self actualized
is the mask that hides the true person for fear of the individual. (Feist and Feist, 2008)
pain of rejection and failure.
 D. W. Winnicott - true and false selves are present
in all individuals. For the two to exist in a healthy
individual, they should be functional for the
advantage of both the person himself and his
society. A person that struggles to fit in but still
experiences the feeling of being forced to comply
rather than adapting gracefully to the situation is a
person whose self is maladjusted and unhealthy.
THE SELF AS PROACTIVE AND AGENTIC
 Albert Bandura (1925 - present) is the proponent of
the personality theory known as the Social
Cognitive Theory.
 In his theory, the person is seen as proactive and
agentic which means that he has the capacity to
exercise control over his life.
 Human Agency – essence of being a human.
 He explains further how human beings are affected
by the interaction among environmental events,
behavior and personal factors through his concept
of Triadic Reciprocal Causation Paradigm.
FEATURES OF HUMAN AGENCY
 Intentionality – actions performed by the person
with full awareness of his behavior.

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LESSON 5: THE SELF IN WESTERN AND EASTERN THE SELF IN CONFUCIAN THOUGHT
THOUGHT  Confucius was the name for which Kong Zongni of
INDIVIDUALISTIC SELF China was known in the west. He was born in the
 Human beings have gone through a lot of period of Zhou Dynasty in 551 BCE in the small
challenges since their existence was recorded state of Lu. Confucius grew up poor even though he
about 200,000 years ago. descended from scholarly family.
 As a result of his introspection, he decides that  Confucius; experiences in politics made him focus
since he has only one life to live and death is on social reforms. His philosophy came to be known
inevitable, he should make the most of this life he as humanistic social philosophy.
was given.  As such he considers the society and its
 The development of an individualistic self begins communities as the main source of values of both
after birth and is observed in the child rearing human beings and the society in general.
practices of parents in the west.  The philosophical concept of Confucianism is
 Independence and self-reliance from the centered on the ren which can be manifested the li
development of the self in Western Cultures. (propriety), xiao (filiality), and yi (rightness). The ren
COLLECTIVE SELF can be understood as human goodness.
 Needless to say, not all cultures encourage/ practice  Confucius further believed that the ren that makes
individualism. life worth living (Stangroom, 1984)
 In the cultures of the East, the development of  Confucius further believed that the ren can only be
collective self is ingrained into the individual. realized through the li, xiao and yi.
 It is observed that strong bonds of unity are formed  Li (propriety)
and developed in collectivism. In an extreme sense,  In order to human actions, rules of
all decisions made are group decisions. propriety should be followed. Such rules
 Collectivistic cultures give birth to individuals who involve adherence to the rituals of the
develop collective selves. community
 In society, collectivism fosters nationalistic attitude  Li conforms to the norms of humanity.
as long as this is what the group believes.  Confucius believes that everyone has
 The individual members are non-entities and there duties and responsibilities.
is no sense of self but what is present is a collective  Xia (filiality)
self. This means that the collective self is the group  It is the virtue of reverence and respect for
self to which the person belongs to. family
 In the contemporary society, both individualistic and  Parents should be revered for the life they
the collective self may exist in a single individual. had given
THE SELF IN WESTERN THOUGHT  Children show respect to their parents by
 In the seventeenth century, Descartes emphasized exerting efforts to take care of themselves.
the self through his dictum “I think, therefore I am.”  Yi (rightness)
The person/self in Descartes’ view exists in  It is the rightway of behaving
regardless of his environment. In other words, for  It conditional and absolute.
Descartes the cognitive basis of the person’s  Actions must be performed and carried out
thoughts is proof for the existence of the self. because they are the right actions
 The west introduced the ecological self which sees  Li, Xiao, and Yi are virtues observed in a
the self as a process that is undergoing person whose humanity is developed, morally
development. cultivated and aware. The cultivation of the ren
 The self here is seen as dynamic, unique in each through li, xiao, and yi will lead to a person of
individual and is constantly exposed to an ever virtue.
changing world

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