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• Self is the unique essence of an individual.

Components of Self

• Self-concept refers to how an individual perceives and evaluates themselves.
• Self-awareness refers to the recognition of one's own thoughts, emotions, and behaviors.
• Self-esteem refers to the overall sense of self-worth or value.
• Identity refers to the characteristics, beliefs, and roles that define an individual.

Elements of Identity

• Personal identity includes traits and attributes unique to an individual.

• Social identity refers to how one defines themselves in relation to groups.

• Cultural identity refers to the influence of cultural norms, traditions, and values on one's sense of self.

• Personality refers to the consistent patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that make an individual unique.

Elements of Personality

• Traits include stable characteristics.
• Temperament includes innate predispositions evident from birth.
• Behavior includes actions and reactions influenced by experiences and environment.

Factors that Shape the Self and Personality

• Genetics: Inherited traits from parents that influence temperament, intelligence, and predispositions.
• Brain and Nervous System: Neurotransmitters and brain structures affect emotions and behaviors.
• Physical Characteristics: Body image can impact self-esteem and identity.

Psychological Factors

• Cognition includes thoughts and perceptions influence self-concept and decision-making.
• Emotions refers to feelings that impact self-awareness and interpersonal relationships.
• Motivation includes drives and needs that shape behavior.

Social and Environmental Factors

• Family: Early attachments, parenting styles, and family dynamics play a critical role.
• Culture: Norms, traditions, and societal expectations influence values and identity.
• Peer Groups: Social interactions during development shape self-esteem and personality.
• Education and Media: Exposure to ideas and role models shapes worldview and self-concept.

Experiences and Life Events

• Significant Events: Milestones, traumas, and achievements contribute to self-concept.
• Social Roles: Adopting roles shapes identity and self-perception.
• Free Will and Personal Agency: Individual choices, aspirations, and efforts to grow personally impact the development of the self and personality.
• Philosophy is love of wisdom, a never-ending search for truth.

Socrates (470-399 B.C.)

• Socrates is the Father of Western Philosophy
• The Socratic method aims to make people think, seek, and ask again and again.
• Key idea: "Know thyself."
• Socrates believed the self is the soul, emphasized self-examination and believed that the self is immortal and exists beyond the physical body.

Plato (428-347 B.C.)

• Plato's real name is Aristocles
• The Academy was established after he returned to Athens
• Wrote more than 20 Dialogues with Socrates
• Key Idea: The self is composed of three parts: Reason, Spirit and Appetite.
• Reason (logical thinking).
• Spirit (emotions and willpower).
• Appetite (desires and basic instincts).
• The rational part should govern the other parts for a balanced and virtuous life.
• The true self is the soul, which strives to align with the eternal and unchanging Forms

Plato's View of Human Nature

• People are intrinsically good.
• Ignorance equals evil.
• Humans have an immortal, rational soul even if the human body and physical world are imperfect.
• Knowledge lies within the person's soul.
• Love is the way by which a person can move from a state of imperfect knowledge and ignorance to a state of perfection and true knowledge.

St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430 CE)

• Theologian
• Man is a sinner
• The self is spiritual and oriented toward God.
• Augustine believed the self is composed of the body and the soul, with the soul being the higher, immortal aspect.
• The true self seeks union with God through faith, introspection, and divine grace.

Rene Descartes (1596-1650)

• He is the Father of Modern Philosophy and a rationalist philosopher (truth is a universal concept).
• Cartesian doubt includes a systematic process of being skeptical about (or doubting) the truth of one's beliefs
• Key Idea: "Cogito, ergo sum" ("I think, therefore I am")
• Argued that the self is a thinking substance distinct from the body and introduced dualism, the separation of mind and body.
• Mind-body problem: mind and body are not one and the same and the soul/mind (also the self) is separate from the body.
• A priori knowledge – innate truth, independent of experience

John Locke (1632-1704)

• He is the greatest opposer of Cartesian philosophy and father of liberalism
• Key Idea: The self is tied to memory
• Locke defined the self as a continuity of consciousness over time, as personal identity depends on memories of experiences.
• The self is not the substance but the experiences that can be remembered and reflected upon.
• Posteriori knowledge – knowledge depends on empirical evidence or experience

David Hume (1711-1776)

• Preacher of empiricism (knowledge is impossible without experience), the mind has limitations
• Key Idea: The self is a bundle of perceptions.
• He rejected the notion of a permanent self, arguing that there is no evidence of a unified, unchanging self and the self is a collection of ever-changing perceptions, experiences, and emotions.

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)

• Founder, German idealism
• Key Idea: The self is the center of perception and experience.
• Empirical Self: The self we experience through senses and introspection.
• Transcendental Self: The rational, unifying consciousness that organizes experiences and the self, is the condition for the possibility of knowledge.

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)

• Father of psychoanalysis
• Key Idea: The self is divided into three parts.
• The self is a dynamic system consisting of the id, ego, and superego.
• Id (instinctual desires).
• Ego (rational, conscious self).
• Superego (moral conscience).
• The self is shaped by unconscious conflicts and childhood experiences.

Gilbert Ryle (1900-1976)

• Key Idea: The self is not a separate entity but a pattern of behaviors.
• He criticized Descartes' dualism, calling it the "ghost in the machine" and argued that the self is a collection of dispositions and actions, not an immaterial soul or mind.
• Knowing that: Knowing facts/information.
• Knowing how: Using facts in the performance of some skill or technical abilities.

Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908-1961)

• Phenomenological philosopher (phenomenology)
• Key Idea: The self is embodied.
• Emphasized the importance of the body in shaping the self and experience.
• The self is not separate from the physical world.
• The self is embedded in the body and interacts with the world through perception and action.

Patricia and Paul Churchland

• Founders of Neurophilosophy
• Key Idea: The self is rooted in the brain and its functions.
• Argued that the self is a construct of neural processes.
• She rejects dualism, emphasizing that the mind and self emerge from the brain’s physical activity.

Sociology

• Sociology is the study of the role of society in shaping behavior
• Looks into social institutions, cultural norms, and interactions with others in order to understand human behavior and focuses on societal issues and patterns

Socialization

• Socialization is the process whereby an individual learns to adjust to a group (or society) and behave in a manner approved by the group (or society).

Key Sociological Theories About Self

The Looking-Glass Self

• (Charles Horton Cooley, 1864-1929)
• The self develops through social interactions and the perceptions of others.
• Imagination: how we appear to others
• Interpretation: of others' judgments
• Development: of self-feelings (e.g., pride or shame based on perceived judgments)
• People imagine how they present themselves to others; people imagine how others evaluate them; people develop some sort of feeling about themselves as a result of these impressions

Role-Taking and the Generalized Other

• (George Herbert Mead, 1863-1931)
• Self as a social product: The self emerges through participation in society.
• "I": The spontaneous, active, and creative part of the self.
• "Me": The socialized self that reflects societal expectations.
• The self cannot be separated from the society

Stages of Development

• Infants imitate others without understanding in the Preparatory Stage.
• Children take on specific roles in the Play Stage.
• Game Stage: Children understand complex roles and the "generalized other," or the collective norms of society.
• Self isn't present at birth but begins as a central character in child's world.

Dramaturgical Perspective

• (Erving Goffman, 1922-1982)
• Social life is like a theater where individuals perform roles depending on the audience.

Key Concepts

• Impression Management: People consciously or unconsciously shape how they are perceived by others.
• Front Stage: Public self presented in social interactions.
• Back Stage: Private self, where individuals can be themselves without performing.
• Facework: where face-saving measures are resorted to the maintenance of a proper image of the self in frustrating or embarrassing situations

Characteristics of Sociological Self

• Constructed: The self develops through social interaction and is shaped by societal norms and values.
• Dynamic and Evolving: The self changes over time based on experiences, interactions, and social roles.
• Context-Dependent: Individuals present different aspects of the self depending on the social setting and audience.
• Anthropology: Study of the totality of man

Fields of Anthropology

• Archeology: Scientists study artifacts in order to discover how these people lived their lives.

• School of Functionalism: people have struggled to survive up to the present

• Biological Anthropology: Focuses primarily on how the human body adapts to the different earth environments.

• Linguistic Anthropology: Focuses on using language as a means to discover a group's manner of social interaction and his/her world view.

• Cultural Anthropology: What makes one peoples manner of living particular to that group and forms an essential part of the members personal and social identity

• Culture is a group of people’s way of life

• Theory of Cultural Determinism: Human nature is determined by the ideas, meanings, beliefs, and values learned as members of a society

Implications of Studying Culture

• Human beings can be shaped/formed to have the kind of life they prefer.
• There is no limit placed on the human ability to be or to do whatever they set their minds and hearts into.
• People have no control over what they learn.
• People blindly accept the learning their cultures expose them to.
• Human nature is under the mercy of his/her culture.

How Culture Manifests in People

• Symbols: words, gestures, pictures or objects that have a recognized/accepted meaning in a particular culture
• Heroes: persons from the past or present who have characteristics that are important in a culture
• Rituals: activities (religious or social) participated by a group of people for the fulfillment of desired objectives and are considered to be socially essential
• Values: considered core of every culture

Characteristics of Anthropological Self

• Cultural Diversity: The self is understood differently across cultures, reflecting varying beliefs and practices.
• Interconnectedness: The self is often seen as deeply embedded in relationships, community, and environment.
• Dynamic and Fluid: Anthropologists recognize that the self evolve over time as cultural practices and societal structures change.

Psychology

• Field of social sciences that deals with the description, explanation, prediction, and control of behavior.

Issues in Psychology

• Mind-Body Problem: Is the mind part of the body, or the body part of the mind?
• Nature-Nurture Controversy - which particular aspects of behavior are a product of either inherited characteristics.
• William James (1842-1910): Father of American Psychology

View of Self

• The "I" (Subjective Self): Refers to the self as the knower, the active, conscious agent who experiences and perceives.
• The "Me" (Objective Self): Refers to the self as the known, the object that can be observed and analyzed; empirical self.

Components

• Physical body, possessions, and tangible things that one identifies with of Material Self
• How one is perceived by others and the roles one plays in relationships of Social Self
• Inner thoughts, beliefs, values, and experiences of consciousness of Spiritual Self

Key Features:

• The self is not a single entity but comprises multiple dimensions of Self as Multifaceted
• Identity evolves through experiences and interactions with the environment of Self and Identity
• The self exists as a continuous flow of thoughts and experiences in the Stream of Consciousness
• James linked self-esteem to the ratio of actual achievements to aspirations of Self-Esteem

Western Thought on the Self

• Individualism: The self is seen as independent, unique, and autonomous.
• Rationality: Emphasizes reason, logic, and personal responsibility in shaping one's identity
• Dualism: Often influenced by thinkers like Descartes, who viewed the mind and body as separate
• Personal Achievement: The self is defined by accomplishments, personal growth, and self-expression
• Fixed Identity: The self is relatively stable over time, shaped by internal thoughts and external influences

Eastern Thought on the Self

• Interconnectedness: The self is not independent but deeply connected to family, community, and nature
• Spiritual and Holistic: Emphasizes harmony, balance, and enlightenment (e.g., Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism).
• No-Self (Anatta): In Buddhism, the self is impermanent and constantly changing, with no fixed essence.
• Duty and Relationships: In Confucianism, the self is shaped by social roles and moral obligations.
• Fluid Identity: The self is adaptable and defined by one's relationship with others and the universe.