UNDERSTANDING THE SELF

Lecture 1
SELF FROM THE PERSPECTIVE
OF PHILOSOPHY

SELF - Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle

called self as the soul
ARISTOTLE
SOCRATES
KNOW THYSELF UNIFIED CONCEPT OF THE SELF
 Knowing others is wisdom  Soul as the core essence of a living
being
 Requires force and strength  Not separated
 Soul - functioning
 Self-knowledge eradicates
misery
Example: Knife
 Self-knowledge alone is means to Soul - act of cutting
the highest bliss Knife - body
 Absolute perfection is the De Amina - on the soul
consummation of self-knowledge
SELF-PRESENTATION - how people
 Socrates-method: dialogue present themselves
between the soul & itself, or
between a student and his SELF-REALIZATION - knowing oneself;
teacher helps to determine your goals and dreams
 Without knowing yourself, SELF-KNOWLEDGE -
you can’t be happy

 Desires to be happy
DESCARTES
PLATO
COGITO ERGO SUM - ‘ I think, therefore
DUALIST I am’
 Immaterial mind (soul) and  Doubting method
material body [separated]  Self could not be doubted
 Believed the soul exists before
birth and after death
 Self is soul

Soul (mind) 3 parts:

 Reason - uses the will to control

appetite

 Appetite (physical urges) -

lustful appetite or rational desire

 Will (emotion, passion, spirit)

- source of love anger,
indignation, ambition,
aggression

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UNDERSTANDING THE SELF
interaction within the context of
society

 Society - an interweaving and inter-

working of mental selves

THREE PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS

Lecture 2 1. The imagination of our appearance to

SELF FROM THE PERSPECTIVE the other person
OF SOCIOLOGY
2. The imagination of his judgement of
GEORGE HERBERT MEAD that appearance
IRVING GOFFMAN
CHARLES HORTON COOLEY 3. Self-feeling - pride or mortification

“Other people can affect us; Self is THREE ACTIVITIES TO DEVELOP THE
relatively stable set of perceptions of SELF
who we are to ourselves, others, and 1) Language - develops self by allowing
to social systems” individuals to respond to each other
thru symbols, gestures, words, and
GEORGE HERBERT MEAD
sounds
SOCIAL SELF, I, AND ME SELF
2) Play - develops self by allowing
 Presenting different self if there individuals to take on different roles,
is someone looking pretend, and express expectation of
others
 Interaction of many individuals
3) Games - develop self by allowing
 Occur with a communicative individual to understand and adhere
process to the rules of the activity
IRVING GOFFMAN
William Jame’s Distinction between the “I”
SYMBOLIC INTERACTION and the “Me”.

 (1956) The Presentation of Self ME - accumulated understanding of the

in Everyday Life generalized other (object); known
 Asylum (1961)
 Stigma (1963) Example: how one think one’s group
 Interaction Ritual (1967) perceives oneself etc.
 Frame Analysis (1974)
 Forms of Talks (1981) I - the individuals pulses (subject); knower

 73RD president of the American

Sociological Association

 Other people can affect of how

we present ourselves
CHARLES HORTON COOLEY
LOOKING GLASS SELF

 Describes the development of

one’s self and one’s identity
through one interpersonal

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UNDERSTANDING THE SELF
others and to a particular group of
people

 Uniqueness

BLACK HOLE

 Disconnected from ourselves

 Not filling ourselves with love thru our

spiritual connection

SELF-ABANDONMENT - becomes like a

Lecture 3 vacuum trying to pull love from other
SELF FROM THE PERSPECTIVE
OF ANTHROPOLOGY
THE SELF AND PERSON

Anthropology (discipline)
SELF EMBEDDED IN CULTURE
 Scientific study of the origins of
humans  Creates personality patterns

 How we have changed over the  Shapes a person’s emotions, thought,

years behaviors, cultural values, and norms
to fit into and function as a productive
 How we relate to each other member

 Our own culture and with people  The study of culture and personality
from other cultures
HOLISM IMPACT OF THE CULTURE ON THE
CONCEPT OF MAN BASIC PREMISES
- broad approach to
understanding the many different 1. Marriage, economy, religion
aspects of the human experience
2. What makes people or cultures
ANTHROPOLOGISTS different

- study the concept of culture 3. Culture is the accumulated totality of

and its relationship to human life symbolic patterns that appear in
different societies
They study the past to help interpret
the present 4. What man is capable of and how he
actually behaves which in turn helps
ERIKSONIAN WAY (1972) define human nature

IDENTITY

 idea of self-hood; makes a

person distinct from other

 Qualities of sameness in relation

to a person’s connection to

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UNDERSTANDING THE SELF
Example: characterizing oneself as
athletic, smart, and cooperative

Example: The gifts were sent to me

Self-referent thoughts characteristic of the

Me Self:

 Self-view
 Self-image
 Self-schema
 Self-concept
3 COMPONENTS OF ME SELF

1. The material self (e.g., tangible

objects or possessions we collect for
ourselves)

2. The social self (e.g., how we interact

and portray ourselves within different
groups, situations, or persons)

Lecture 4 3. The spiritual self (e.g., internal

dispositions).
SELF FROM THE PERSPECTIVE
OF PSYCHOLOGY

WILLIAM JAMES (1842-1910)

 Philosopher and psychologist 5 CHARACTERISTICS OF HUMAN

THOUGHTS
 First to postulate a theory of the
self on ‘The Principles if 1. All human thoughts are owned by
Psychology’ some personal self

I SELF 2. All thoughts are constantly changing

or never static
- reflects what people see or
perceive themselves doing in the
physical world 3. There is continuity of thoughts as its
Example: recognizing that focus shift from one object to another.
one is walking, eating, and writing
4. Thought deals with object that are
Example: I borrowed book different from independent of
from the library consciousness itself.
ME SELF 5. Consciousness can focus on particular
objects and not others.
- more subjective and
psychological phenomenon, referring The Self as A Cognitive Construction
to individuals' reflections about by William James: Duality of Self
themselves
ME SELF

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UNDERSTANDING THE SELF
Self as object of knowledge  He views people as self organizing,
Consists of all qualities that make proactive, self-reflective and self-
self unique: regulating as times c times change.
1. Physical and material
2. Psychological  An agentic perspective states that we
3. Social are not merely reactive organism
shaped by environmental forces or
I SELF driven by inner impulses.
Self as knower and actor
1. Separate from surrounding An Agentic Perspective Human
world Agency entails:
2. Same over time
3. Has a Private inner life
4. Controls own thoughts and  INTENTIONALITY - which enables
Actions us to behave purposefully

REAL SELF  FORETHOUGHT - permit us to

Who we actually are. It is how anticipate outcomes
we think, how we feel, look and act.
The real self is our self-mage. Our Bandura defined human agency
self-image includes: as:
1. Physical Description 1. "the human capability to exert
2. Social Roles influence over one's functioning and
3. Personal Traits the course of events by one's actions"
4. Existential Statements
(abstract ones) 2. "Through cognitive self-guidance,
humans can visualize futures that act
IDEAL SELF on the present, construct, evaluate,
This is how we want to be. It is the and modify alternative courses of
ideal image that we developed over action to gain valued outcomes; and
time based on what we have learned override environmental influences"
and experience.
3. "To be an agent is to influence
It includes components of what our intentionally one's functioning and life
parents have taught us, what we circumstances
admire in others, what our society
promotes, and what we think is in
our best interest.

Lecture 5
SELF AS PRO-ACTIVE AND
AGENTIC FOUR CORE PROPERTIES OF
HUMAN AGENCY
An agent Perspective emerges on
Bandura's Socio Cognitive view of INTENTIONALITY
personality - deals with the forming of
intentions that "include action plans and
 He viewed people as AGENT or strategies for realizing them"
originator of experience
FORETHOUGHT
 He conceived HUMAN AGENCY
as the ability to act and make - involves "the temporal
things in to reality extension of agency" by setting goals
and anticipating future events. It includes

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UNDERSTANDING THE SELF
more than future-directed plans.
People set goals for themselves and INDIVIDUALIST SELF
foresee likely outcomes of  The individual identifies primarily with
prospective actions to guide and Self, with the needs of the individual
motivate their efforts anticipatorily. being satisfied before those of the
group.
Example: when a person is
deciding, that person has his options.  Looking after and taking care of
With each options he has to oneself, being self-sufficient,
anticipate outcomes in order for that guarantees the well-being of the
person decides depending on what group.
might come out after
 Independence and self-reliance are
SELF REACTIVENESS greatly stressed and valued.

- broadens the role of the  Persons believe they have specific,

agent to be more than just distinctive attributes that set them
"planners and fore thinkers" and apart from the general population.
includes processes of self-
management and self-motivation,  Independence and self-reliance are
as well as emotional states that greatly stressed and valued. One may
can undermine self- regulation choose to join groups, but group
membership is not essential to one's
Example: Drinking in a bar identity or success.
gives a person pleasure and it will
give that person the motivation to  Individualist characteristics are often
drink yet he will regulate his actions associated with men and people in
in order for him to get away from urban settings.
self-censured stuff.
CARL JUNG
SELF REFLECTION
PRINCIPUM INVIDUATIONIS - manner
- refers to the self- in which a thing is identified as
examining nature of human distinguished form other things
agents. "Through self-awareness,
they reflect on their personal - process of transformation, whereby
efficacy, the soundness of their the personal and collective unconscious is
thoughts and actions, the meaning of brought into consciousness (by means of
their pursuits, and needed] change dreams, active imagination or free
existing life course patterns". association to take examples) to be
assimilated into the whole personality
Example: Back to the
deciding situation, when a person - central process of human development.
chooses one of his options and In individuation psychique et collective
everything went wrong, that person
will reflect and will make changes GILBERT SIMOND
for the better.
- developed a theory of individual
and collective individuation in which
the individual subject is considered as an
effect of individuation rather than a cause.

Lecture 6
THE WESTERN THOUGHT OF
SELF
BERNANRD STIEGLAR
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UNDERSTANDING THE SELF
 "conceptual selfS" one's overarching
theory or schema about oneself based
on one's reflection on experiences
- draws upon and modifies within social and cultural context,
the work of Gilbert Simond_on parallels terms such as self-concept
individuation and also upon and self-schema.
similar ideas in Friedrich
Nietzsche and Sigmund Freud.  In a 1977 article, psychologist Hazel
Markus showed that one's self-
INDIVIDUAL
representation or self-schema guides
- person or any specific information processing and influences
object in a collection one's behavior.

- individual means SELF-CONCEPTUALIZATION

"indivisible", typically describing
any numerically singular thing, but
- an understanding you have of
sometimes meaning "a person."
yourself that's based on your personal
- From the 17th century on, experiences, body image, the thoughts
individual indicates separateness you have about yourself, and how you
as in individualism tend to label yourself in different
situations.
In the late twentieth century,
researchers began to argue that the - it can also be defined as an all-
self is a cognitive and social encompassing awareness you had of
construction. Cognitive yourself in the past; the awareness you
perspectives suggest that one's self-
have of yourself in the present, and the
representation affects how one
thinks about and gives meaning to expectations you have of yourself at a
experiences future time.

The "ecological self,” - your self-concept is built upon

connections of oneself to
perception - how you perceive yourself
experiences in the physical
environment, and the based on the knowledge you have gained
"interpersonal self." connections over a lifetime of experience. This
of oneself to others through perception you have of yourself is based
verbal or nonverbal on the information you have gathered
communication, comprise direct
about your values, life roles, goals, skills,
perception of experience.
abilities and much more.
Neisser identified three types of self-
representation
- your self-concept is more or less a
 "extended self' is based on collection of beliefs you have about your
memories of one's past
own nature, qualities, and behavior It's all
experiences and expectations for
the future about how you think and evaluate yourself
at any given moment in time. It is a
 "private self" emerges with the perception of your image, abilities, and in
understanding that one's some ways a perception of your own
experiences are not directly individual uniqueness.
perceived by others, but rather
must be communicated to be
shared.

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UNDERSTANDING THE SELF

THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF

THE SELF IN WESTERN THOUGHT

ARGUMENTS:
Lecture 6
1. The self is nothing but a bundle THE EASTERN THOUGHT OF
of perceptions, thoughts, and SELF
interactions, which our
environment molds into an EASTERN/ORIENTAL THOUGHT OF
identity. THE SELF

2. Our identities are defined by our COLLECTIVIST SELF

culture and the society in which
we are raised. One's identity is, in large part, a
function of one's membership and role in a
3. A social construct is the group, e.g., the family or work team.
intended or unintended product
of social practices and cultural  The survival and success of the group
paradigms. ensures the needs and feelings of
others, one protects oneself.
4. Therefore, the Self must be
nothing but a social construct.  Harmony and the interdependence of
group members are stressed and
valued.

 Group members are relatively close

psychologically and emotionally

 Collectivist characteristics are often

associated with women and people in
rural settings.
COLLECTIVISM
- emphasis on cohesiveness
among individuals and prioritization
of the group over the self.

- find common values and goals

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UNDERSTANDING THE SELF
- the term "in-group" is only in that context that the self
thought to include societal units comes to be what it is
INDIVIDUALIST
- individual's life belongs
not to him but to the group or  Independent
society of which he is merely a  Self-reliant
part  Achievement oriented
 Competitive
- According to collectivism,  Assertive
the group or society is the basic  Pleasure seeking
unit of moral concern  Self-assured
 Direct
ARGUMENTS OF CONFUCIUS:  Self-interest
COLLECTIVIST
1. Personality (self) as such is not
seen as inherently existing,  Socially independent
but as something that is being  Connected
formed through upbringing and  Moderate/traditional
environment.  Cooperative
 Obedient
 Self-sacrificing
 Sensitive
 Self-controlled
 Equalitarian

2. Every person is born with four

beginnings, which do not
encapsulate a concept of self as
yet, but which together, if put in
the western framework of
thinking, may be called 'pre-self,
or 'potential-self

a. heart of compassion - leads to

Jen

b. heart of righteousness - leads to

Yi

c. heart of propriety - leads to Li

d. heart of wisdom - leads to Chih

A Self as such would develop out of

these, and develop through practice
of the corresponding virtues

3. Personality (self), in the

Confucian perception, is an
achieved state of moral
excellence rather than a given
human condition.

4. The concept of self also is

deeply embedded within the
family and society, and it is

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UNDERSTANDING THE SELF

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