The Self in Philosophy Quiz

The Self from Various Philosophical Perspectives

• Socrates: First philosopher to systematically question the self. Believed that the true task of a philosopher is to know oneself. Proposed the duality of human nature: body and soul.
• Plato: Socrates' student, believed that the soul is composed of three parts:
  • Rational soul: Responsible for intellect, reason, and logic. This is the highest and noblest part of the soul, which should govern the other two.
  • Spirited soul: Responsible for emotions, desires, and passion.
  • Appetitive soul: Responsible for basic and material desires, like hunger and thirst. This is the lowest and most primal part of the soul.
• Augustine: Man has a bifurcated nature, with one aspect dwelling in the imperfect world and yearning for the Divine, and the other capable of reaching immortality. The body is destined to die on Earth, while the soul anticipates eternal life in a realm of spiritual bliss with God.
• Thomas Aquinas: Man is composed of two parts: matter and form.
  • Matter (hyle): The common stuff that makes up everything in the universe. Man's body is part of this matter.
  • Form (morphe): The essence of a substance. The soul is what animates the body and makes us human.
• René Descartes: Father of modern philosophy. Proposed a separation of the body and mind, with the mind being the "cogito" (the thing that thinks), and the body being the "extenza" (extensions of the mind). Famous for his statement "Cogito ergo sum" ("I think therefore I am").
• David Hume: Scottish philosopher who believed we can only know what comes from the senses and experiences. All knowledge is derived from experience. He differentiated between two mental experiences:
  • Impressions: The most vivid and immediate, experienced through the senses.
  • Ideas: Less vivid copies of impressions, mental representations of experiences.
• Immanuel Kant: Explored the self in the context of transcendental idealism. He identified two selves:
  • Empirical self: The self we perceive in our experience.
  • Transcendental self: The unity of consciousness that makes experience possible. The self is a necessary condition for the coherence of our experiences. Without it, we cannot organize the different impressions we receive.
• Gilbert Ryle: Believed that behavior is what truly matters, not an internal entity. The "self" is simply a convenient name for all the behaviors people exhibit.
• Maurice Merleau-Ponty: Phenomenologist who believed that the mind and body are so intertwined that they cannot be separated. The body serves as a gateway to our existence in the world.

The Self, Society, and Culture

• Self: Typically understood as separate, independent, consistent, unitary, and private, forming a distinct identity from others. However, this concept is challenged by social constructivism.
• Social Constructionist Perspective: Argues for a merged view of the person and the social context, where boundaries between the two are fluid. The self is not static but is constantly evolving in relation to external reality.
• Marcel Mauss: French anthropologist who distinguished between two faces of the self:
  • Moi: Individual, biological sense of self, including body and basic identity.
  • Personne: Social concepts of self, including social roles, expectations, and influences from others.

The Self & Development of the Social World

• Language Acquisition: Plays a critical role in the shaping of the self, allowing for interaction with the social world.
• Mead & Vygotsky: Both argued that language acquisition and interaction with others are crucial for human development. Children internalize values, norms, practices, and social beliefs through exposure to dialogue, which eventually becomes part of their individual world.
• Mead's concept of the 'I' and the 'other:' Through internalization, children develop an understanding of "other" and, consequently, a sense of "I" as distinct from others.
• Vygotsky's theory of internalization: Children internalize real-life dialogues to solve mental and practical problems, integrating social and cultural influences.

Self in Families

• Importance of Family: The family plays a vital role in shaping the self by initiating the individual's journey towards becoming a human person. Family provides the foundation for learning how to live and develop their own sense of self.
• Unconscious Internalization: The process of internalizing family values and behaviors can occur both consciously and unconsciously.
• Family as Essential for Survival and Development: Without a family, a person may face challenges in survival and development as a human person.

Self-Awareness

• Confirmation and Reinforcement: We need affirmation and reinforcement from others to validate our sense of self.
• Social and Historical Influence: Our values and what we deem important are often shaped by our social and historical context.
• Carver & Scheier (1981): Identified two aspects of self-awareness:
  • Private self-awareness: Awareness of our own thoughts and feelings.
  • Public self-awareness: Awareness of how others perceive us.
• Self-Schema: Representations of ourselves that help us understand and organize information about who we are. There are three types:
  • Actual self: Who we are at the moment.
  • Ideal self: Who we would like to be.
  • Ought self: Who we think we should be.
• Self-consciousness: An excessive focus on how we are being judged by others, often leading to discomfort and anxiety.
• Deindividuation: A loss of individual self-awareness and accountability when in groups, leading to a stronger focus on group identity.

Self-Esteem

• Self-evaluation: Our positive or negative perception of ourselves.
• Social Comparison: We learn about ourselves and evaluate our behaviors by comparing ourselves to others. There are two types:
  • Downward social comparison: Comparing ourselves to those who are worse off, which can enhance self-esteem.
  • Upward social comparison: Comparing ourselves to those who are better off, which can lead to lower self-esteem.
• Self-evaluation Maintenance Theory: Feeling threatened when someone outperforms us, especially someone close to us.
• Narcissism: A trait characterized by overly high self-esteem, self-admiration, and self-centeredness.

Confucianism

• Code of Ethical Conduct & Harmonious Social Life: Confucianism emphasizes ethical conduct and maintaining a harmonious social life by focusing on relationships and duties.
• Self-cultivation: Confucianism sees self-cultivation as the ultimate purpose of life, with the ideal person being a "chun-tzu" (man of virtue or noble character).
• Subdued Self: The cultivated self in Confucianism is sometimes referred to as a "subdued self," where personal needs are repressed for the benefit of society. Confucian society is hierarchical, with emphasis on order and balance.

Taoism

• The Way of the Tao: Taoism is about living in harmony with the Tao, which is the natural order of the universe. The Tao is often described as a free-flowing, relative, unitary, and paradoxical concept.
• Rejection of Hierarchy: Unlike Confucianism's emphasis on hierarchy, Taoism values simplicity and rejects the rigid structure of a stratified society.
• Selflessness: The ideal Taoist self is self-less, yet not forgetting about the individual. This means living a balanced life with society and nature, accepting change, letting go of prejudices, and embracing equality and complementarity among all beings.