Understanding the Self: Identity and Consciousness

• Module 1 introduces the concept of the self and its significance

Overview

• Fundamental questions about existence prompt feelings and thoughts, shaping the self
• The module aims to provide an overview of the self and its importance in human experience

Intended Learning Outcomes

• Define the concept of 'the self'
• Discuss the meaning of 'identity'
• Determine the process of understanding the 'self'

What is "Self?"

• "Self" includes self-awareness, consciousness, identity, self-esteem, and self-concept
• These terms direct attention towards one's inner being and soul, requiring intelligence and awareness
• The self involves thinking and feeling within oneself; it is a distinct identity
• The self relates to the awareness and consciousness of a rational being
• Humanity and meaning demand appreciation of oneself as a person, community member, and member of a larger institution

Discovering the Self

• Discovering true identity involves continuously learning, re-learning, and unlearning life lessons
• Discovering and re-discovering the self is a complex procedure to find one's genuine self and individuality
• Embracing learning experiences contributes to our meaningful evolution

Module 2 covers the philosophical perspectives of the self

Overview

• Ubuntu philosophy from ancient Africa posits that newborns lack "ena" or selfhood
• Selfhood is acquired through interactions and experiences, blurring the "self"/"other" distinction in Western philosophy
• Kenyan philosopher John Mbiti: "I am because we are, and since we are, therefore I am."

Intended Learning Outcomes

• Determine varied philosophical ideas about the nature of 'the self'
• Identify differences in these perspectives
• Use these perspectives in forming insights about the 'self'
• Define concepts that define the self

Philosophers and Their Ideas on the Self

Socrates

• A classical Greek philosopher and pioneer in Western moral philosophy
• Introduced the Socratic problem or question, aiming to "Know thyself"
• Believed there should be a dialogue between the self and the soul
• The Socratic Method stated that "An Unexamined life is not worth living"
• Self-examination is a duty to achieve the greatest good, improving human life through self-explanation

Plato

• An ancient Greek philosopher, student of Socrates, and founder of the Academy
• The psyche or mind consists of three elements: appetites (pleasurable desires), spirited (motivated to conquer challenges), and mind (conscious awareness)

Saint Augustine of Hippo

• A Christian theologian and philosopher
• Explored the relationship between the mind and body
• Stressed the mind's superiority over the body
• Emphasized understanding the self and identity formation via "introspection or self-analysis."

Rene Descartes

• Believed to be the father of modern western philosophy
• Developed Cartesian Philosophy: Mental acts determine physical acts
• Mind is the "intellectual substance" with a will
• "Cogito, ergo sum" translates to "I THINK, THEREFORE I AM."

John Locke

• English philosopher and physician during the "Age of Reason"
• The mind is a blank slate (Tabula Rasa) at birth on which sensory experiences write knowledge
• Personal identity is consciousness, crucial for understanding self
• A person is only liable for acts of which they are conscious.

David Hume

• Scottish philosopher: Passion governs human behavior
• Rejected innate ideas and posited that experience is the foundation of human knowledge
• The self and mind are like machines, active only when conscious

Immanuel Kant

• Asserted that human mind creates experiences
• Experiences are similar among humans and human experiences shape our persona
• Intellect is the inner self
• Senses and the physical self is the outer self
• The soul directs the body

Sigmund Freud

• Founder of psychoanalysis
• Emphasized psychological conflicts within the unconscious
• Three components (id, ego, superego) interact to produce the individual persona
• Id desires pleasure.
• Superego demands compliance to social norms.
• Ego balances the two

Gilbert Ryle

• Mental states cannot be separated from physical states
• The concept of Mind explained how mental states are inseparable from physical states.
• Every human has a physical body and a non-physical mind
• A person lives two histories: one public, one private

Paul Monthomery Churchland

• Philosopher focused on the workings of the brain (materialism)
• States that nothing but matter exists
• People are unaware of the appropriate emotion terms
• Awareness of brain and body function influences our understanding of feelings and situations

Maurice Merleau Ponty

• The body determines perception.
• Harmony exists between intention and performance
• Action forms self-perception and self-concept

Module 3 dives into the concepts of the Self from an Eastern Philosophical Perspective

Overview

• Eastern cultures seek a better understanding of self
• This understanding seeks enlightenment
• Eastern philosophies view self as united with the Creator, unlike the Western view of a distinct self

Intended Learning Outcomes

• Comprehend the concepts behind eastern principles
• Decipher the differences between each principle
• Explain uniqueness of eastern views
• Identify how these insights contribute to self-determination

Buddhism

• Siddhartha Gautama Buddha's developed Anatta (no-self)
• Anatta states nothing is permanent & no one is independent; emphasizes collaborative whole
• No unchanging self exists
• Suffering (Dukka) & impermanence is the truth

The Anatta Doctrine

• States that anything called a self leads to suffering (Dukkha)
• Buddhism does not believe there is a soul
• Believes every human has a mind, boyd and consciousness.

Five Components ("Sakandas") of a Person

• Form: Body and sense organs
• Sensations: Processes from senses in contact with the external
• Perception: Recognition of objects/senses
• Mental Formations: Predispositions, tendencies, traits, habits
• Consciousness: Awareness of internal/external stimuli

Hinduism

• Upanishads place self origin in creation, Universe, and man
• The soul is destined to undergo Karma.
• Atman (soul) is also Brahman

Main Ideas

• There is a God (Brahman) who is the most supreme entity
• Reincarnation where a soul passes through different physical bodies depending on Karma
• Atman/soul is also Brahman
• The world is comprised into varied levels of existence
• All paths to salvation lead to same goal

Taoism

• Lao Tzu states knowing others is wisdom, knowing the self is enlightenment
• Mastering the self requires power and strength
• Dao (the way of the world) guides us to experience harmony
• Tao Te Ching explains living a good life through Dao
• Humans cause discord, confusion, suffering

Taoism Main Ideas

• Stillness of Mind: letting go of worries
• Importance of Time: everything happens in its right moment
• Empty Mind: empty the worrisome to return to what is important
• Principle to let go so you can determine yourself and become who you ought to be.

Confucianism

• Personality is product of upbringing/environment.
• Each person born w/4 beginnings which lead to self formations.
• 4 innate characteristics are needed: compassion, righteousness, propriety, wisdom
• Family and community contribute to virtue pursuit

Module 4 explores the sociological perspective of the Self

Overview

• Human behavior is influenced by group life
• Sense of self comes from interactions with other people, groups, or institutions
• Well-known sociologists have principles/concepts understand sociology

Intended Learning Outcomes

• Recognize what sociology is
• How individuals view as product of socialization
• Appreciate own social experiences

Sociology definition

• Scientific study of social groups and human relationships
• Sociologists theories exapling how the self emerges as a product of social experience

Charles Horton Cooley

• Looking-glass self: People which interacts become our mirror.
• Identity/is achieved after threefold events: view presents, analysis of our perception, image creation

George Herbert Mead

• Social interaction not biological
• The “I” and the “ME” divide us

I vs. ME

• I: The subjective and active side of the self
• ME: Subjective of self that the demands of what others expects

Three Stage Role-Taking Process

• Preparatory: Mimic/copy actions from the age between from birth to when your 2
• Play: When your 2-6, children play pretend with no organized rules
• Game: Starting at 7, understanding and hearing the rules for the game

The Self as a Product of Modern and Postmodern Societies

Gerry Lanuza's View

• Self-identity is freely chosen

Jean Baudrillard's view

• Postmodern society in consumption structures individuals
• People search for more

Module 5 analyzes the Anthropological conceptualization of the self and its role in culture

Overview

• Different societies conceptualize what self is relating its culture
• Anthropology is one of the complex subject by understanding the culture in the self
• Contributes to understanding our self

Intended Learning Outcomes

• Culture and self complementary
• The Cultural construction of the self and social identity
• Develop on the way and your sense of self.

What is Anthropology

• Shaping with biological and cultural experiences with the Interplay nature's

Influence via

• The nature that inheritance an individual's potentials
• The Nurture through their Social cultural environment

The Cultural Construction

• Is "the complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, customs, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society."
• Understand how the people make sense of themselves and behave through socially
• The concept as supplement with human universal.
• Ethic identity that consciousness with the sharing group

Views of the self in different societies

Egocentric

Seen as a distinct individual

Sociocentric

• Contingent base with social
• Context dependents

Rite of passage definition

• When a person leaves and enters a new thing with change of statues

Rites through passage

• The Separation with previous word with rites is the threshold Liminal Rites.

Three Phases of Rites of Passage

• Separation: Taken away from family
• Initiation/Transformation: child's ego" is "killed
• Return: when initiate returns

Clifford Geertz

• Favor a culture based with symbolic
• "man is an animal suspended in webs of significance he himself has spun."

Culture 2 Important ideas

• complex behavior is concrete.
• Desperately independents, genetics possible, etc

Explore the concept of 'self,' encompassing self-awareness, identity, self-esteem, and consciousness. Discover the significance of understanding one's inner being, and continuously learn to discover true identity. Explore the process of self-discovery.